The Defense Logistics Agency and U.S. Transportation Command have discussed how both organizations would address future mission challenges through a joint plan.

DLA and Transcom outlined the joint plan at the Fort Belvoir, Virginia-based McNamara Headquarters Complex on Wednesday along with past and current work for future operations, DLA said Friday.

DLA-Transcom Division Chief Air Force Col. Michelle Hall highlighted recent works such as humanitarian support to Iraqi and Syrian refugees and the development of the sustainment dashboard electronic system to track shipments to customers’ locations.

DLA also formed two support teams under Transcom’s Joint Task Force-Port Opening to operate a port of debarkation and handle cargos to support combatant command-led contingencies.

The two organizations also sought to forge partnerships in cybersecurity and participate in joint exercises to address cyber risks.

DLA and Transcom plan to team up with geographic combatant commands, military services and other agencies to develop plans for sustainment distribution in each region over the next 18 months.

The discussion also covered lessons learned from exercises, operating procedures and the development of skills for DLA and Transcom employees.

Lisa Heidelberg, chief of the mission command capabilities division at the U.S. Army‘s Communications-Electronics Research, Development and Engineering Center, has discussed her team’s initiatives to accelerate preparation of infrastructure for an operation.

The Army said Wednesday Heidelberg told reporters during a July 28 media event her group aims to develop expeditionary command post tents and eliminate the need for wires and keyboards in CPs.

“To get to an expeditionary force, you need to enable the commander to be mobile, to be able to command from outside the CP,” she added.

Tyler Barton, CERDEC project lead for expeditionary command post capabilities, said his team has created a CP tent that is designed to support assembly within seconds as well as house a Humvee to remove the need for trailers.

The 1st Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment has tested the tent during the Network Integration Evaluation exercises held at Fort Bliss in October last year, according to Barton.

He added his team also worked to remove video cables in the 200-pound Jupiter Switch transit box through the Display Viewer Application that is designed to connect computers over a wireless local area network.

Cyndi Carpenter, CERDEC data engineering branch chief, said her team has developed the Single, Multimodal, Android Service for Human-Computer Interaction app as part of efforts to replace keyboards with gesture, voice interaction and eye tracking technologies.

SMASH is designed to translate voice commands to activate controls on a monitor display of a battlefield, the Army noted.

Carpenter added SMASH completed laboratory and user tests and is slated to undergo a field environment assessment.

The Obama administration seeks to turn the Cyber Command into a unified command equal to military combat branches and separated from the National Security Agency to give the command’s leaders a “larger voice” in proposing the use of cyber tools in future conflicts, Reuters reported Sunday.

Warren Strobel writes the White House plans to boost the Pentagon’s cyber weapons development strategy to help deter attacks, punish cyber intruders on U.S. networks and address adversary threats such as the Islamic State militant organization.

Cyber Command currently serves as a subordinate to the Strategic Command that oversees military space operations, nuclear weapons and missile defense.

Deputy Defense Secretary Bob Work has visited the Army Research Laboratory to inspect technologies that support the Defense Department‘s Third Offset Strategy.

The U.S. Army said Wednesday ARL scientists and engineers demonstrated projects in robotics, miniaturization and manufacturing that are designed to aid the U.S. military’s capacity against adversaries.

“Our mission is to organize, train and equip a joint force that is ready for war and that is operated forward to preserve the peace,” said Work.

Work observed a robot that is designed to explore terrain in real time and team with a human operator to aid soldiers’ situational awareness in future operations, the Army said.

Engineers also showcased additive manufacturing or three-dimensional printing equipment that work to print metals, ceramics, polymers and glass through one machine, according to ARL additive manufacturing head LJ Holmes.

Holmes added the 3D printing equipment could be used to create parts of truck suspension or a ceramic body armor in the future.

Army scientist Jean Vettel’s team presented their machine learning project that aims to capture data from human brains then design individualized technologies through neuroscience.

Work also inspected the Joint Tactical Aerial Resupply Vehicle — a quadcopter that works to carry 300 pounds of cargo within a 10-mile range.

Scientists and engineers further demonstrated technologies in various areas such as active armor protection and materials sciences, the service branch noted.

Opposing views between the U.S. and Israel over Iran’s nuclear deal with six world powers have resurfaced after President Barack Obama said Israel has started to recognize that the 2015 deal “has been a game changer,” Defense News reported Sunday.

Barbara Opall-Rome writes Obama made the remarks during a press conference Thursday at the Pentagon and alluded to a January speech made by Lt. Gen. Gadi Eizenkot, chief of staff of the Israel Defense Forces, on Iran’s Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.

The report said Eizenkot called the U.S.-led nuclear agreement as “significantly changing the vector that Iran has been on.”

Obama’s statement comes after Eizenkot and Maj. Gen. Amikam Norkin, head of planning for Eizenkot, concluded a one-week visit to the U.S., Opall-Rome reports.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also issued a statement that calls for opposing countries to collaborate in an effort to address Iran’s regional aggression as well as disable its terror network worldwide, according to the report.

The National Nuclear Security Administration, Energy Department, Argonne National Laboratory and Washington State University will launch a research facility that will help NNSA secure the U.S. nuclear stockpile.

WSU said Thursday the Dynamic Compression Sector installation is located at Argonne’s Advanced Photon Source facility — a Chicago-based DOE facility.

DCS is designed to help researchers observe the behavior of materials amid extreme conditions through tunable, high-energy X-ray pulses, WSU added.

The university said researchers at DCS will work to address local energy and national security challenges, study the structure of planetary interiors and create lightweight materials for industrial, aerospace and automotive applications.

DCS’ experimental resources will also support the Defense Department‘s national security research, WSU added.

NNSA funds the facility while WSU and APS have partnered to manage DCS.