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Mike Pence: Senate Should Form New Cyber Agency at DHS Through Legislation
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Mike Pence: Senate Should Form New Cyber Agency at DHS Through Legislation


Mike Pence: Senate Should Form New Cyber Agency at DHS Through Legislation
Mike Pence

Vice President Mike Pence has urged the Senate to pass before this year ends a measure that would establish a cybersecurity agency within the Department of Homeland Security.

Pence said in his speech delivered Tuesday at DHS National Cybersecurity Summit in New York that the cybersecurity and infrastructure security agency will serve as the “central hub for cybersecurity” that will gather the national government’s resources to counter cyber threats.

He said the White House has requested $15 billion in cybersecurity budget for next year and will continue to collaborate with Congress to secure the needed resources for the country’s cyber defense efforts.

Pence offered updates on the National Cyber Strategy, Trump administration’s data sharing efforts with the private sector over threat indicators and the planned expansion of the “national cyber situational awareness room” project to ensure the security of the U.S. midterm elections in November.

He noted that the National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee will unveil in the next few weeks a “moonshot” initiative that aims to advance digital and cybersecurity skills.

Other programs Pence mentioned at the summit include the FBI’s foreign influence task force and DHS’ election information sharing analysis center.

“This project, which all 50 states and more than 900 counties have already joined, will help prevent attacks before they happen, identify them when they’re underway and stop them before they can do any lasting damage,” he said of the DHS center.

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NASA IG Offers Recommendations for Space Station Management, Utilization
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NASA IG Offers Recommendations for Space Station Management, Utilization


NASA IG Offers Recommendations for Space Station Management, UtilizationNASA’s Office of Inspector General has reviewed agency efforts to maximize International Space Station use for human exploration missions and examined the challenges of managing operations in the orbiting laboratory.

The OIG said in a report published Monday it found that the agency plans utilize ISS as part of efforts to address technology gaps and health risks associated with long-duration manned spaceflight.

NASA projected, as of February, that research for at least six of 20 human health risks and four of 40 technology gaps that require ISS use for testing cannot be completed by the end of fiscal year 2024, when funding allocation for the space station is scheduled to stop, as per a proposal in President Trump’s FY 2019 budget request.

To address the problem, the OIG said the agency may consider extending ISS operations past 2024, explore non-space-based testing methods or venture into riskier future crewed deep space missions.

The office recommended that NASA develop a contingency plan for each human health risk that cannot not be resolved before 2024. The same goes for exploration-enabling technology demonstrations that cannot not be fully evaluated by that time.

NASA should also study options to acquire supplemental emergency deorbit propellant support from U.S. commercial vehicles, the OIG added.

Administration Officials Call for R&D Investments to Preserve National Security, Economic Competitiveness
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Administration Officials Call for R&D Investments to Preserve National Security, Economic Competitiveness


Administration Officials Call for R&D Investments to Preserve National Security, Economic CompetitivenessAdministration officials recently called on executive departments and agencies to invest in various research and development endeavors that would help preserve national security and promote economic competitiveness. 

Federal agencies should invest in technologies relevant to automation, advanced computing, next-generation manufacturing, spaceflight, clean and affordable energy, medicine and agriculture, Mike Mulvaney, Office of Management and Budget director, and Michael Kratsios, deputy assistant to the president at the Office of Science and Technology Policy, said in a memo released Monday.

The memo details the R&D priorities of the Trump administration and serves as a guide for agencies when they develop budget proposals for fiscal year 2020.

It also describes practices that government agencies could promote to maximize R&D resources and personnel.

These priority practices include an emphasis on science, technology, engineering and mathematics education; the maintenance and innovative management of R&D assets and infrastructure; and the promotion of public-private collaborations.

Such practices, paired with federally funded R&D investments, would “strengthen the nation’s innovation base and position the United States for unparalleled job growth, continued prosperity, and national security.”

Sen. Mark Warner Introduces Minibus II Amendment to Boost UAS Funds
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Sen. Mark Warner Introduces Minibus II Amendment to Boost UAS Funds


Sen. Mark Warner Introduces Minibus II Amendment to Boost UAS Funds

Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., has introduced an amendment to increase funds for a spending package that would allot $6 million for unmanned aircraft system research.

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The amendment would boost the minibus II‘s UAS research funds under the fiscal 2019 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development section of the bill from $3 million to $6 million, Warner’s office said Tuesday.

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The minibus II is intended to support research efforts that would help the government safely integrate UAS into U.S. national airspace.

“This amendment will ensure we continue supporting advancements in the safe and responsible integration of unmanned systems in our airspace,” said Warner, a two-time Wash100 awardee.

Sens. John Hoeven, R-N.D., and Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., serve as the base bill’s sponsors.

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Will Roper Eyes IOC for Air Force Hypersonics Program Within Three Years Through Prototyping
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Will Roper Eyes IOC for Air Force Hypersonics Program Within Three Years Through Prototyping


Will Roper Eyes IOC for Air Force Hypersonics Program Within Three Years Through Prototyping
Will Roper

Will Roper, assistant secretary for acquisition, technology and logistics at the U.S. Air Force, has said he sees hypersonics as another program that goes through prototyping and “embraces the potential for failure” upfront in order for the service to learn new insights about the technology before moving to the next phase, Defense News reported Monday.

“Hypersonics is a program where I would expect us to get out and learn a lot as we test,” Roper told the publication in a July 16 interview at Farnborough Airshow.

“So rather than taking time to ensure that your tests are checking the box of something you’re confident you can do, you compress the schedule to go out and make the test focused on learning something,” he added.

He said he expects the hypersonics program to reach “initial operational capability within three to four years.”Will Roper Eyes IOC for Air Force Hypersonics Program Within Three Years Through Prototyping

Roper, a 2018 Wash100 recipient, noted that the Air Force hopes to finish the source selection process for the T-X trainer program by the fall of 2018.

He also offered updates on the Advanced Battle Management System, light-attack experiment and prototyping work on the B-52 engine.

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2019 National Defense Authorization Act to Require New Missile Intercept Program
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2019 National Defense Authorization Act to Require New Missile Intercept Program


2019 National Defense Authorization Act to Require New Missile Intercept ProgramThe 2019 National Defense Authorization Act is set to establish a program to develop technologies to intercept hostile ballistic missiles at the boost or initial stage of flight, Defense News reported Monday.

The Missile Defense Agency‘s director will be tasked to begin the program in fiscal year 2019, according to the bill’s final conference report.

The program will use affordable “kinetic” interceptors that can be launched from aircraft and ships and the MDA is allowed to forge partnerships with Japan and South Korea to develop the technology.

The defense secretary, meanwhile, will be given until 2021 to collaborate with a federally funded research and development center on a feasibility study for an initial or demonstrated boost phase capability using kinetic interceptors and unmanned aerial vehicles.

Additionally, Congress intends to obligate $50 million to help the MDA develop laser scaling technology for boost phase interception.

US Intelligence Agencies Suggest Continued Development of Ballistic Missiles in North Korea
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US Intelligence Agencies Suggest Continued Development of Ballistic Missiles in North Korea


US Intelligence Agencies Suggest Continued Development of Ballistic Missiles in North KoreaSeveral U.S. intelligence agencies have obtained satellite images that suggest North Korea is developing new liquid-fueled intercontinental ballistic missiles that could reach the U.S., the Washington Post reported Monday.

The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency collected evidence of recent activity on a Hwasong-15 ICBM at a research facility in Sanumdong, North Korea.

Planet Labs also presented commercial satellite images of supply trucks and other vehicles going in and out of the missile facility, as well as photos of possible activity at a uranium-enrichment plant known as Kangson.

U.S. officials and private analysts believe the possible ICBM developments suggest that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has not completely agreed to shutting down the nuclear program, despite President Trump announcing last week that the Asian nation started dismantling facilities at the Sohae Satellite Launching Station.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said during a Senate hearing last week that the federal government continues to coordinate with North Korea on disarmament efforts and that the process of denuclearization will take time.

GAO Evaluates GSA-OMB Implementation Plan for Federal E-Commerce Program
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GAO Evaluates GSA-OMB Implementation Plan for Federal E-Commerce Program


GAO Evaluates GSA-OMB Implementation Plan for Federal E-Commerce ProgramThe Government Accountability Office raised issues the General Services Administration and the Office of Management and Budget should consider as they implement the next phase of a federal program that facilitates agencies’ procurement of commercial products through online portals.

Those issues include the potential impact of the e-commerce program on current procurement initiatives; process to collect data on purchases made through online marketplaces; and metrics that GSA and OMB intend to use to assess the e-commerce program’s progress, GAO said in a report published Monday.

The congressional watchdog also assessed the implementation plan for the e-commerce program as part of the effort’s first phase and found that OMB and GSA described three online portal models: e-commerce, e-marketplace and e-procurement models.

One of the frameworks – e-procurement model — involves a third-party software provider that facilitates price comparisons across several online portals.

GAO said the implementation plan also suggests legislative changes that should be carried out to fully execute the e-commerce program.

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GAO: DoD Should Centralize Info About Hosting Government Payloads on Commercial Satellites
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GAO: DoD Should Centralize Info About Hosting Government Payloads on Commercial Satellites


GAO: DoD Should Centralize Info About Hosting Government Payloads on Commercial SatellitesThe Government Accountability Office called on the Defense Department to collect and consolidate agency-wide knowledge about hosting government payloads aboard commercially manufactured satellites.

GAO said Monday it found that, although multiple offices within the DoD engage in activities pertaining to commercially hosted payloads, they do so independently, resulting in a fragmented knowledge base that contributed “to resistance within [the agency] to using hosted payloads.”

The congressional watchdog proposed that pertinent programs submit relevant data, such as cost, technical specifications, and lessons learned, to a central office to facilitate the sharing of information.

Although a central repository already exists in the form of the Hosted Payload Office, its establishing directive does not instruct it to coordinate beyond the U.S. Air Force’s Space and Missile Systems Center, under which the office is organized.

GAO nevertheless recommended that the DoD “consider whether the [HPO] is the most appropriate office to centralize agency-wide knowledge.”

The agency added that, without access to centralized knowledge, the DoD’s ability to make informed decisions about the viability of using commercial satellites may be limited, and the agency may miss “opportunities to rapidly and affordably address emerging threats in space.”

GAO: DSCA Needs to Strengthen Oversight of FMS Program Expenditures
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GAO: DSCA Needs to Strengthen Oversight of FMS Program Expenditures


GAO: DSCA Needs to Strengthen Oversight of FMS Program ExpendituresThe Government Accountability Office has recommended that the Defense Security Cooperation Agency modify its strategy for overseeing operational expenses of the Defense Department‘s foreign military sales program.

GAO said Monday it found that DoD lacks data to show how the department spends on military operations such as compensating program staff and monitoring contractor compliance to contract requirements.

The DSCA director should coordinate with the Defense Finance and Accounting Service to reconcile and clarify the reliability of data on the use of FMS administrative funds, according to the government audit agency.

The watchdog added that DSCA director should submit at least two annual assessments on how military departments process finances and use a risk-based approach to periodically evaluate the business process of DoD components for administrative funds.

The rest of GAO’s recommendations can be found here.

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