/
GAO: DHS Should Set Time Frame to Identify Non-Major Purchases
Published on
GAO: DHS Should Set Time Frame to Identify Non-Major Purchases


GAO: DHS Should Set Time Frame to Identify Non-Major PurchasesThe Government Accountability Office has recommended that the Department of Homeland Security establish a time frame for DHS component agencies to identify acquisitions that are less than $300 million.

GAO said Thursday it found that DHS components lack information to effectively manage non-major acquisition programs because they cannot “confidently” identify such projects.

DHS agencies recorded more than $6 billion in non-major procurements as of October 2016 but eight of 11 components could not identify all of these acquisitions, GAO added.

Auditors also found that 23 of 38 active non-major acquisitions do not have approved program baselines that establish costs, schedule and performance parameters.

Active acquisitions with authorized baselines are valued at $3.4 million while acquisitions without approved baselines are worth $3 million in total, GAO reported.

Some DHS components did not require approved baselines at the start of fiscal year 2017, but DHS directed agency leadership to review baselines for non-major acquisitions in response to GAO’s preliminary findings in February.

DHS has also required components to identify all non-major acquisitions by Oct. 31.

/
Lt. Gen. Arnold Bunch: Air Force May Discard Plans to Qualify 2nd Ejection Seat for F-35A
Published on
Lt. Gen. Arnold Bunch: Air Force May Discard Plans to Qualify 2nd Ejection Seat for F-35A


Lt. Gen. Arnold Bunch: Air Force May Discard Plans to Qualify 2nd Ejection Seat for F-35A
Arnold Bunch

Lt. Gen. Arnold Bunch, military deputy to the Air Force‘s assistant secretary for acquisition, has said the service branch is likely to scrap plans to qualify a second ejection seat for the Lockheed Martin-built F-35A aircraft if the Martin-Baker-made US16E seat meets all requirements, Defense News reported Monday.

Bunch told Defense News in an interview that Lockheed and Martin-Baker concluded the testing phase and submitted new information to the Air Force to decide whether to remove weight restrictions imposed on F-35A pilots in 2015.

Valerie Insinna writes pilots who weigh below 136 pounds were precluded to fly the fighter jet after the Air Force found that lightweight aviators are at risk of fatal neck injuries upon ejection.

“What I am waiting on to see if the issues that we needed to have addressed have been addressed, and if those have been addressed, I will retract my request for that information [about ACES 5],” Bunch said.

Bunch asked the F-35 joint program office to analyze the potential cost of qualifying the United Technologies Corp.-built ACES 5 ejection seat in 2016 following the weight restriction order, the report added.

/
Federal News Radio: NASA CISO Jeanette Hanna-Ruiz to Step Down
Published on
Federal News Radio: NASA CISO Jeanette Hanna-Ruiz to Step Down


Federal News Radio: NASA CISO Jeanette Hanna-Ruiz to Step Down
Jeanette Hanna-Ruiz

Jeanette Hanna-Ruiz will leave step down as NASA’s chief information security officer with April 28 as her last day on the job, Federal News Radio reported Monday.

Jason Miller writes Mike Witt, who joined NASA in February as deputy CISO, will serve as acting CISO to replace Hanna-Ruiz, who also holds the roles of senior agency information security official and associate chief information officer for information technology at the space agency.

“I have greatly appreciated [Hanna-Ruiz’s] leadership and all-encompassing insight into cybersecurity,” NASA CIO Renee Wynn said in an email to staff obtained by the station.

Hanna-Ruiz joined NASA in August 2016 after she previously served as director and manager of Microsoft‘s consulting services business for nearly four years.

She also served as director of cyber forensics and information assurance at Computer Sciences Corp.

Hanna-Ruiz served as one of the authors of the Cyberspace Policy Review during her tenure as a member of the national security staff at the White House and worked as part of the joint coordination group of the National Security Agency and Department of Homeland Security.

/
Army Tests 2 Transport Vehicles Designed to Support Multi-Domain Applications
Published on
Army Tests 2 Transport Vehicles Designed to Support Multi-Domain Applications


Army Tests 2 Transport Vehicles Designed to Support Multi-Domain ApplicationsThe U.S. Army has tested two vehicle platforms designed to provide transportation capacity in various types of terrain as well as help soldiers detect aircraft and conduct three-dimensional fires targeting missions.

The service branch said Thursday it tested the Hunter and Killer platforms during the 2017 Maneuver Fires Integrated Experiment at Fort Sill in a push to develop new methods for the systems to operate with minimal human instruction.

Hunter is built to help ground troops call for automated precision fires as well as help air forces communicate with other airmen for support.

The Killer platform offers a capacity to fight in the cyber and space domains through features that disrupt communication between UAV threats and its operators.

Scott Patton, science and technology strategist at the Army’s Aviation and Missile Research Development and Engineering Center, said feedback from the last MFIX event revolved around anti-unmanned aircraft vehicle mobile integrated capacities and its potential for transportation.

Patton added the AMRDEC team seeks to develop a capacity for units such as the 82nd and 101st Airborne divisions to airdrop the vehicles from helicopters to help gather intelligence, perform precision fires and intercept UAVs on the battlefield.

Motherboard: Trump’s Transition Team Sought Info From NASA on Space Resource Commercialization
Published on
Motherboard: Trump’s Transition Team Sought Info From NASA on Space Resource Commercialization


Motherboard: Trump's Transition Team Sought Info From NASA on Space Resource CommercializationPresident Donald Trump’s transition team inquired about the profitability and potential commercialization of space resources and technologies in a series of internal communications with NASA obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request, Motherboard reported Thursday.

David Axe writes the publication gained access to emails, briefings, budget spreadsheets and other documents that indicate the Trump administration’s interest in possible industry benefits from areas such as low Earth orbit operations and mining of raw materials on the moon.

The report said the communications between NASA and Trump’s agency review team could also serve to reflect the White House’s decision to preserve a majority of the space agency’s budget for fiscal year 2018 amid large cuts to other science agencies.

ART sought information on NASA’s technology development and transfer process with the commercial sector as well as updates on survey efforts on the moon using resource-prospector drones, Axe adds.

NASA noted in the documents that it has several procurement and commercialization programs that work to engage industry and expand economic and societal benefits from innovative technologies.

The space agency also said it is working to bring back material samples from the moon’s southern pole as part of scientific research, and Motherboard stressed extraction for commercial purposes will go against international agreements such as the 1967 Outer Space Treaty.

/
DoD Allocates $163M in Fiscal 2017 Multidisciplinary Research Funds to 23 Projects
Published on
DoD Allocates $163M in Fiscal 2017 Multidisciplinary Research Funds to 23 Projects


DoD Allocates $163M in Fiscal 2017 Multidisciplinary Research Funds to 23 ProjectsThe Defense Department has selected 23 multidisciplinary research projects to receive up to $163 million over five years as part of a grant program designed for U.S. universities.

DoD said Friday the Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative for fiscal 2017 will involve 55 academic institutions and complement other DoD efforts that support traditional, single-investigator university research grants.

The department awarded $162 million in MURI grants to 23 research projects during fiscal 2016.

Dale Ormond, principal director for research at DoD’s Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering, said MURI supports investigator teams that include more than one traditional science and engineering discipline in an effort to accelerate research progress.

Ormond added the program also helps educate and train graduate students in research.

The Army Research Office, Air Force Office of Scientific Research and Office of Naval Research solicited proposals in 23 topic areas and received 315 white papers.

A panel of DoD officials selected the final awardees after two rounds of merit-based reviews.

MURI has supported research projects related to artificial intelligence, compressive sensing, automated scene recognition, optoelectronics, mid-infrared imaging technology and direct brain-computer communication over the past three decades.

/
Air Force, NNSA Conduct Qualification Flight Test on B61-12 Gravity Bomb; Michael Lutton Comments
Published on
Air Force, NNSA Conduct Qualification Flight Test on B61-12 Gravity Bomb; Michael Lutton Comments

Air Force, NNSA Conduct Qualification Flight Test on B61-12 Gravity Bomb; Michael Lutton CommentsThe U.S. Air Force and the National Nuclear Security Administration have evaluated the non-nuclear functions of a gravity bomb during a qualification flight test held at Tonopah Test Range in Nevada.

NNSA said Thursday the service branch dropped the B61-12 non-nuclear test assembly from an F-16 aircraft as part of the test to assess the multi-role fighter aircraft’s capacity to transport and deploy the weapon.

Brig. Gen. Michael Lutton, principal assistant deputy administrator for military application at NNSA, said the demonstration offers qualification data that can help validate the baseline design of the B61-12 gravity bomb and evaluate the system’s compliance with military requirements.

“It reflects the nation’s continued commitment to our national security and that of our allies and partners,” Lutton added.

B61-12 is built to consolidate and replace four B61 variants in the country’s nuclear arsenal and NNSA noted that the first production unit is slated to be operational in March 2020.

Boeing designed the tail-kit assembly section of the B61-12 as part of a contract with the Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center while the Sandia and Los Alamos national laboratories developed hardware that was used in the flight test.

/
Mike Pompeo: CIA to Build Up Defense Efforts Against Insider Threats, Data Theft
Published on
Mike Pompeo: CIA to Build Up Defense Efforts Against Insider Threats, Data Theft


Mike Pompeo: CIA to Build Up Defense Efforts Against Insider Threats, Data Theft
Mike Pompeo

CIA Director Mike Pompeo has said his agency will continue its information security efforts to prevent data theft and the release of U.S. intelligence data by WikiLeaks and other activists, Nextgov reported Thursday.

Joseph Marks writes Pompeo said during a speech Thursday at the Center for Strategic and International Studies that the CIA continues to assess its digital measures against insider threats and aims to implement changes to address digital concerns.

“While I can’t go into detail about the exact steps, I can assure you our defenses will not be static, our approach to security must be constantly evolving,” Pompeo added.

His remarks came days after Symantec disclosed that a cyber espionage group called “Longhorn” launched cyber attacks through the use of tools and protocols linked to the Vault 7 leak of alleged CIA-backed hacking devices.

/
Maj. Gen. Anthony Funkhouser Named USACE Deputy Commanding General for Military & Intl Operations
Published on
Maj. Gen. Anthony Funkhouser Named USACE Deputy Commanding General for Military & Intl Operations


Maj. Gen. Anthony Funkhouser Named USACE Deputy Commanding General for Military & Intl Operations
Anthony Funkhouser

Maj. Gen. Anthony Funkhouser, former commanding general of the U.S. Army‘s Center for Initial Military Training, has been assigned as deputy commanding general for military and international operations at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Defense Department announced Friday.

The Army commissioned Funkhouser to the rank of second lieutenant at USACE after he graduated from the U.S. Military Academy in 1985.

He previously served as commandant and chief of staff at the U.S. Army Engineer School in Missouri, commander of USACE’s northwest division and chief of the joint capabilities division at the Joint Staff.

His combat and operational assignments have included positions within the 5th, 17th and 91st Engineer Battalion, 1st Cavalry Division, 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment, 5th and 317th Engineer Battalion Corps.

Funkhouser is a licensed professional engineer in Virginia and a recipient of various military awards such as the Defense Superior Service Medal and Army Achievement Medal.

/
GAO: Federal Agencies’ Annual IDIQ Contract Obligations Exceeded $130B in Fiscal Years 2011-2015
Published on
GAO: Federal Agencies’ Annual IDIQ Contract Obligations Exceeded $130B in Fiscal Years 2011-2015


GAO: Federal Agencies' Annual IDIQ Contract Obligations Exceeded $130B in Fiscal Years 2011-2015The Government Accountability Office has found that federal agencies spent more than $130 billion per year on indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contracts between fiscal years 2011 and 2015.

GAO said in a report published Thursday that figure represented about a third of the federal government’s total contract obligations.

The report also identified the departments of Defense, Veterans Affairs, Health and Human Services and Homeland Security as primary users of IDIQ contracts.

DoD constituted 68 percent of all IDIQ contract spending in the past five years with contracting officers citing flexibility as the main driver behind the adoption of such contracts.

The agency found that at least 85 percent of orders made under multiple-award contracts and approximately 70 percent of single-award IDIQ contracts between FY 2011 and FY 2015 underwent competition.

GAO reviewed 18 single-award IDIQ contracts at DoD and found that 10 of them were not competed.

“Prices on IDIQ contracts and orders at DOD were established at different points, depending on how well-defined the requirements were at the time of contract award,” the agency added.

1 … 2,333 2,334 2,335 2,336 2,337 … 2,711