Terry Carpenter, the Defense Information Systems Agency’s National Background Investigation Service program executive officer, announced that DISA wants data sources and algorithms to help implement artificial intelligence in security clearance processing, FCW reported Thursday. Carpenter added that DISA is seeking to collate data sources into a single enterprise architecture to deliver data to the entire NBIS system.

Additionally, DISA is developing a DevSecOps model to be deployed throughout the NBIS, which is comprised of different systems in multiple clouds and the data center. The agency plans to pilot the project in June.

Former Homeland Security officials requested the Trump administration to end the ongoing partial government shutdown as it may soon put national security at risk and create other issues lasting years, The Hill reported Thursday.

Jeh Johnson, former Homeland Security secretary under the Obama administration, described the shutdown as “a security crisis” that’s causing stress, hardship and anxiety across federal agencies. He added that the prolonged closure of agencies might push employees to quit their jobs and lead to lasting damage to an agency’s recruitment efforts, particularly DHS. 

“I fear the damage done to our security will be for months, if not years,” Johnson said. 

Peter Neffenger, a former Transportation Security Administration head, said many federal workers are receiving low salaries because of the shutdown. Other former federal officials warned that the situation could negatively affect how the U.S. responds to future crises, such as natural disasters.

“It’s having a long-term, extremely detrimental effect on the nation’s preparedness to respond to disaster and acts of terrorism in the United States,” said Tim Manning, a former deputy administrator at Federal Emergency Management Agency. 

The U.S. Air Force’s 412th Electronic Warfare Group began working on a facility to contain the Joint Simulation Environment designed for testing fifth-plus generation aircraft and related systems, the service branch said Thursday.

The 72,139-square foot modeling and simulation facility will be installed at Edwards Air Force Base in California to house developmental assessments supporting open-air testing operations. The Air Force also plans to construct another 50,967-square foot facility at Nellis AFB in Nevada to help personnel and engineers conduct operational testing activities. The two JSEs will be fitted with similar hardware and software enabling both facilities to integrate their technological features.

Humberto Blanco, project manager for the JSE effort, said the simulation tool will help the Air Force test aircraft such as the F-35 and F-22 without being hampered by natural events and service operations.

The 412th EWG is looking for over 100 new hires to commence engineering and software-related work to support the two facilities.

Bruce Jette, assistant secretary of the U.S. Army for acquisition, technology and logistics, has said the new intellectual property management policy seeks to strike a balance between efforts to promote industry innovation and long-term sustainment considerations.

The policy “discourages a one-size-fits-all attitude and requires that we consider the unique needs of each weapon system and its components as we develop the IP strategy,” Jette wrote in an article published Thursday.

He discussed the policy’s four principles: efforts to advance open communication with industry; development of a customized IP strategy; negotiation of custom data and licenses; and negotiation for competitive prices at an early stage.

“This new policy is the first step in a cultural change within the Army,” Jette said.

He noted that the service branch plans to release early this year a detailed guidance for the policy’s implementation.

Army Secretary Mark Esper, a 2019 Wash100 winner, approved the IP management policy in December.
 

A new Congressional Budget Office report says the implementation of plans to modernize and maintain U.S. nuclear forces as stated in the Nuclear Posture Review and the fiscal 2019 budget requests of the departments of Defense and Energy would cost $494B from 2019 through 2028.

CBO said the figure reflects a 23 percent increase from its 2017 estimate – $400B – over the 10-year period.

The agency projects that approximately 39 percent, or $37B, of the $94B estimated increase would occur between 2019 and 2026, driven by new weapons and modernization programs and plans for nuclear command-and-control platforms.

Of the total projected costs, $432B would fund several programs including strategic nuclear delivery systems and weapons; tactical nuclear weapons and delivery platforms; DoD’s command, control, communications and early-warning tools; and DOE’s nuclear weapons laboratories and supporting initiatives.

CBO said the remaining $62B of the total estimated cost accounts for its projected additional costs based on historical cost growth.
 

The U.S. Air Force began reorganizing and unifying its headquarters’ information technology, cyber and intelligence operations, Federal News Network reported Wednesday. USAF’s new approach would combine the three technical areas into one organization, merging the branch’s deputy chief of staff offices for information dominance and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance.

Matt Donovan, undersecretary of the Air Force, said the service branch intends to nominate Lt. Gen. VeraLinn Jamieson as the prospective leader of the combined organization. Jamieson is USAF’s current deputy chief of staff for ISR.

The service branch first disclosed the combined organization’s preliminary plans in August when Gen. David Goldfein, Air Force chief of staff, discussed USAF’s need for tighter integration in information domain decision making, the report noted.

The U.S. Navy‘s Tactical Networks Program Office or PMW 160 verified the alignment of its efforts with the chief of naval operations’ maritime superiority plan after a recent review. The office concluded that its efforts support A Design for Maintaining Maritime Superiority Version 2.0., fostering future plans to boost the fleet’s network capacities, the Navy said Wednesday.

PMW 160 facilitates the Navy’s cloud transition, foster multi-sector collaboration and drives cloud-based Agile development. The office uses its Consolidated Afloat Network and Enterprise Services or CANES system with industry-based information technology to perform these tasks.

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Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command, in partnership with PMW 160, also leveraged CANES to create a cloud-based collaborative staging environment for development, integration and testing activities. Now, PMW 160 has accelerated development of the second Agile Core Services afloat baseline, a subsystem of CANES. The office intends to deploy this iteration of the ACS on aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln.

CNO Adm. John Richardson released the latest version of the maritime superiority plan in December 2018.

The U.S. Navy is exploring a new method of welding that officials said could reduce costs and accelerate maintenance of naval assets. The Tactical Innovation Implementation Lab within the Navy is leading efforts to field the cold spray process across U.S. shipyards, the service branch said Wednesday. 

TIIL hosted a Cold Spray Sprint on Jan. 15 and 16 hathering representatives from the Navy, Coast Guard and civilian scientists to advance fielding of the welding method. Cold spray uses 212-930 degrees Fahrenheit as the average temperature during a bonding process, far lower than traditional welding that fires around 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit or higher. The Navy said lower temperatures reduce the risk of metal distortion and allows the use of ceramics and composite materials to repair or build components. 

“This process allows us to take something worn and reconfigure it to something new,” said TIIL Director Janice Bryant.

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Alex Frank, a Navy mechanical engineer, said cold spray could also replace brush plating and epoxy repairs that involve hazardous chemicals and takes longer to complete. The Navy said it hopes to build a mobile cold spray unit using a robot installed directly into ships to support maintenance work.