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FAA Starts Deployment of Automated Drone Authorization System for Nationwide Level Tests
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FAA Starts Deployment of Automated Drone Authorization System for Nationwide Level Tests


FAA Starts Deployment of Automated Drone Authorization System for Nationwide Level TestsThe Federal Aviation Administration has commenced the beta phase of the nationwide test of its automated authorization platform for operators of unmanned aircraft systems.

The Low Altitude Authorization and Notification Capability will be deployed in increments at up to 300 air traffic facilities that manage around 500 airports with the final fielding to begin by Sep. 13, the FAA said Monday.

Initial facilities for the beta test can be viewed on the FAA’s website.

An assessment of the LAANC systems’ prototype was conducted in November.

The FAA collaborated with the industry for the development and deployment of LAANC systems and the agency opened applications for additional LAANC services suppliers on April 16 with a submissions deadline slated on May 16.

The call for LAANC services suppliers does not implement a standard government acquisition and will not include a screening information request and a request for proposal.

LAANC is designed to use airspace data from Notice to Airmen, provisional flight restrictions and UAS facility maps that reflect the ceiling altitude of airports potentially covered by the FAA’s Part 107 authorization for operations.

The authorization platform will be used for the development of the Unmanned Aircraft Systems Traffic Management System.

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Michael Griffin: DoD Plans to Field Self-Driving Vehicles to Back Army’s Logistics Operations
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Michael Griffin: DoD Plans to Field Self-Driving Vehicles to Back Army’s Logistics Operations


Michael Griffin: DoD Plans to Field Self-Driving Vehicles to Back Army’s Logistics Operations
Michael Griffin

The Defense Department could be the first user of self-driving vehicles that run on artificial intelligence platforms in support of logistics operations, Bloomberg reported Monday.

“We’re going to have self-driving vehicles in theater for the Army before we’ll have self-driving cars on the streets,” Michael Griffin, defense undersecretary for research and engineering, told lawmakers at a congressional hearing in April.

“But the core technologies will be the same,” he added.

Griffin, a 2018 Wash100 recipient, noted that service personnel who perform fuel and food deliveries and provide other logistics support account for at least 50 percent of casualties on the battlefield.

“If that can be done by an automated unmanned vehicle with a relatively simple AI driving algorithm where I don’t have to worry about pedestrians and road signs and all of that, why wouldn’t I do that?,” he added.

Some of the tech companies that develop self-driving vehicles include General Motors, Alphabet’s Waymo unit and Uber Technologies, according to the report.

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John Hale: DISA Eyes MilCloud 2.0 Migration in Next 5 Months
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John Hale: DISA Eyes MilCloud 2.0 Migration in Next 5 Months


John Hale: DISA Eyes MilCloud 2.0 Migration in Next 5 MonthsThe Defense Information Systems Agency has started to transition mission partners to the second version of the MilCloud platform after the technology received provisional authorization from the Defense Department in March to host controlled unclassified information, Federal News Radio reported Monday.

“We have laid out a plan that over the next four-to-five months migrating most all of the MilCloud 1.0 capabilities onto MilCloud 2.0,” John Hale, chief of enterprise applications at DISA, said April 18 at the FCW Cloud Summit.

“Then, the plan is to probably shut down MilCloud 1.0 sometime in late fiscal year 2019,” Hale added.

He noted that partners look at MilCloud 2.0 as a “gateway capability.”

“As they shift away from traditional hosting in their data centers into a cloud model, MilCloud 2 provides them a little bit of a comfort factor because the data stays on premise.”

CSRA, which General Dynamics bought for approximately $9.7 billion in early April, secured a potential eight-year, $498 million contract in June 2017 to provide commercial infrastructure services for the MilCloud 2.0 platform.

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DOE Invests $60M in Nuclear Energy R&D Projects
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DOE Invests $60M in Nuclear Energy R&D Projects


DOE Invests $60M in Nuclear Energy R&D ProjectsThe Department of Energy has invested $60 million to fund 13 nuclear technology research and development projects.

The department said Friday its Office of Nuclear Energy supports the selection under the U.S. Industry Opportunities for Advanced Nuclear Technology Development funding opportunity announcement.

The DOE will review applications quarterly and select more awardees throughout a five-year period.

An additional $40 million funding is expected to be obligated for the effort’s next two quarterly award cycles.

Awarded projects will be classified under three different research pathways.

The First-of-a-Kind Nuclear Demonstration Readiness Project pathway seeks to design and develop reactors and technologies for existing plants with technical and licensing risks. Projects under this pathway are as follows:

  • Design and License Application Development for TRISO-X: A Cross-Cutting, High Assay Low Enriched Uranium Fuel Fabrication Facility – X Energy
  • Phase 1 NuScale Small Modular Reactor FOAK Nuclear Demonstration Readiness Project – NuScale Power

The Advanced Reactor Development Projects pathway supports concepts aimed at improving reactor functions and potential for commercial applications. Projects under this pathway are as follows:

  • Combining Multi-Scale Modeling with Microcapsule Irradiation to Expedite Advanced Fuels Deployment – General Atomics
  • Dynamic Natural Convection – Passive Cooling for the LWR Fleet – NuVision Engineering
  • Establishment of an integrated advanced manufacturing and data science-driven paradigm for advanced reactor systems – BWXT Nuclear Energy
  • Modeling and Optimization of Flow and Heat Transfer in Reactor Components for Molten Chloride Salt Fast Reactor Application – Elysium Industries USA

Lastly, the Regulatory Assistance Grants pathway aims to address regulatory issues such as those concerning certification and licensing of advanced reactors. Projects under this pathway are as follows:

  • Pre-Application License Review of Silicon Carbide Composite Clad Uranium Carbide Fuel for Long-Life Gas-Cooled Fast Reactor Cores – General Atomics
  • Resolving the Regulatory Issues with Implementation of Online Monitoring Technologies to Extend the Calibration Intervals of Process Instruments in Nuclear Power Plants – Analysis and Measurement Services

Additionally, DOE awarded grants under the Gateway for Accelerated Innovation in Nuclear effort to five companies including:

  • Oklo
  • Terrestrial Energy
  • ThorCon US
  • Urbix Resources
  • Vega Wave Systems

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House Approves Authorized Budget Increase for FAA AST
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House Approves Authorized Budget Increase for FAA AST


House Approves Authorized Budget Increase for FAA ASTThe House of Representatives has approved a Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization bill, which includes proposals supporting the agency’s commercial spaceflight operations and a possible increase in budget, SpaceNews reported Friday.

The FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018 raises the budget of the agency’s Office of Commercial Space Transportation (AST) from less than $22.6 million in 2018 to over $33 million in 2019.

The bill aims to provide AST with an authorized allocation of $76 million by 2023.

Bill Shuster, chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, introduced the amendment to the bill, which passed on a 393-13 vote.

The amendment also authorizes aircraft with experimental licenses to conduct commercial space transportation support flights, assigns the AST head to become the communication bridge between the commercial space transportation industry and the FAA, and tasks the transportation secretary with reviewing demands for spaceports.

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FDA Unveils Health Data Science Projects Under Incubator Program
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FDA Unveils Health Data Science Projects Under Incubator Program


FDA Unveils Health Data Science Projects Under Incubator ProgramScott Gottlieb, commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, has introduced information technology initiatives under the agency’s data science incubator program during  the Health Datapalooza conference in Washington, D.C., MedCityNews reported Thursday.

Gottlieb highlighted the FDA’s Information Exchange and Data Transformation program that seeks to standardize methods to examine potential applications of artificial intelligence in the clinical setting and the use of digital health tools in the premarket drug safety review process.

FDA created the INFORMED program with the Innovation, Design, Entrepreneurship and Action laboratory at the Department of Health and Human Services in a move to encourage collaborative scientific research and big data analytics efforts initially related to oncology.

The agency partnered with Project Data Sphere to develop algorithms to classify tumor dynamics with the use of medical imaging data and teamed up with the National Cancer Institute to create a fellowship program that aims to produce digital biomarkers.

Harvard University and FDA also collaborate on a fellowship program that explores machine learning and AI tools for potential use in the agency’s regulatory process.

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Sonny Bhagowalia Named CBP IT Deputy Assistant Commissioner
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Sonny Bhagowalia Named CBP IT Deputy Assistant Commissioner


Sonny Bhagowalia Named CBP IT Deputy Assistant Commissioner
Sonny Bhagowalia

Sonny Bhagowalia, former chief information officer of the Treasury Department, has joined the Customs and Border Protection as deputy assistant commissioner at the agency’s information technology office, Federal Times reported Saturday.

In his new role, Bhagowalia will lead CBP’s cybersecurity efforts and the development of automated interfaces between the agency and other government agencies, trade groups and foreign countries.

He will also supervise approximately 2,200 federal and contractor employees who help build, test and maintain automated systems at CBP.

His public-sector career also includes time as senior adviser at the Bureau of Fiscal Service for technology and cybersecurity; deputy associate administrator at the General Services Administration; an assistant director and section chief at the FBI; and CIO at the state of Hawaii, Interior Department and Bureau of Indian Affairs.

Bhagowalia also held a 14-year career at Boeing.

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James Mattis Calls for National Security Exceptions to Russia Sanctions Law
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James Mattis Calls for National Security Exceptions to Russia Sanctions Law


James Mattis Calls for National Security Exceptions to Russia Sanctions Law
James Mattis

Defense Secretary James Mattis has called for waivers to allow U.S. allies to prevent any sanctions related to the procurement of Russian-made weapons, Military.com reported Friday.

Mattis told lawmakers Thursday at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing that Congress should make “national security exceptions” to the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act and fiscal 2019 National Defense Authorization Act in support of U.S. interests.

“We only need to look at India, Vietnam and some others to recognize that eventually we’re going to penalize ourselves” through strict compliance with CAATSA, said Mattis, a 2018 Wash100 recipient.

He expressed concerns on the potential sale of Russia’s S-400 surface-to-air missile defense systems to countries such as Turkey and India.

President Donald Trump signed in August 2017 CAATSA that imposes sanctions on Russia in response to its involvement in Syria and invasion of Crimea.

CAATSA also enforces sanctions on Iran and North Korea.

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John Adametz to Serve as NAVFAC Pacific Head, Thomas Anderson to Lead Naval Surface Warfare Center
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John Adametz to Serve as NAVFAC Pacific Head, Thomas Anderson to Lead Naval Surface Warfare Center


John Adametz to Serve as NAVFAC Pacific Head, Thomas Anderson to Lead Naval Surface Warfare Center

The U.S. Navy has assigned Capts. John Adametz and Thomas Anderson to leadership positions at the Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Pacific and Naval Surface Warfare Center, respectively.

Adametz, commanding officer at the Naval Facilities Expeditionary Warfare Center, will transition to a dual-role as commander of NAVFAC Pacific and U.S. Pacific Fleet civil engineer, the Defense Department said Friday.

Anderson, executive assistant at the Naval Sea Systems Command, will serve as NWSC commander.

Both officers were also selected for promotion to the rank of rear admiral (lower half).

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DoD to Give Congress Justification Report on $10B Cloud Procurement Strategy
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DoD to Give Congress Justification Report on $10B Cloud Procurement Strategy


DoD to Give Congress Justification Report on $10B Cloud Procurement StrategyDavid Norquist, comptroller at the Defense Department, said at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing Thursday that DoD intends to provide lawmakers with a justification report about its plan to acquire cloud computing infrastructure through a single-award contract, C4ISRNET reported Thursday.

Norquist informed the panel that the department will submit a report to explain its Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure acquisition method to Congress by May 7.

DoD is scheduled to issue a final request for proposals on the potential $10 billion JEDI cloud contract next month.

Defense Secretary James Mattis, a 2018 Wash100 recipient, defended the Pentagon’s cloud procurement strategy during the SASC hearing.

“What we’ve been looking at now is how do we get faster access to young folks on the front lines, displaying the information they need, not all the information in the world,” Mattis told committee members.

“That’s the driving impetus – it’s the lethality.”

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