Navy Secretary Ray Mabus has announced the names of three vessels that include the first ship of a new fleet of ballistic missile submarines, a John Lewis-class fleet replenishment oiler and a commercial-based catamaran.

The Defense Department said Wednesday the first SSBN vessel will be dubbed as USS Columbia while the John Lewis-class oiler will be named the USNS Earl Warren and the future Expeditionary Fast Transport will be called USNS Puerto Rico.

Austal USA will develop the EPF, formerly known as the Joint High Speed Vessel, that will support various missions such as disaster relief, humanitarian assistance, overseas contingency operations and special operations.

Navy added that the ballistic missile submarines will support elements of the U.S. nuclear deterrence and assurance policy, as well as carry part of the deployed U.S. nuclear warheads.

The Center for a New American Security has said the Defense Department should adopt a new strategic approach that seeks to expand technical and military options through a diverse set of concepts and capabilities in order to maintain technological advantage.

CNAS made the recommendation in the report “Future Foundry: A New Strategic Approach to Military-Technical Advantage” published Wednesday.

The implementation of such a strategic approach, also known as “optionality strategy,” would facilitate policy and institutional reforms within DoD as well as the development of new policies that would help promote collaboration with industry partners, CNAS noted.

The optionality strategy calls for the Pentagon to establish a “diverse portfolio of capability options” through investments in technology platforms coupled with “diverse concepts of operation” as well as shift technological competition towards access to innovation and industry centers, concept developers and military chiefs.

CNAS also recommended for DoD to develop a policy that would advance partnerships with four industry segments that are responsible for the production of military systems with “constrained competition” such as submarines and aircraft carriers and military platforms with “viable competition” that include armored vehicles and combat aircraft.

The two other industry segments include those that produce military adapted commercial platforms and “purely commercial technology” that includes mobile devices and software, according to the report.

Ben FitzGerald, director of the technology and national security program at CNAS, co-wrote the report with Alexandra Sander, a research associate at CNAS’ technology and national security program; and Jacqueline Parziale, a researcher at CNAS’ technology and national security program.

The Department of Homeland Security will transition a National Science Foundation-funded analytics and exploit detection tool into the commercial market.

DHS said Tuesday the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill-built ZeroPoint tool is the eighth cybersecurity technology product to transition as part of the cyber security division’s Transition to Practice program.

ZeroPoint works to analyze documents, email, server traffic and web content for potential exploit payloads to help users identify documents that might be infected with malicious code.

“Providing innovative, effective and user-friendly technology is essential to protecting against full-scale data breaches,” said Reginald Brothers, DHS’ undersecretary for science and technology.

TTP supports DHS in research-and-development work for projects that will transition into the commercial marketplace with the help of developers, integrators and investors that can transform such concepts into commercially viable products.

The program has transitioned eight technologies into the marketplace that include Hone, Hyperion, LOCKMA, NeMS, PACRAT, PathScan, Quantum Secured Communications and ZeroPoint.

Lt. Gen. Bill Bender, U.S. Air Force chief information officer, has said the service branch is working to develop a new information technology procurement process with the help of a new senior executive from commercial industry, Federal News Radio reported Tuesday.

Scott Maucione writes Bender told an AFCEA event audience the potential candidate will evaluate the IT process and develop a system for acquisitions specifically for cybersecurity assets.

“What we are trying to put in place with full partnership of [Air Force] acquisition is a different approach to IT procurement that actually looks at exposing ourselves and where it makes sense to handle IT differently,” said Bender.

“We’re focusing on agility as an attribute, speed as an attribute, working together collaboratively and cross functionally when it makes sense… We want to be very adaptive to the changing environment.”

The U.S. Navy has started to integrate the MQ-25 Stingray unmanned aerial vehicle with its aircraft carriers, C4ISRNET reported Tuesday.

Mark Pomerleau writes Capt. Andy Gibbons, program manager for carrier and air integration at program executive officer C4I, said that Capt. Beau Duarte, program manager for the unmanned carrier aviation program office, and his office have started to coordinate capability integration for MQ-25 with the service branch’s system commands such as the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command and Naval Sea Systems Command.

Gibbons said he has begun to collaborate with the unmanned carrier aviation program office to advance carrier-based modernization programs in support of the deployment of the drone, which is designed to perform aerial refueling functions.

“We have to expand and ensure that the networking, the command and control, the ISR capabilities that we normally field are fielded in such a way that they all arrive in time for MQ-25. Right now we’re on [a] path to do that,” he told the publication Friday at the C5ISR Summit.

A spokeswoman for NAVAIR told C4ISRNET that the service branch will release a request for proposals for the MQ-25 platform and its requirements in the summer of 2017.

Northrop Grumman secured a contract in October to conduct risk reduction efforts for the Navy’s MQ-25 drone weeks after the service branch tapped General Atomics to provide similar services.

Boeing and Lockheed Martin were also awarded separate risk reduction contracts in September for the UAV.

The U.S. government has decided to cancel a planned foreign military sales deal with Saudi Arabia for Raytheon-built precision-guided munitions due to concerns over civilian casualties associated with the Saudi-led coalition’s airstrikes in Yemen, Reuters reported Tuesday.

Phil Stewart and Warren Strobel write the U.S. will also update its training for Saudi Arabia’s air force in an effort to address issues with the country’s targeting practices.

The report said the U.S. government will continue to provide refueling support to Saudi-led coalition planes involved in offensive operations in Yemen and facilitate intelligence sharing in an effort to help the Middle Eastern country defend its border.

The decision comes less than a week after the State Department approved Saudi’s request to buy Boeing-built CH-47F Chinook helicopters, equipment and related support from the U.S. under a potential $3.51 billion FMS contract.