The Government Accountability Office has called on the Defense Department to evaluate national security risks associated with foreign investors that have access to emerging technology platforms or in proximity to critical military sites.

GAO said in a report published Tuesday it made the recommendation after it found that the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. may not address such risks because some foreign investments would not lead to foreign control of a U.S.-based company.

DoD should also review its resources to address its increasing workload with regard to its involvement in co-leading investigations of foreign investment transactions as part of CFUIS, according to the report.

GAO said DoD co-led 99 deals between U.S. businesses and foreign acquirers in 2017, a figure that reflects a 57 percent increase in transactions co-led by the department in 2012.

The congressional watchdog recommended that DoD should update its processes and policies to help shed light on some of the national security risks facing the department.

The report showed that the Pentagon’s CFIUS Instruction does not state clearly some of the department’s processes and assessment responsibilities when it comes to determining deals that foreign investors do not voluntarily submit to CFIUS.

The Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies recommends the U.S. Air Force use aircraft currently in long-term storage for unmanned and extended kill chain operations, Federal News Radio reported Tuesday.

“We put out the idea of converting aircraft that are currently in storage simply because cost is everything right now and if you look at those airframes they are certified combat aircraft,” Executive Director Douglas Birkey told the publication.

Birkey noted that the conversion cost is comparable to the branch’s $1.3 million effort to modify F-16 aircraft as drone training systems.

The institute proposed developing autonomous unmanned aerial vehicles rather than remotely-piloted aircraft such as the MQ-9, the report detailed. The paper also suggested that additive and supplemental platforms can help address the mission requirements of the Air Force’s bomber and fighter fleets.

The Air Force Materiel Command has merged two of its directorates into a single unit that will work to coordinate logistics, sustainment and installation services for the U.S. Air Force‘s nuclear modernization efforts.

UFMC said Monday its Logistics, Civil Engineering, Force Protection and Nuclear Integration Directorate will establish the workforce and infrastructure needed to support weapon systems, acquisition logistics, suppliers, depot maintenance and nuclear integration activities across the service branch.

The unified organization has eight divisions and holds the A4/10 designation.

Brig. Gen. Allan Day, director of the newly formed group, said the merger will “help synchronize our nuclear efforts with our other relevant core competencies of maintenance, logistics, force protection and civil engineering.”

The staff nuclear principal at AFMC headquarters has also elevated to the grade of flag officer and will help the command manage nuclear enterprise systems.