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NRO, SpaceX Mark Initial Launch of Proliferated System Through NROL-146 Mission; Chris Scolese Quoted
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NRO, SpaceX Mark Initial Launch of Proliferated System Through NROL-146 Mission; Chris Scolese Quoted

A National Reconnaissance Office mission supporting NRO’s proliferated architecture of satellites took off Wednesday aboard SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket from a launch complex at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.

The NROL-146 mission marks the first launch of NRO’s proliferated operational systems “featuring responsive collection and rapid data delivery,” the agency said Wednesday.

“The NROL-146 mission that launched today reflects the NRO’s commitment to developing innovative, faster, and more resilient technologies and providing greater capabilities to our IC, DoD, and allied partners,” said Chris Scolese, director of NRO and a four-time Wash100 awardee.

“These systems provide key information that can only be obtained from the vantage point of space,” Scolese added.

NRO said approximately six launches in support of the agency’s proliferated architecture are planned in 2024 and that it expects additional launches to occur through 2028.

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DARPA Selects 6 Teams to Mature Future VTOL Aircraft Designs
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DARPA Selects 6 Teams to Mature Future VTOL Aircraft Designs

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has selected six companies to mature their design concepts for a low-weight autonomous aircraft system with vertical landing and take-off and long endurance leap-ahead capabilities.

AeroVironment, Griffon Aerospace, Karem Aircraft, Method Aeronautics, Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin‘s Sikorsky subsidiary will proceed to the next development phase of the AdvaNced airCraft Infrastructure-Less Launch And RecoverY, or ANCILLARY, program, DARPA said Wednesday.

“Our performers are searching for innovative ways to increase payload weight and range/endurance of small, ship-launched UAS by means of novel configurations, propulsion, and controls while also removing the need for special infrastructure,” said Steve Komadina, DARPA program manager for ANCILLARY.

During the 10-month Phase Ib, the selected teams will refine their concept designs by reducing system risks and conducting component and configuration hover testing.

DARPA will downselect teams for the detailed design, fabrication and flight testing phase.

“While we anticipate this effort is most likely to support Navy and Marine missions, we have found other services are very interested in the capabilities this technology can bring to diverse missions, including logistics, strike, and special uses by the Army, Air Force, Special Operations Command, and Coast Guard,” Komadina said.

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Lockheed Secures $99M Navy Award for Continued Missile Production Support
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Lockheed Secures $99M Navy Award for Continued Missile Production Support

Lockheed Martin‘s space business will continue providing the U.S. Navy with systems engineering, test planning and long lead material to support missile production under a $99 million award.

The Department of Defense said Wednesday the modification recently awarded against the initial $22.8 million contract extends Lockheed Martin Space’s missile production support work until Feb. 2, 2027.

Performance locations include Denver, Colorado; Huntsville, Alabama; Sunnyvale, California; Michoud, Louisiana; Stennis, Mississippi; and East Aurora, New York.

The cost-plus-incentive-fee and cost-plus-fixed-fee unpriced letter contract modification, which was awarded on a sole source basis, is funded using the fiscal year 2023 and 2024 research, development, test and evaluation budget. Washington, D.C.-based Strategic Systems Programs serves as the contracting activity.

Lockheed Martin Space was awarded the initial contract in November 2021. It provided for the same support, which ran through May 2022.

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NSA Issues Guidance for Maturing Application, Workload Capabilities Under Zero Trust; Dave Luber Quoted
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NSA Issues Guidance for Maturing Application, Workload Capabilities Under Zero Trust; Dave Luber Quoted

The National Security Agency has issued a cybersecurity information sheet outlining recommendations for reaching progressive levels of workload and application capabilities under the zero trust framework.

The document titled Advancing Zero Trust Maturity Throughout the Application and Workload Pillar seeks to help organizations ensure continuous workload visibility and protect applications from unauthorized users, NSA said Wednesday.

“This guidance helps organizations disrupt malicious cyber activity by applying granular access control and visibility to applications and workloads in modern network environments,” said Dave Luber, director of cybersecurity at NSA.

“Implementing a Zero Trust framework places cybersecurity practitioners in a better position to secure sensitive data, applications, assets, and services,” added Luber.

According to the guidance, the application and workload pillar of the zero trust framework relies on five capabilities: application inventory, secure software development and integration, software risk management, resource authorization and integration and continuous monitoring and ongoing authorizations.

The document states that conducting an inventory of applications and workloads is a critical step to implementing zero trust.

“These resources must be identified and categorized to prioritize cybersecurity protection requirements for critical assets, especially of application updates,” the guidance reads.

In April, NSA released guidance for pushing zero trust maturity throughout the data pillar.

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DOD Chief Digital & AI Office Adds 4 Tech Executives to Leadership Team
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DOD Chief Digital & AI Office Adds 4 Tech Executives to Leadership Team

The Department of Defense’s Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office has expanded its leadership team with the appointment of four technology leaders as part of efforts to advance DOD’s adoption of AI, data and analytics.

Garrett Berntsen, most recently deputy chief data and AI officer at the State Department, will serve as deputy chief digital and AI officer for mission analytics, CDAO said Wednesday.

Eugene Kuznetsov, former command technology officer at Naval Special Warfare Command, will assume the role of DCDAO for enterprise platforms and services.

Jock Padgett, most recently chief technology officer at the U.S. Army XVIII Airborne Corps, will serve as DCDAO for advanced C2 acceleration efforts.

Christopher Skaluba, former director of the Transatlantic Security Initiative at the Atlantic Council, will join CDAO as an executive director.

Radha Plumb, DOD’s chief digital and AI officer, said she looks forward to working with the newly appointed leaders.

“As CDAO’s senior leadership team, we will collaborate to lead the development and oversight of policies and tools to enable the responsible adoption of data, analytics, and AI capabilities across the force, at scale and speed, to meet the warfighters emergent requirements,” Plumb added.

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DISA’s Robert Skinner Says Partnerships are Key to Addressing Cyber Threats
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DISA’s Robert Skinner Says Partnerships are Key to Addressing Cyber Threats

Collaboration between the U.S. military, government and civilian technology leaders is critical to protecting the nation from cyber threats, according to Lt. Gen. Robert Skinner, director of the Defense Information Systems Agency and commander of the joint headquarters for the Department of Defense’s Information Network.

In remarks at DefenseTalks 2024, Skinner, a 2024 Wash100 awardee, said the DOD is continuously asking its partners to help forces better understand the state of the cyber battlespace so they can perform their jobs without getting “bogged down with the technical complexities that some capabilities offer,” the Pentagon reported on Wednesday.

One of the most notable threats in the cyber domain is the People’s Republic of China, which Skinner said is “trying to get into our critical infrastructure … because they want to gain the strategic positional advantage.”

“I don’t think you can overstate the threat that we live in, in the cyber domain today. All you have to do is go look at open-source reporting,” he said.

As a combat support agency, DISA is focused on “the bad day,” or the start of armed conflict. This responsibility serves as the foundation for the recently released DISA Next strategy, which lays out four strategic imperatives for the agency, the first of which is operating and securing the agency’s portion of DODIN.

“The networks that we provide have to be ready. As we look at diversity of transport, there is not one mission that I know of that happens in the department of defense, that DISA is not underpinning — not one,” Skinner said.

The other three objectives are supporting strategic command, control and communications, modernizing the network and operationalizing data.

Skinner underscored that partnerships are critical in the information technology area.

“And … what sets us apart is our partnerships like these engagements, and partnerships that we [have] each and every day to enable [DOD] and the nation to be successful,” he stated.

DISA’s Robert Skinner Says Partnerships are Key to Addressing Cyber Threats

Want to know more about how the U.S. government is approaching cyber? The Potomac Officers Club’s 2024 Cyber Summit on June 8 will give you the opportunity to hear key public and private sector cyber experts share their insights on this important domain. To learn more and register to attend the event, click here.

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Jeff Greene to Assume Top Leadership Post at CISA
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Jeff Greene to Assume Top Leadership Post at CISA

Jeff Greene, senior director of the cybersecurity program at the Aspen Institute, is set to assume a top position at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, The Record from Recorded Future News reported Thursday.

He is expected to succeed Eric Goldstein, executive assistant director for cybersecurity at CISA who is departing the agency to join the private sector.

CISA confirmed to the publication that Greene will join the agency but did not specify his role and responsibilities. According to CISA, the former White House official will start in June and serve as a senior adviser.

Green brings decades of combined government and industry experience, having held roles such as chief of cyber response and policy in the National Security Council’s Cyber Directorate, director at the National Institute of Standards and Technology and vice president of global government affairs and policy at Symantec.

He previously served as counsel to the Senate’s special investigation into Hurricane Katrina.

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Todd Combs Named Deputy Director, Chief Research Officer at Idaho National Laboratory
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Todd Combs Named Deputy Director, Chief Research Officer at Idaho National Laboratory

Todd Combs, associate laboratory director for Idaho National Laboratory’s Energy and Environment Science and Technology Directorate, has been appointed INL’s deputy laboratory director for science and technology and chief research officer.

He will assume his new post on June 3 and succeed Marianne Walck, who became director of the National Energy Technology Laboratory in February 2024, INL said Tuesday.

“Todd’s deep understanding of INL’s mission space and operations, clear and compelling vision for the future of research at INL, along with his extensive experience at other laboratories and in the U.S. Air Force, made him an ideal candidate for the deputy laboratory director position,” INL Director John Wagner said.

In his previous role, Combs helped develop a strategic vision for the U.S. integrated energy systems initiative, established an advanced manufacturing project for complex environments and expanded the INL’s biofuels research and development efforts.

He also managed the development of the Energy Technology Proving Ground, a new facility that will advance clean energy production projects.

Before joining INL, Combs held leadership positions at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Argonne National Laboratory.

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Canada Acquiring Joint Direct Attack Munition Tail Kits From US via $96M Foreign Military Sale
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Canada Acquiring Joint Direct Attack Munition Tail Kits From US via $96M Foreign Military Sale

The Department of State has approved a request by the government of Canada to acquire additional Joint Direct Attack Munition tail kits, increasing the number of units sought under a previously-approved foreign military sale and raising the transaction’s total value to $96.4 million.

Under the prior FMS, which cost $16.1 million, Canada sought 210 KMU-572 JDAM tail kits, 50 KMU-556 kits and 25 KMU-557 tail kits, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency said Tuesday.

The new FMS brings the total request to 900 KMU-572 JDAM tail kits, 125 KMU-556 kits and 50 KMU-557 tail kits, along with a variety of support services and related elements, including laser illuminated target detectors, FMU-139 fuzes and spares.

Boeing will serve as the principal contractor for the sale.

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BAE Enters Final Environmental Testing Stages of Roman Space Telescope’s Primary Instrument
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BAE Enters Final Environmental Testing Stages of Roman Space Telescope’s Primary Instrument

BAE Systems is anticipated to test and deliver the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope’s Wide Field Instrument to NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in summer 2024 in preparation for the observatory’s May 2027 launch.

The company said Tuesday it is in the final stages of WFI’s environmental testing at its Boulder, Colorado facility, having completed vibration and acoustic demonstrations, as well as the initial baseline and second thermal vacuum tests.

For the last phase, BAE Systems will ensure the telescope’s primary scientific instrument is not vulnerable to electrical disruptions by subjecting it to electromagnetic interference and compatibility tests.

“The WFI is an incredibly sensitive instrument, and these tests are vital to ensure its performance and safeguard the success of this groundbreaking mission,” said Alberto Conti, vice president and general manager of civil space for BAE Systems’ space and mission systems business.

The instrument is intended to assist scientists in identifying and studying new exoplanets, gaining more knowledge of dark energy and dark matter and exploring other astronomical activities by providing high-resolution images and detecting distant infrared light from around the universe.

It is also designed to have a field of view 100 times bigger than that of the Hubble Space Telescope, its predecessor, and to deliver images at a faster rate to accelerate the survey of the cosmos.

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