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NASA to Review Progress of James Webb Space Telescope
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NASA to Review Progress of James Webb Space Telescope


NASA to Review Progress of James Webb Space TelescopeNASA will conduct an independent review on the status of the James Webb Space Telescope program ahead of a planned launch in the first half of 2019, Space News reported Thursday.

The space agency will release an updated launch date for the future space telescope following the independent review despite potential challenges that could delay the spacecraft’s lift off.

Thomas Zurbuchen, NASA associate administrator for science, said at a hearing of the House Science Committee’s space subcommittee he directed the JWST team to begin the review in January following the completion of tests involving the space telescope’s sunshade technology.

Cristina Chaplain, director of the Government Accountability Office, said the space telescope’s launch may experience future delays given its current assembly and testing phase and the risks associated with future tasks and schedules.

The House Science Committee hearing also discussed the status of other NASA projects including the Wide-Field Infrared Survey Telescope and the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite.

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Ellen Lord: DoD Eyes Incentives, Electronic Tools Adoption to Accelerate Contract Awards
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Ellen Lord: DoD Eyes Incentives, Electronic Tools Adoption to Accelerate Contract Awards


Ellen Lord: DoD Eyes Incentives, Electronic Tools Adoption to Accelerate Contract Awards
Ellen Lord

Ellen Lord, defense undersecretary for acquisition, technology and logistics, has said the Defense Department needs to expedite contract awards by up to 50 percent, DoD News reported Thursday.

“Some of the ways we intend to do this is to incentivizing contractors to submit responsive proposals in 60 days or less and implementing electronic departmentwide streamlining tools,” Lord said at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing Thursday.

She said the Pentagon awards approximately 1,800 contracts and 36,000 task and delivery orders on an average daily basis.

DoD has used authorities to accelerate the recruitment of professionals across several areas such as artificial intelligence, engineering, lasers, contracting and robotics, she told lawmakers.

Lord cited AT&L’s efforts to transition the majority of work back to service branches and the need for DoD to advance experimentation and prototyping initiatives.

She also discussed how the National Defense Authorization Acts in the last two years provided DoD new tools and authorities to accelerate the deployment of new capabilities to warfighters and introduce changes to the acquisition system, the report added.

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Air Force to Review Programs, Budget Accounts to Prepare for Future Defense Plan
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Air Force to Review Programs, Budget Accounts to Prepare for Future Defense Plan


Air Force to Review Programs, Budget Accounts to Prepare for Future Defense PlanThe U.S. Air Force will conduct a zero-based review on all of the service branch’s budget accounts, programs and associated manpower authorizations in a move to prepare for the Fiscal Year 2020 Program Objective Memorandum and Future Years Defense Plan.

The service branch said Wednesday the review will determine if the right services are delivered correctly throughout the Air Force as well as maximize limited Air Force resources.

Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson and Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein said in a memo sent Dec. 4 the service branch should synchronize its operations with the new National Defense Strategy and back Defense Secretary James Mattis’ Defense Department efforts.

The leaders’ memo also discussed the continuous Air Force combat operations in the last 25 years along with the annually declining defense budgets and peaceful global environment expectations.

The Zero-based review will commence on January 2018 and a report on results and recommendations from the review will be issued in March 2018.

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Army, Foreign Researchers Initiate Cyberspace Disinformation Research Effort
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Army, Foreign Researchers Initiate Cyberspace Disinformation Research Effort


Army, Foreign Researchers Initiate Cyberspace Disinformation Research EffortU.S. Army researchers, along with Ukrainian and Bulgarian scientists have joined to commence a global research effort to study disinformation attacks occurring in cyberspace.

The Army said Tuesday it has partnered with researchers from the Bulgarian Defense Institute; Chernihiv National University of Technology; and the National Technical University of Ukraine to administer the Cyber Rapid Analysis for Defense Awareness of Real-time Situation or CyRADARS project.

Dr. Alexander Kott, chief scientist at the Army Research Lab, stated that the research team will be entailed to study and develop theoretical foundations, methods and approaches to detect fake information and deliver fast notifications of disinformation.

“Information attacks have emerged as a major concern of societies worldwide,” Kott said.

“They come under different names and in different flavors: fake news, disinformation, political astroturfing, influence operations,” he added.

The study will build on observed real life disinformation instances such as those that have occurred against Ukraine.

The ARL will contribute published research results and predictive theories and algorithms that aim to explain the movement of opinions and integrity through a network.

CyRADARS will also employ an open campus model that allows outsiders to contribute their findings and insights to the research effort.

“Within the context of CyRADARS, students and faculty from Ukraine and Bulgaria will be able to come to ARL and use ARL’s Open Campus facilities and test beds while working on joint projects with ARL scientists,” Kott said.

The research will be conducted in a virtual networked laboratory connecting the four institutions involved.

The NATO-funded effort was launched Nov. 14 to 15 and supports the organization’s Science for Peace and Security Program that aims to promote science and technology collaborations between NATO nations and non-NATO partners.

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DHS Cyber Assessment Team to Expand Risk Evaluation Role to Operational Tech
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DHS Cyber Assessment Team to Expand Risk Evaluation Role to Operational Tech


DHS Cyber Assessment Team to Expand Risk Evaluation Role to Operational TechThe Department of Homeland Security‘s cyber assessment team will extend its cyber risk assessment activities beyond information technology systems to include national critical infrastructure and operational technology, Federal News Radio reported Wednesday.

The National Cybersecurity Assessments and Technical Services team will get an expanded role as part of an ongoing reorganization effort of DHS’ National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center.

“If there were three different groups doing [operational technology] assessments, now they are realigned under NCATS,” NCATS Director Rob Karas told Federal News Radio in an interview.

“We are getting the industrial control systems, which do the design and architecture reviews, the Network Architecture Verification and Validation review and Industrial Control Systems-Computer Emergency Readiness Team Cyber Security Evaluation Tool assessments,” Karas added.

Don Benack, cybersecurity assurance program manager for NCATS, noted that the team can also expand its other functions such as risk and vulnerability assessments, remote penetration testing and cyber hygiene scanning to cover more networks and systems.

NCATS conducts 38 million scans of internet addresses daily and provides reports on critical, high, medium and low vulnerabilities facing 615 government and industry customers, according to Karas.

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Report: DoD Sees Decline in Troop Levels for Warfighters Stationed in Iraq, Syria
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Report: DoD Sees Decline in Troop Levels for Warfighters Stationed in Iraq, Syria


Report: DoD Sees Decline in Troop Levels for Warfighters Stationed in Iraq, SyriaThe Defense Department has said the number of warfighters stationed in Iraq and Syria continues to trend down from current troop levels at 7,000 units, DoD News reported Wednesday.

U.S. Army Col. Robert Manning, spokesman for the Pentagon, said the numbers comply with Defense Secretary James Mattis’ push to provide American people with an understanding of U.S. forces’ commitment to supporting the region.

“We seek to inform the American public with the imperative of operational security and denying the enemy any advantage … The secretary has been clear about improving our public reporting while increasing commanders’ ability to adapt to changing battlefield conditions to counter emerging threats,” said Manning.

The colonel noted coalition forces in the two countries will begin to advise, assist and train personnel in the region and work to prevent the potential regeneration of Islamic State militant groups or the formation of similar terror organizations.

U.S. forces will also aid local forces on the stabilization of liberated territories in Syria through the restoration of services, disposal of improvised explosive devices and the delivery of humanitarian aid.

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Report: Navy to Start Pilot Program for Aegis ‘Virtual Twin’ in February
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Report: Navy to Start Pilot Program for Aegis ‘Virtual Twin’ in February


Report: Navy to Start Pilot Program for Aegis ‘Virtual Twin’ in FebruaryThe U.S. Navy plans to field in February a “virtual twin” of the Aegis Combat System as part of a pilot program that aims to accelerate the deployment of upgrades to the platform, USNI News reported Wednesday.

The pilot program seeks to facilitate testing on guided-missile cruisers and destroyer ships of potential upgrades to the weapons system without interference to the operations of the maritime-based Aegis platform.

Capt. Todd Boehm, major program manager for Aegis integrated warfare systems, said the virtual twin is a set of code that comprises the Aegis Baseline 9 system and currently operates at Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren in Virginia.

Boehm said the service will test and determine how it can integrate and test a new algorithm that works to build up the “surface tracking picture” into the baseline in real time through the use of the Aegis virtual twin aboard a destroyer that is set to undergo the Composite Training Unit Exercise.

The Navy will conduct the second phase of the pilot program between the spring and summer of 2018 with a plan to put the virtual twin onboard a vessel that is set to carry out a live-fire Standard Missile test as part of the Combat Systems Ship Qualifications Trials.

The testing phase seeks to help developers immediately identify problems associated with an early-stage combat system capability build prior to spending on the system’s operational test and evaluation stage, the report noted.

 

A&D Trade Group Asks Congress to Finalize FY 2018 Spending Bill, Address Budget Caps
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A&D Trade Group Asks Congress to Finalize FY 2018 Spending Bill, Address Budget Caps


A&D Trade Group Asks Congress to Finalize FY 2018 Spending Bill, Address Budget Caps

The Aerospace Industries Association has called on House and Senate leaders to finalize the appropriations bill for fiscal year 2018 as well as repeal or increase the budget caps in order to avert a possible sequestration.

AIA and other defense and aerospace industry executives wrote in the Dec. 1 letter to congressional leaders that the lack of a statutory repeal or adjustment to discretionary budget caps in the final FY 2018 spending policy bill “could undermine our collective commitment to strengthening military readiness,” the trade group said Wednesday.

They also expressed concerns on the potential impact of continuing resolutions and cuts associated with sequestration on non-defense programs at NASA and the Federal Aviation Administration.

“These non-defense programs are vital to our economic prosperity and to our ability to maintain a vibrant and robust aerospace and defense industrial base,” the leaders noted.

David Melcher, AIA president and CEO, co-wrote the letter with Dennis Muilenburg, AIA chairman and Boeing chairman, president and CEO; and Thomas Kennedy, AIA vice chairman and Raytheon chairman and CEO.

Other signatories in the letter include:

  • Barry Chapman, Siemens VP of aerospace and defense for U.S. federal business
  • Bradley Feldmann, Cubic president and CEO
  • Brian Curtin, BRPH president and CEO
  • Christopher Kubasik, L3 Technologies president and chief operating officer
  • Craig Casey, Burns & McDonnell VP
  • Curtis Reusser, Esterline Technologies chairman, president and CEO
  • Edward Auslander, LORD Corp. CEO
  • Eileen Drake, Aeroject Rocketdyne president and CEO
  • Frank McKeown, Triumph Group VP of government operation
  • Gerard DeMuro, BAE Systems president and CEO
  • Greg Bloom, Seal Science president
  • Hal Murdock, American Pacific president and CEO
  • John Costello, Microsemi vice president of development
  • Karl Hutter, Click Bond president and CEO
  • Kathleen Boyle, Verify CEO
  • Kevin Phillips, ManTech International president and chief operating officer
  • Kevin Sandkuhler, Securities Critical Infrastructure Services CEO
  • Laura Siegal, NEO Tech chief financial officer
  • M.L. Crosier, Denison Industries business development manager
  • Marillyn Hewson, Lockheed Martin chairman, president and CEO
  • Marion Blakely, Rolls-Royce North America president and CEO
  • Mark Cumm, M. Torres America VP of sales
  • Mark Lee, Aero-mark chairman and owner
  • Michael Strianese, L3 Technologies chairman and CEO
  • Mike Petters, Huntington Ingalls Industries president and CEO
  • Raanan Horowitz, Elbit Systems of America president and CEO
  • Richard Addi, Exostar president and CEO
  • Robert Ortberg, Rockwell Collins charman, president and CEO
  • Robert Smith, Acutec Precision Aerospace executive chairman
  • Robert Strain, Ball Aerospace president
  • Roger Krone, Leidos chairman and CEO
  • Ronald Dolan, TIP Technologies president and owner
  • Scott Donnelly, Textron chairman, president and CEO
  • Stephen Stone, Primus Technologies president
  • Terence Lyons, Integral Aerospace CEO
  • Thomas Gentile, Spirit AeroSystems president and CEO
  • Thomas Johnston, Rhinestahl corporate director
  • Timothy Maloney, Honeywell Aerospace president and CEO
  • Timothy Thomas, Cadenas PARTsolutions CEO
  • Tom Quinly, Curtiss-Wright COO
  • Wes Bush, Northrop Grumman chairman, president and CEO

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DHS’ Jeanette Manfra: Agencies Should Adopt ‘Risk-Based’ IT Governance, Procurement Methods
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DHS’ Jeanette Manfra: Agencies Should Adopt ‘Risk-Based’ IT Governance, Procurement Methods


DHS' Jeanette Manfra: Agencies Should Adopt 'Risk-Based' IT Governance, Procurement MethodsJeanette Manfra, assistant secretary for cybersecurity and communications at the Department of Homeland Security, has said she believes federal agencies should factor risks into information technology governance and procurement efforts, FedTech Magazine reported Tuesday.

Manfra told audience during her keynote address at the 2017 Symantec Government Symposium held Tuesday that agencies make cybersecurity decisions based on risks their missions currently face and update outdated IT platforms that potentially create network vulnerabilities.

DHS introduced the Continuous Diagnostics and Mitigation program to help address potential threats, assist agencies on the monitoring of IT systems and instantaneously react to potential vulnerabilities based on the issue’s level of severity.

“The government should aim to automate and correlate the threat data it is getting from CDM,” said Manfra.

The department also established a federal dashboard designed to serve as a governmentwide threat awareness platform using data collected from other agency dashboards.

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James Geurts Assumes Navy Acquisition Chief Role
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James Geurts Assumes Navy Acquisition Chief Role


James Geurts Assumes Navy Acquisition Chief Role
James Geurts

James Geurts, former acquisition executive at the U.S. Special Operations Command, has officially assumed the role of assistant U.S. Navy secretary for research, development and acquisition during a swearing-in ceremony, USNI News reported Tuesday.

Geurts said in a statement that he looks forward to collaborating with civilian, military, industry and academic partners to equip and support the Navy and U.S. Marine Corps.

In his previous role, Geurts oversaw all special operations forces acquisition, technology and logistics activities.

He previously held various leadership positions at USSOCOM such as deputy director of the Special Operations Research, Development and Acquisition Center; commander of the Joint Acquisition Task Force – Dragon; and program executive officer for fixed-wing aircraft.

Geurts joined the U.S. Air Force in 1987, where he held numerous engineering and program management leadership roles under multiple weapon systems programs before he retired in 2009 with the rank of colonel.

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