The Defense Department plans to reform its personnel vetting system once it assumes control of background investigations for DoD employees and contractors from the Office of Personnel Management, DoD News reported Thursday.

Garry Reid, DoD director for defense intelligence and security, said the current system faces a huge backlog that has resulted in a shortage of cleared defense contractors and a loss of potential new hires with “highly desired” technical skills.

He added that 93,000 DoD cases are currently waiting in line for top-secret investigation.

The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017 directed DoD to develop plans for taking over background investigations from OPM.

Defense Secretary James Mattis approved the plan in August, with a goal to complete the transition in three years.

Reid noted that the plan will involve a “full resetting of process and procedures” that require modernization and system reform.

A compromise version of the 2018 defense policy bill would allow the U.S. Navy to acquire 13 ships — higher than the Trump administration’s request for eight vessels, Defense News reported Wednesday.

Earlier this week, a joint House-Senate conference committee agreed on a compromise National Defense Authorization Act that includes $692 billion in fiscal 2018 Defense Department funds.

The committee agreed to authorize three littoral combat ships proposed by the House Armed Services Committee and added a destroyer, an amphibious transport dock, an expeditionary sea base and a cable ship.

The bill would also fund the repairs of destroyers USS Fitzgerald and USS John S. McCain, which were involved in separate collisions in summer.

Congress is slated to review and approve the compromise NDAA in coming weeks.

The U.S. Army and other military branches have scouted for drone and autonomous technology at the U.S. Special Operations Command‘s event which exhibited prototypes and demonstrations of drone, robotics and artificial intelligence technology.

The Army said Thursday the ThunderDrone event began September at the SOCOM SOFWERX facility in Ybor City, Florida.

Experts from military branches examined 30 projects from over 20 firms during the collaborative event.

Ghost Robotics demonstrated its Minitaur robot designed to climb through stairs and fences.

Shield AI exhibited its autonomous Hivemind Nova quadcopter designed to fly in buildings, caves and tunnels while providing video and mapping coverage.

Planck Aerosystems showcased its drone designed to autonomously launch from and land on a moving vehicle.

Josh Wells, CEO at Planck Aerosystems, stated that the technologies exhibited in the event were originally designed for maritime operations, but are also applicable for land use.

SOCOM and the Strategic Capabilities Office plan to administer to more Rapid Prototyping Events in 2018 at the same venue were ThunderDrone was held.

NATO plans to increase its military headquarters from seven to nine and integrate cyber efforts into all alliance operations, Bloomberg reported Thursday.

The organization’s defense ministers agreed to build a maritime security-focused command center in the Atlantic as well as a Europe-based command site for troop movements, with specific locations to be identified in 2018.

“The NATO command structure is the backbone of the alliance… the command structure has to change when the security environment is changing,” NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told reporters at a meeting in Brussels, Belgium.

NATO also decided to expand its cyber operations in line with a 2014 commitment to broaden collective efforts to counter cyber attacks.

Stoltenberg noted NATO aims to become as effective in the cyber area as in the air, land and sea domains.