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Report: USAF Reviews Space Tech Acquisition Strategy
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Report: USAF Reviews Space Tech Acquisition Strategy


Report: USAF Reviews Space Tech Acquisition StrategyU.S. Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson has said the military branch is currently reviewing how it acquires space systems, SpaceNews reported Thursday.

Wilson told the audience at the Air Force Association’s air warfare symposium that the Air Force seeks to accelerate space systems acquisition and address the “stove-piped” structure of space programs.

She added that the Air Force might reorganize its Space and Missile Systems Center, which is responsible for most space procurements.

The military branch also seeks to address challenges posed by bureaucracy and give program managers the authority to speed up projects, Wilson noted.

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Army Eyes New Surface-to-Air Missile Tech to Disrupt Drones, RAM Threats
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Army Eyes New Surface-to-Air Missile Tech to Disrupt Drones, RAM Threats


Army Eyes New Surface-to-Air Missile Tech to Disrupt Drones, RAM ThreatsThe U.S. Army‘s fiscal 2019 spending plan includes an initiative to procure a new surface-to-air missile system against defeat rockets, artillery, mortars, cruise missiles and drones, Defense News reported Friday.

The service branch wants to use an Expanded Mission Area Missile in conjunction with the ground-based weapon system known as Indirect Fire Protection Capability Increment 2 currently under development to counter RAM threats.

IFPC is designed to feature a multi-mission launcher that will accommodate a range of missiles, including EMAM and the AIM-9X Sidewinder weapon that the Army previously selected.

The Army estimated it will spend $519.7 million to produce IFPC from through fiscal 2023 and another $51 million to integrate EMAM into the system’s launcher, the report noted.

The report added the service branch performed a competitive solicitation in March of last year using special acquisition authorities and subsequently picked three companies as contenders for the EMAM contract.

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Lisa Gordon-Hagerty Takes Oath as DOE Nuclear Security Undersecretary & NNSA Administrator
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Lisa Gordon-Hagerty Takes Oath as DOE Nuclear Security Undersecretary & NNSA Administrator


Lisa Gordon-Hagerty Takes Oath as DOE Nuclear Security Undersecretary & NNSA Administrator
Lisa Gordon-Hagerty

Lisa Gordon-Hagerty, former president of security consulting firm Tier Tech International, has taken her oath as the Department of Energy‘s undersecretary for nuclear security and administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration.

DOE said Thursday Gordon-Hagerty brings more than three decades of national security experience to her new position.

She began her career at the DOE-funded Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and later held leadership positions within the department, National Security Council and the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

Gordon-Hagerty also led national security consulting services provider LEG as president and CEO.

“I am especially proud of the fact that she is the first woman in history to lead the NNSA and look forward to working together to address the administration’s goal of modernizing our nuclear security enterprise,” said DOE Secretary Rick Perry.

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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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