The Federal Emergency Management Agency has released the 2016 National Preparedness Report which highlights the Department of Homeland Security‘s efforts to prepare emergency first responders through interagency cooperation.

DHS said Monday that FEMA’s report tracked progress from the last five years in prevention, protection, mitigation, response and recovery initiatives.

DHS and interagency partners continue to build on the capacity of National Network of Fusion Centers to facilitate intelligence collection and sharing between fusion center customers, the department noted.

The National Counterterrorism Center, DHS and FBI jointly sponsored counterterrorism awareness workshops to educate first responders across the U.S. on prevention and response strategies against terrorist attacks, DHS added.

DHS’ counterterrorism efforts include the launch of web-based messaging materials for public awareness as well as the “If You See Something, Say Something” campaign which aims to provide information on indicators of potential terrorism and crime.

The department has also established the Regional Resiliency Assessment Program to help assess critical infrastructure systems and DHS seeks ways to apply the assessment process to issues such as climate change, cybersecurity and electromagnetic-pulse preparedness.

DHS worked to engage public and private sector partners in the 12th annual National Cyber Security Awareness Month in October 2015 which aimed to increase cyber threat resilience.

The Department of Homeland Security‘s Automated Indicator Sharing program under the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act of 2015 has become a two-way exchange of information between government and industry partners on malicious cyber acts, Federal News Radio reported Tuesday.

Scott Maucione writes Andy Ozment, DHS assistant secretary for cybersecurity and communications, noted that Redwood City, California-based cybersecurity company Anomali has participated in an exchange of data with DHS on cyber threat indicators.

Todd Helfrich, Anomali vice president of federal, told Federal News Radio that the company has sent DHS information indicators of compromises such as IP addresses, domain names and hash values.

“At the end of the day our goal is to reduce the adversary dwell time in the networks … taking an indicator and matching it within security architecture helps us defend against known adversary activities,” added Helfrich.

The U.S. government will sign a 10-year pact in the coming days to provide an estimated $38 billion in military aid to the government of Israel, Reuters reported Tuesday.

Matt Spetalnick and Patricia Zengerle write Susan Rice, U.S. national security adviser, will sign the agreement with Jacob Nagel, Israel’s chief negotiator and acting national security council chief.

The report said the deal includes a provision that will prevent Israeli requests for additional funds from Congress beyond the amount lawmakers will grant annually, as well as an arrangement to remove Israel’s capacity to spend part of the U.S. aid on locally made weapons.

The military aid agreement follows 10 months of negotiations with friction over the U.S. nuclear deal with Iran and concerns over uncertainties with the upcoming election of a new U.S. president, Reuters reported.

Rice said at the AJC Global Forum in June that President Barack Obama has hoped the new package will be finalized during his term with the current agreement due to expire in 2017.

The U.S. Air Force has deployed two bomber aircraft to engage in a fighter interception training with Japan’s air self-defense force as well as a low-level flight with South Korea in the aftermath of North Korea’s latest nuclear test.

The U.S. Pacific Command said Monday two B-1B Lancer strategic bombers from Andersen Air Force Base in Guam trained with Japan’s F-2 fighters in line with the new guidelines for Japan-U.S. defense cooperation.

USPACOM added the B-1Bs subsequently conducted low-level flight with South Korean F-15 fighters and U.S. F-16 aircraft in Osan, South Korea.

“These flights demonstrate the solidarity between South Korea, the United States and Japan to defend against North Korea’s provocative and destabilizing actions,” said Adm. Harry Harris Jr., commander of USPACOM.

“We stand resolutely with South Korea and Japan to honor our unshakable alliance commitments and to safeguard security and stability.”

The B-1B Lancer is part of USPACOM’s bomber presence in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region.

Adm. John Richardson, the chief of naval operations, believes future ships must incorporate potential Arctic operations during the design stage despite budget constraints, USNI News reported Monday.

Richardson told a Center for American Progress event that the Navy wants to maintain its presence in the Arctic to better familiarize itself with the region’s geography and learn how to conduct operations and research in the area, Megan Eckstein reports.

“We’ve got sort of a persistent presence in the Arctic, mostly it’s been sort of undersea – so our submarine force has done an exercise in the Arctic every other year where we surface one or more submarines through the ice, set up a base camp up there,” he told the event, USNI News reports.

But budget constraints and emergency requirements in other parts of the world have limited the Navy’s presence in the Arctic region, Richardson said, according to the report.

Richardson told the event that the Navy plans to integrate permanent energy generation, propulsion system and hull design into future naval vessels amid these challenges, the report says.

“The Arctic is going to be a different kind of a theater in the future, and if we neglect the fact that we’re going to be operating in the Arctic as we design this new class of ship, that’s just narrow thinking on our part,” Richardson told the event, the report says.

The Navy also seeks to replace its guided missile cruisers, destroyers and Littoral Combat Ships with surface combatants that would incorporate modular components to adopt new and emerging technologies, Eckstein reports.

President Barack Obama has nominated U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. Samuel Greaves, former deputy director of the Missile Defense Agency, to serve as the next director of MDA, Space News reported Tuesday.

Mike Gruss writes Greaves, if confirmed, will succeed U.S. Navy Vice Adm. James Syring.

Greaves currently serves as commander of the Air Force’s Space and Missile Systems Center at Los Angeles Air Force Base in California, where he is responsible for the branch’s space hardware acquisition program, according to the report.

He previously held assignments at Headquarters Air Combat Command, the National Reconnaissance Office and on the Air Staff within the Directorate of Operational Requirements and the Air Force Colonel Matters Office.

Greaves was the commander of the 45th Launch Group at Patrick Air Force base in Florida and the Launch and Range Systems Wing and Military Satellite Communications Systems Wing at Los Angeles AFB in California.

He also served as director of strategic plans, programs and analyses at the Headquarters Air Force Space Command in Peterson AFB, Colorado.