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Report: DoD Lowers Total Acquisition Cost Estimate for F-35 to $406.1B
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Report: DoD Lowers Total Acquisition Cost Estimate for F-35 to $406.1B


Report: DoD Lowers Total Acquisition Cost Estimate for F-35 to $406.1BThe Defense Department estimates the F-35 development and procurement effort to cost the Pentagon $406.1 billion, down from the $406.5 billion projected last year, Bloomberg reported Wednesday.

The Pentagon has reduced its cost estimate for the purchase of 2,456 F-35s by 0.2 percent to $345.4 billion.

The department’s cost projections for the Lockheed Martin-built fighter jets are part of its Selected Acquisition Report that is slated for submission to Congress this week.

The document does not contain the estimated cost for the aircraft’s software upgrades discussed during a House panel hearing March 7, the report added.

Rep. Niki Tsongas (D-Massachusetts) said before a House Armed Services subpanel the F-35 modernization cost estimate through 2024 includes $10.8 billion for software development and $5.4 billion for upgrade deployment and other procurement efforts.

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CBP Seeks to Bolster Trade Facilitation Posture Through E-Commerce Strategy
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CBP Seeks to Bolster Trade Facilitation Posture Through E-Commerce Strategy


CBP Seeks to Bolster Trade Facilitation Posture Through E-Commerce StrategyThe Customs and Border Protection has implemented an e-commerce strategy to bolster its trade facilitation posture and protect domestic businesses and consumers from threats related to electronic trade.

CBP said March 6 it seeks to address U.S. security and economic challenges from the growing number of imported small packages through the agency’s e-commerce framework.

The agency intends to establish an “agile” and “dynamic” workforce that use technology to identify high-risk shipments, collect data from CBP targeting systems and create enforcement partnerships.

CBP added that companies and foreign governments will serve as key stakeholders for its efforts to assess the e-commerce environment and raise the public’s awareness of customs regulations.

The agency created the strategy to comply with Presidential Executive Order 13785, titled “Establishing Enhanced Collection and Enforcement of Antidumping and Countervailing Duties and Violations of Trade and Customs Laws.”

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Report: Jeffrey DeWit Confirmed as NASA CFO
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Report: Jeffrey DeWit Confirmed as NASA CFO


Report: Jeffrey DeWit Confirmed as NASA CFO
Jeffrey DeWit

The Senate confirmed Jeffrey DeWit, former treasurer of Arizona, as chief financial officer of NASA, SpacePolicyOnline.com reported Wednesday.

Nominated to serve as CFO in December 2017, DeWit is President Trump’s first NASA nominee to obtain Senate confirmation.

The new NASA CFO previously chaired the Arizona State Board of Investments and served as CFO and chief operating officer for Trump’s presidential campaign.

DeWit has more than 25 years of experience in finance, including leadership positions at financial services company ECHOTrade.

He will succeed David Radzanowski, who left the agency at the end of the Obama administration and was replaced by Andrew Hunter on an interim basis.

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NGA Appoints Brett Markham as West Executive, Operations Deputy Associate Director
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NGA Appoints Brett Markham as West Executive, Operations Deputy Associate Director


NGA Appoints Brett Markham as West Executive, Operations Deputy Associate Director
Brett Markham

Brett Markham, director of analytic operations at the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency‘s analysis directorate, has been named west executive and deputy associate director for operations at NGA.

He will represent the agency leadership at its St. Louis, Missouri, campuses as west executive and oversee the agency’s operations, defense and reconnaissance offices as deputy associate director for operations, NGA said Monday.

“I know [dual-hatting] is a departure from past practices, but I strongly believe it reflects how the position and our leadership structure has evolved,” said NGA Director Robert Cardillo, a 2018 Wash100 recipient.

“[Brett] knows the mission, the workforce and the community,” added Cardillo.

Markham executive role also includes activity integration assistance, enterprise coordination and cross-cutting activities across key NGA components in the West.

In his role as deputy associate director, he will lead the agency’s Operations Center as well as the three National Reconnaissance Office Aerospace Data facilities and the offices of NGA Defense and Expeditionary Operations.

He will also oversee operational collections, requirements, planning, global management functions.

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DHS S&T Develops Air Surveillance Standards for Border Protection
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DHS S&T Develops Air Surveillance Standards for Border Protection


DHS S&T Develops Air Surveillance Standards for Border ProtectionThe Department of Homeland Security‘s science and technology directorate is developing air surveillance standards in an effort to help secure national airspace through the evaluation of current and future radar platforms.

DHS S&T said Tuesday it will assess existing air surveillance capabilities and radars of the Customs and Border Protection‘s Air and Marine Operations against the DHS (Interim) Strategic Air Surveillance Requirements.

The directorate’s analysts use the Extended Air Defense Simulation software to simulate a CBP AMO radar, evaluate if the device can detect aircraft and observe how the simulated radar detect suspicious targets.

EADSIM is designed to provide analytic data such as a target’s altitude via geographic location of detection and aircraft size through radar cross-section.

DHS collaborates with the Federal Aviation Administration, Defense Department and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on national security and aviation safety efforts.

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USDA Invests $276M for Rural Electronic Infrastructure
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USDA Invests $276M for Rural Electronic Infrastructure


USDA Invests $276M for Rural Electronic Infrastructure

The Department of Agriculture has allotted $276 million in investment funds for the construction of a rural electric infrastructure.

The investment will add 1,000 miles of new line and update 733 miles of existing line, in aims to support electricity needs of businesses and residents within rural areas, USDA said Tuesday.

The department seeks to allot $65 million to procure smart grid technologies including metering, substation automation, computer applications, two-way communications and geospatial information systems to lessen outages and install new assets at rural electric utilities.

An amount of $74 million is being loaned to Jackson County Rural Electric Membership for smart grid technologies, as well as the construction of 84 miles of line and upgrade of 32 miles for distributing electricity across 20,000 residencies and businesses.

Kentucky-based Shelby Energy Cooperative has secured a $22.3 million loan award for 60 miles of new line and updating of 52 miles, as well as smart grid efforts, in support of consumers from 10 counties within Louisville and Lexington.

North Dakota-based Slope Electric Cooperative will be awarded a $12.5 million loan for new 84 miles of new line and updating of 32 miles, as well as restoration efforts to address storm-cause damages dealt in July 2017.

Rappahannock Electric Cooperative of Virginia will produce 376 miles of new line under a loan of $52 million.

Bedford Solar last year received $3 million loan for the construction of a three-megawatt solar plant to power a Virginia-based rural town.

Altogether, USDA loans under the investment effort were awarded to electricity firms in the states of Colorado, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Minnesota, Missouri, North Dakota, Ohio and Virginia.

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Govt Tech Leaders Establish Guiding Principles for Central IT Modernization Fund
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Govt Tech Leaders Establish Guiding Principles for Central IT Modernization Fund


Govt Tech Leaders Establish Guiding Principles for Central IT Modernization FundA board comprised of U.S. government technology leaders met on Tuesday to establish principles that will guide the management of a central information technology modernization fund, Nextgov reported Tuesday.

The Technology Modernization Fund Board’s Statement of Principles provides insight on how the board plans to administer the central government IT modernization fund that was formed through the Modernizing Government Technology Act.

The principles include serving the best interest of citizens; following an open, transparent and fair process for project proposal evaluation; developing an “agile” project implementation process; supporting the fund’s health, sustainability and utility; and adhering to board rules and procedures.

Congress authorized a two-year budget of up to $500 million for the fund under the MGT Act, which was signed into law in December 2017 as a provision of the Fiscal Year 2018 National Defense Authorization Act.

Lawmakers have yet to appropriate money toward the fund and the Trump administration’s most recent budget request allocates $210 million for the fund in 2018.

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DOE, DHS Partner for Energy Management Infrastructure Effort
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DOE, DHS Partner for Energy Management Infrastructure Effort


DOE, DHS Partner for Energy Management Infrastructure EffortThe Department of Energy and the Department of Homeland Security have signed on a partnership to develop and implement an infrastructure aiming to reduce the latter department’s energy consumption without compromising security and resilience.

DOE said Tuesday the partnership supports the Federal Energy Management Program that seeks to aid all federal agencies in handling energy consumption.

The FEMP effort entails the implementation of a federal infrastructure that will be made to support energy management across the federal government’s total of over 350,000 buildings and 600,000 vehicles.

The DOE-DHS partnership intends to develop an enterprise-wide system to support water, energy, transportation, information technology and facility management across DHS branches such as the U.S. Coast Guard, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the U.S. Border Patrol, and the Transportation Security Administration.

The system to result from the partnership may be implemented at other federal agencies, in support of FEMP’s goal.

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U.S. Military Delivers UAS to Philippine Air Force Under FMF Program
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U.S. Military Delivers UAS to Philippine Air Force Under FMF Program


U.S. Military Delivers UAS to Philippine Air Force Under FMF ProgramThe Joint U.S. Military Assistance Group has delivered a $13.2 million unmanned aerial system to the Philippine air force under a foreign military finance program.

The ScanEagle UAS was delivered under an FMF program aiming to support the Philippine military’s capacities in maritime domain awareness, counter-terrorism, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, the U.S. embassy said Tuesday.

The Boeing–Insitu-made UAS was designed as a low-altitude aircraft with intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance functionalities.

The armed forces of the Philippines intends to leverage ScanEagle’s ISR capacities for the 300 air intelligence and security wing, operating from Antonio Bautista Air Base, Palawan.

Ambassador Sung Kim assisted in the delivery of the UAS.

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DLT’s Don Maclean: Federal IT Leaders Could Help Prevent Breaches Through Cyber Executive Order Compliance
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DLT’s Don Maclean: Federal IT Leaders Could Help Prevent Breaches Through Cyber Executive Order Compliance


DLT’s Don Maclean: Federal IT Leaders Could Help Prevent Breaches Through Cyber Executive Order ComplianceDon Maclean, chief cybersecurity technologist for DLT Solutions, has said federal information technology leaders should implement the White House’s executive order on cybersecurity as part of their efforts to avoid massive data breaches.

Maclean wrote in a Nextgov guest post published Monday that the executive order contains three elements that agency chief information officers should consider and those include accountability, IT modernization and the need to build up the federal cyber workforce.

Compliance with federal cyber guidelines calls for agency CIOs to determine applications, networks and devices; identify data privacy requirements; implement patch management efforts; and standardize system configurations, Maclean noted.

He called on agency CIOs to help facilitate the IT acquisition process through collaboration with industry partners.

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