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NASA to Test Space Launch System Intertank
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NASA to Test Space Launch System Intertank


NASA to Test Space Launch System IntertankNASA loaded a test model of heavy-lift rocket intertank onto a barge Thursday at Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans for shipment to the Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama.

Marshall’s engineers will conduct tests to determine if the structural hardware for the Space Launch System‘s 212-foot-long core stage can withstand extreme launch and ascent forces, NASA said Thursday.

The intertank is designed to link the two fuel tanks of the SLS core stage and serve as the upper-connection point of two solid rocket boosters.

A flight version of the intertank will contain avionics and electronics built to function as the “brains” of the SLS rocket, NASA noted.

The agency redesigned and extended its barge Pegasus to accommodate the rocket’s core stage.

NASA will use the 310-foot-long boat to transport the flight core stage from Michoud to other agency facilities for testing and launch.

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DARPA Launches CBRNE Threat Detection Program
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DARPA Launches CBRNE Threat Detection Program


DARPA Launches CBRNE Threat Detection ProgramThe Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has kicked off a program to develop networks of sensors that can detect chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and explosives threats.

SIGMA+ is an expansion of DARPA’s initiative to identify radiological and nuclear materials, the agency said Tuesday.

“The goal of SIGMA+ is to develop and demonstrate a real-time, persistent CBRNE early detection system by leveraging advances in sensing, data fusion, analytics, and social and behavioral modeling to address a spectrum of threats,” said Vincent Tang, SIGMA+ program manager in DARPA’s Defense Sciences Office.

Tang added that SIGMA+ researchers will work to show that distributed sensor networks combined with automated intelligence analytics and social science insights can be deployed and scaled to boost the probability of mitigating CBRNE weapons of mass destruction.

The program aims to build a long-range detection system that can help identify improvised chemical and explosive threats ahead of attacks.

Researchers will also create sensors designed to detect traces of pathogens in real time to alert officials of potential biological terror attacks, such as the release of anthrax or viruses.

DARPA plans to release a Broad Agency Announcement next month and a second BAA later this year.

Phase 1 of the program will focus on the development of novel sensors for chemicals, explosives and biological agents, while the second phase will cover network development, analytics and integration efforts.

The agency is scheduled to host an event on March 7 in Arlington, Virginia to discuss SIGMA+ with potential industry proposers.

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White House Economic Council Calls for Public-Private Collaboration to Address Cyber Threats
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White House Economic Council Calls for Public-Private Collaboration to Address Cyber Threats


White House Economic Council Calls for Public-Private Collaboration to Address Cyber ThreatsThe White House Council of Economic Advisers has called on public and commercial sectors to advance collaboration to address cybersecurity risks.

The council said Wednesday the private sector has initiated efforts to prevent cyber threats through IT system security efforts and development of platforms that work to facilitate cyber vulnerability threat sharing.

The government sector should also facilitate cyber protection through dissemination of security standards and best practices, cyber research and efforts to build up cyber workforce.

The agency said the U.S. economy incurred approximately $57 billion in 2016 costs due to cyber threat actors and those costs were associated with the loss of data, equipment and revenues as well as intellectual property theft.

The council also cited the reluctance of companies to share data and its impact on the cyber insurance market as well as underreporting of cyber vulnerabilities.

“As a result of this underreporting, the frequencies and costs of various types of malicious cyber activity directed at firms are largely unknown, and this lack of information hampers the ability of all actors to respond effectively and immediately,” the council added.

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Army Seeks $5B in Fiscal 2019 Missile Procurement Funds
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Army Seeks $5B in Fiscal 2019 Missile Procurement Funds


Army Seeks $5B in Fiscal 2019 Missile Procurement FundsThe U.S. Army has proposed $5.1 billion in fiscal 2019 funds to procure missile systems, up from the service branch’s $3.9 billion fiscal 2018 request for missile procurement efforts, Military.com reported Wednesday.

Davis Welch, deputy director of budget at the Army, told Military.com the service branch plans to spend $1.1 billion on Missile Segment Enhancement interceptors and launcher modification kits.

The report said Army also seeks $1.6 billion to fund modernization efforts for the branch’s Phased Array Tracking to Intercept of Target missile system.

Lockheed Martin‘s missiles and fire control business developed the MSE system that adds new features to the Raytheon-made PATRIOT Advanced Capability 3.

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Air Force to Deploy Future T-X Aircraft at Undergraduate Pilot Training Bases
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Air Force to Deploy Future T-X Aircraft at Undergraduate Pilot Training Bases


Air Force to Deploy Future T-X Aircraft at Undergraduate Pilot Training BasesThe U.S. Air Force has announced plans to adopt the future T-X Advanced Pilot Trainer  platform as replacement for the T-38C Talon aircraft used to train undergraduate pilots.

The Air Force said Wednesday it picked Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph in Texas as the service branch’s preferred location to house the first T-X aircraft slated to arrive sometime in 2022.

“As we bring the T-X training aircraft into service, we’ll base them at our current undergraduate pilot training bases which have the airspace and runways needed for the mission,” said Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson, a 2018 Wash100 recipient.

The branch intends to conduct environmental analyses at all undergraduate pilot locations throughout the country to support final basing decisions.

The Air Force said it aims to award the T-X contract this year.

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Report: Army Vet Paul Lawrence Nominated VA Undersecretary for Benefits
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Report: Army Vet Paul Lawrence Nominated VA Undersecretary for Benefits


Report: Army Vet Paul Lawrence Nominated VA Undersecretary for Benefits
Paul Lawrence

President Donald Trump has nominated Paul Lawrence, a retired U.S. Army captain and current vice president of Kaiser Associates‘ public sector business, to serve as Department of Veterans Affairs undersecretary for benefits, Military Times reported Wednesday.

Lawrence, if confirmed by Congress, would lead the Veterans Benefits Administration and oversee the agency’s efforts to deliver benefits and services to military personnel, veterans and their families.

The position has been filled by a series of interim officials after Allison Hickey resigned in October 2015, according to the report.

Lawrence previously held positions at Accenture, Ernst and Young, IBM and Mitre.

The Army Airborne School graduate holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from University of Massachusetts at Amherst and a doctorate in economics from Virginia Tech.

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National Space Council Aims to Streamline Space Launch Licensing Process
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National Space Council Aims to Streamline Space Launch Licensing Process


National Space Council Aims to Streamline Space Launch Licensing ProcessThe National Space Council has approved four recommendations that seek to introduce changes to commercial space regulations, SpaceNews reported Wednesday.

Vice President Mike Pence, chair of the council, and other NSC members cleared the recommendations during their second public session Wednesday at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The council’s first recommendation calls on the Transportation Department to streamline the space launch and re-entry licensing process by March 2019.

The council also suggested the consolidation of the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration’s commercial remote sensing regulatory affairs office and the space commerce office into a single body under the office of the Commerce Department’s secretary.

The council also asked the Commerce Department and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration to collaborate with the Federal Communications Commission to facilitate commercial space operations by developing measures designed to protect the radiofrequency spectrum.

The fourth recommendation also calls for Scott Pace, the council’s executive secretary, to work with other NSC members to come up with export control reform recommendations by the end of 2018.

The recommendations came two months after NASA formed a new advisory group to advise and inform the council on various space-related issues.

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Report: South Korea Eyes PAC-3 Missile Purchase in Response to North Korean Threat
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Report: South Korea Eyes PAC-3 Missile Purchase in Response to North Korean Threat


Report: South Korea Eyes PAC-3 Missile Purchase in Response to North Korean ThreatSouth Korea plans to buy Lockheed Martin-built Patriot Advanced Capability-3 missiles through a potential $53 million contract to support defense efforts against ballistic missile threats posed by North Korea, Defense News reported Monday.

The East Asian country’s defense acquisition program administration approved Feb. 7 the procurement plan for PAC-3 Missile Segment Enhancement as part of a foreign military sales program.

“The contract is expected to be made in the second half of the year for the delivery after 2020,” said Kang Seok-hwan, a spokesman for DAPA.

South Korea purchased PAC-3 interceptors and launcher modification tools in 2015 to modernize its PAC-2 platforms and now plans to field the updated systems in the next few months.

Analysts say the country will use PAC-3 MSE missiles to further build up its PAC-3 interceptor capability and its Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system, the report added.

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Senate Confirms John Gibson, 6 Other Nominees to DoD Leadership Posts
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Senate Confirms John Gibson, 6 Other Nominees to DoD Leadership Posts


Senate Confirms John Gibson, 6 Other Nominees to DoD Leadership Posts
Jay Gibson

John Gibson, former deputy chief management officer at the Defense Department, has received Senate confirmation to serve as DoD chief management officer, Washington Examiner reported Friday.

Gibson will lead the civilian secretaries of all military services and oversee business-focused DoD agencies and field activities in his new role.

He previously served as CEO of spaceflight and rocket engine development company XCOR Aerospace and was nominated as the Pentagon’s deputy CMO in June 2017.

The report said William Roper, former director of DoD’s Strategic Capabilities Office,  was also confirmed as the U.S. Air Force‘s assistant secretary for acquisition.

Five other DoD nominees who obtained Senate approval are:

  • Michael Griffin, undersecretary of defense for research and engineering
  • John Henderson, assistant secretary of the Air Force
  • Phyllis Bayer, assistant secretary of the U.S. Navy
  • Kevin Fahey, assistant secretary of defense
  • Thomas Ayres, general counsel of the Department of the Air Force

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IBM’s Jerry Cuomo Talks Blockchain Tech at Congressional Hearing
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IBM’s Jerry Cuomo Talks Blockchain Tech at Congressional Hearing


IBM’s Jerry Cuomo Talks Blockchain Tech at Congressional HearingJerry Cuomo, vice president of blockchain technology at IBM, has said lawmakers should help advance the integration of blockchain technology into existing government programs in order to accelerate the adoption of the technology, Business Insider reported Saturday.

“There is an opportunity for the United States to build upon its momentum to lead blockchain by doing,” Cuomo said in his testimony at a Feb. 14 congressional hearing.

“We should focus our efforts on projects that can positively impact U.S. economic competitiveness, citizens, and businesses,” he noted at the Congressional Blockchain Caucus-hosted hearing.

Cuomo also cited the potential applications of blockchain technology in drug development, digital identities and other federal government programs.

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