Dana Deasy, chief information officer at the Defense Department, has said cyber; cloud; artificial intelligence; and command, control and communications are the four digital modernization areas that support the National Defense Strategy.

Deasy said Wednesday at a Defense Systems-hosted conference that DoD works with the U.S. Cyber Command, federal agencies and industry to counter cyber threats through cyber tools and policy implementation, the department reported Wednesday.

He also cited the need for an enterprise cloud platform to support warfighters and the formation of the joint artificial intelligence center, which he said will help DoD deliver AI capabilities to service personnel.

“When I think about cloud, and AI, and all of the advanced capabilities we want to bring to the warfighter, I think about making sure the warfighter has the right comms and the right information at the right time,” Deasy said.

“And the same goes for our mission partners,” he added.

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.