Lt. Gen. Thomas Waldhauser,  director of joint force development at Joint Staff J7, has been nominated to serve as the next commander of U.S. Africa Command.

Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said Thursday Waldhauser’s nomination, if approved by Congress, will result in a promotion to the rank of general.

Waldhauser joined the U.S. military in 1976 as an infantry officer and has since held company grade assignments with the U.S. Marine Corps.

He deployed to the staff of the commander for the Marine Corps Central Command during Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm and served as the battalion landing team commander of 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment.

Waldhauser took the roles as commanding general for the Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory and as deputy commander for the Marine Corps Combat Development Command when he was appointed as brigadier general in 2003.

He was promoted to the lieutenant general rank in 2009 and served as the deputy commandant for Plans, Policies and Operations from 2009 to 2010.

Defense Secretary Ash Carter has said the Pentagon must continue its purchases of Russian RD-180 rocket engines until the U.S. can find an alternative to the United Launch Alliance‘s Atlas V, Breaking Defense reported Wednesday.

Colin Clark writes that Carter told the Senate Appropriation defense subcommittee the military needs to buy at least 18 RD-180 engines or fly its payloads on Delta IV launch vehicles, which he claimed would require additional funds.

U.S. Air Force officials and some senior Pentagon officials have promoted the use of 18 RD-180 rocket engines until ULA, SpaceX and Blue Origin can offer new rockets that can carry military and other national security satellites into space, according to Clark’s report.

Moscow, Russia-based rocket engine company NPO Energomash designed and manufactures the RD-180 engines used on the Atlas V rocket.

The Government Accountability Office has recommended the Transportation Department define and document its roles and responsibilities for responses to cyber attacks against vehicles with an emphasis on systems that affect passenger safety.

GAO said in a report publicly released Monday it found modern vehicle interfaces for functions such as braking and steering that rely on software can be vulnerable to attacks via both short-range and long-range wireless connections.

Auditors at GAO consulted 32 selected industry stakeholders on practices that work to identify and mitigate potential vehicle cybersecurity risks such as lack of transparency, communication and collaboration on vehicles’ cyber defenses as the automobiles move through supply chains.

GAO found the DOT’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has worked to address potential vehicle cybersecurity issues and looks to determine its role in responding to a real-world attack.

GAO conducted the study to address available information about risks in modern vehicles that could affect passenger safety, practices and technologies to mitigate vehicle cybersecurity challenges and its impacts, opinions of selected stakeholders and DOT’s efforts to address vehicle cybersecurity.

Auditors also reviewed existing regulations and literature and interviewed DOT officials as well as other government heads from the Commerce Department, Defense Department, Department of Homeland Security, industry associations and various other subject matter experts.