Senate Approves $700B Defense Budget for Fiscal 2018
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Senate Approves $700B Defense Budget for Fiscal 2018


Senate Approves $700B Defense Budget for Fiscal 2018The Senate on Monday approved through an 89-8 vote a bill that would authorize $700 billion in defense spending for fiscal year 2018, Defense News reported Monday.

The FY 2018 National Defense Authorization Act would allocate $640 billion for the Defense Department’s base budget and $60 billion in war funds.

The legislation exceeds the Trump administration’s $603 billion budget request for defense and reflects a $91 billion increase over the cap established by the Budget Control Act for base funds.

The bill’s approval in the upper chamber came two months after the House passed its $696.5 billion defense policy bill for fiscal 2018.

The Senate’s NDAA version would authorize the procurement of 10 more Boeing-built F/A-18 Super Hornet aircraft, 24 additional Lockheed Martin-made F-35 fighter jets and five more ships for the U.S. Navy.

The measure would also create a new chief information warfare officer at DoD and oppose the creation of a new space-focused service branch proposed in the House bill.

The Washington Post also reported that the Senate bill would ban the use of software from Russian company Kaspersky Lab across federal agencies, military branches and government contractors.

Several proposed amendments to the defense policy bill failed to get votes on the Senate floor and these include proposals to increase sanctions against North Korea for its nuclear and ballistic missile tests and the president’s proposed ban on transgender troops, the report added.

FirstNet Board OKs $74M Fiscal 2018 Public Safety Network Budget
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FirstNet Board OKs $74M Fiscal 2018 Public Safety Network Budget


FirstNet Board OKs $74M Fiscal 2018 Public Safety Network BudgetThe First Responder Network Authority Board has approved a fiscal year 2018 budget of $73.5 million to fund FirstNet’s efforts to deploy, operate and manage a nationwide public safety broadband network.

FirstNet said Thursday the amount is 13 percent lower than the agency’s current funding level as a result of its public-private partnership with AT&T.

The budget also covers customer outreach, product marketing and development activities meant to help ensure the network will address current and future needs of first responders.

FirstNet and AT&T will work together over the next fiscal year to initiate the radio access network build-out for participating state and territories; test current and future network features; and deliver applications through an open application ecosystem, among others.

Participation under FirstNet is optional and 20 states and territories have accepted the authority’s network build-out plan to date.

FirstNet is an independent organization within the National Telecommunications and Information Administration that was established to deliver a nationwide public safety broadband network for emergency responders.

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USAF Opens Air Defense Facility in Israel
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USAF Opens Air Defense Facility in Israel


USAF Opens Air Defense Facility in IsraelThe U.S. Air Force has inaugurated its first permanent facility inside the Israeli Air Force’s Mashabim Air Base in Negev desert, Times of Israel reported Tuesday.

Brig. Gen. Tzvika Haimovitch, chief of Israel’s aerial defense command, said the establishment of U.S. air base will help increase defense partnership between the two countries.

The base’s location is near a U.S. military radar installation built to detect incoming missiles and forecast flight paths, the report noted.

Some U.S. military personnel routinely participate in joint exercises and cooperation programs with Israeli defense forces.

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Air Force Accepts 2 New Space Object Tracking Satellites Into Operation
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Air Force Accepts 2 New Space Object Tracking Satellites Into Operation


Air Force Accepts 2 New Space Object Tracking Satellites Into OperationThe U.S. Air Force has activated a pair of new Geosynchronous Space Situational Awareness Program satellites in a move to expand the service branch’s capacity to track and characterize objects in space.

The 1st Space Operations Squadron at Schriever Air Force Base received the GSSAP 3 and 4 satellites built to aid space asset protection efforts.

GSSAP satellites are designed to operate in the near-geosynchronous orbit and collect space situational awareness data.

GSSAP satellites work to also detect, warn, characterize and attribute space system disruptions in the geosynchronous environment as well as safeguard space-based navigation and communications systems.

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Thomas Harker to Be Nominated Assistant Secretary of Navy Financial Mgmt & Comptroller Office
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Thomas Harker to Be Nominated Assistant Secretary of Navy Financial Mgmt & Comptroller Office


Thomas Harker to Be Nominated Assistant Secretary of Navy Financial Mgmt & Comptroller Office
Thomas Harker

Thomas Harker, associate deputy assistant secretary for financial policy at the Department of Veterans Affairs, will be nominated as assistant secretary of the U.S. Navy financial management and comptroller office.

The White House said Friday Harker previously held operational and financial management roles at the U.S. Coast Guard before he retired from active duty in 2012 with the rank of commander.

His USCG career has included time as comptroller for the Integrated Support Command, business manager of the Buoy Tender Replacement Project and deputy chief for the Office of Financial Transformation and Compliance.

He also served as policy analyst at the Office of Management and Budget and worked in the private sector as a practice director and senior manager at Grant Thornton.

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Robert Cardillo: NGA in Talks With Congress to Trade Govt Data Sets for Industry’s AI, Algorithms
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Robert Cardillo: NGA in Talks With Congress to Trade Govt Data Sets for Industry’s AI, Algorithms


Robert Cardillo: NGA in Talks With Congress to Trade Govt Data Sets for Industry's AI, Algorithms
Robert Cardillo

National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency Director Robert Cardillo has said NGA has initiated talks with Congress to strike a public-private partnership in an effort to facilitate the exchange of the agency’s data archives for industry’s algorithms, artificial intelligence and other computational methods, Federal News Radio reported Friday.

“The proposition is, we have labeled data sets that are decades old that we know have value for those that are pursuing artificial intelligence, computer vision, algorithmic development to automate some of the interpretation that was done strictly by humans in my era of being an analyst,” Cardillo said Thursday at a Georgetown University-hosted conference.

“And so that partnership is one that we’re discussing with the Hill now to make sure we can do it fairly and openly.”

Cardillo, an inductee into Executive Mosaic’s Wash100 for 2017, said NGA also considers possible abuse if it decides to provide a group of selected companies access to the agency’s data sets.

“We want to make sure we’re doing this in a transparent way so that people can know what is being exchanged, and make sure we have the proper protections in place against any abuse,” he added.

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5 Tech Groups Ask Senate to Insert Govt IT Modernization Bill in FY 2018 NDAA
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5 Tech Groups Ask Senate to Insert Govt IT Modernization Bill in FY 2018 NDAA


5 Tech Groups Ask Senate to Insert Govt IT Modernization Bill in FY 2018 NDAAFive technology trade organizations have asked the Senate to add as an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal 2018 a bipartisan bill that would authorize federal agencies to establish funding mechanisms to update their information technology systems.

The trade groups wrote in a Wednesday letter to Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain (R-Arizona) and Sen. Jack Reed (D-Rhode Island), SASC ranking member that the Modernizing Government Technology Act of 2017 marks the initial step to help agencies build up their cybersecurity posture and fund technology investments.

Sens. Jerry Moran (R-Kansas), Tom Udall (D-New Mexico), Steve Daines (R-Montana) and Mark Warner (D-Virginia) proposed the MGT Act in the upper chamber, while a similar version of the bill was passed by the House in May.

“Inconsistent funding cycles inhibit agency ability to plan for and procure the latest innovations to address mission IT needs and force agencies to instead maintain older systems for mission continuity,” the groups added.

The IT Alliance for the Public Sector co-wrote the letter with the Professional Services Council, BSA | The Software Alliance, Security Industry Association and TechNet.

The Senate is expected to hold a final vote on the FY 2018 NDAA Monday after the chamber decided to skip debate on proposed amendments to the defense spending bill.

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CBP to Examine Potential Use of Small UAS in Border Patrol Missions
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CBP to Examine Potential Use of Small UAS in Border Patrol Missions


CBP to Examine Potential Use of Small UAS in Border Patrol MissionsThe Customs and Border Protection agency has announced plans to evaluate the use of small unmanned aircraft systems in three border patrol sectors as part of a program to help agents conduct intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, tracking and acquisition missions.

CBP said Thursday it will test-fly the Puma, Raven and InstantEye Quadcopter UAS platforms in Tucson, Arizona; Rio Grande Valley in Texas; and Swanton, Vermont.

The agency expects the three sUAS models to provide sensory and visual data to border patrol agents on the ground as well as support military, surveillance and force protection missions during the tests.

Carla Provost, acting chief of USBP, said the agency seeks to help train border patrol law enforcement personnel on illicit activity identification and interception activities across the U.S. border.

“These aircraft will enable Border Patrol agents to surveil remote areas not easily accessible by other means,” added Provost.

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DARPA Seeks Proposals for 6 New Research Programs Under Electronics Resurgence Initiative
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DARPA Seeks Proposals for 6 New Research Programs Under Electronics Resurgence Initiative


DARPA Seeks Proposals for 6 New Research Programs Under Electronics Resurgence InitiativeThe Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has released broad agency announcements to seek research proposals for six new programs under the Electronics Resurgence Initiative.

ERI is a program that will allocate $75 million in fiscal 2018 funds to support research efforts across the six new programs in the areas of system architectures, materials and integration and circuit design over the next four years, DARPA said Wednesday.

Each thrust area will back two separate programs.

The materials and integration thrust includes:

  • Three Dimensional Monolithic System-on-a-Chip or 3DSoC program
  • Foundations Required for Novel Compute or FRANC program

The architectures thrust covers:

  • Software Defined Hardware or SDH program
  • Domain-Specific System on a Chip or DDSoc program

The design thrust includes:

  • Intelligent Design of Electronic Assets or IDEA program
  • Posh Open Source Hardware or POSH program

ERI will also earmark $141 million in FY 2018 funds to the Joint University Microelectronics Program and other existing initiatives such as the Circuit Realization at Faster Timescales and Common Heterogeneous Integration and IP Reuse Strategies programs.

“These new ERI investments, in combination with the investments in our current programs and JUMP, constitute the next steps in creating a lasting foundation for innovating and delivering electronics capabilities that will contribute crucially to national security in the 2025 to 2030 time frame,” said Bill Chappell, director of DARPA’s microsystems technology office and ERI head.

DARPA will hold proposers days for the SDH and DSSoC programs on Sept. 18 and 19 in Arlington, Virginia.

Proposers days for design area’s POSH and IDEA programs will take place on Sept. 22 in Mountain View, California, while DARPA will hold a webinar on Sept. 15 on the FRANC program.

The agency will also hold a proposers day for the 3DSoC program on Sept. 22 in Virginia.

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Navy-Led International Team Deploys Buoys to Collect Weather, Oceanographic Data
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Navy-Led International Team Deploys Buoys to Collect Weather, Oceanographic Data


Navy-Led International Team Deploys Buoys to Collect Weather, Oceanographic DataA U.S. Navy-led international team has deployed buoys in the Arctic ocean to collect weather and oceanographic data as part of the International Arctic Buoy Program.

The U.S. National Ice Center launched Air Expendable Ice Beacons from the Danish air force’s C-130 aircraft to gather data that can help develop environmental models and boost forecasting capacities in the Arctic region, the Navy said Tuesday.

USNIC worked alongside the Office of Naval Research, Office of the Oceanographer of the Navy, the Danish joint Arctic command, Environmental and Climate Change Canada and the University of Washington to perform the IABP mission.

“The buoys will provide data for 3-5 years providing operational and scientific community’s access to the in-situ observations available to all forecasters and researchers through the International Arctic Buoy Program,” said Lt. Emily Motz, coordinator for the Arctic Buoy Program at the U.S. National Ice Center.

Cmdr. Ruth Lane, commanding officer at the U.S. National Ice Center, said that the data gathered from the AXIB buoys can potentially aid the numerical weather prediction activities of the IABP team.

The Navy noted that the buoy mission will also provide data to support the Seasonal Ice Zone Reconnaissance Surveys program under the ONR Arctic and Global Prediction Program.

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