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Commerce Department Announces $75M in Proposed CHIPS Funding to Absolics; Gina Raimondo Quoted
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Commerce Department Announces $75M in Proposed CHIPS Funding to Absolics; Gina Raimondo Quoted

The Department of Commerce has proposed to provide Absolics up to $75 million in CHIPS and Science Act funding to help the company expand the production of glass substrates for semiconductor advanced packaging.

The department said Thursday the company will use the proposed funding under the nonbinding preliminary memorandum of terms to advance the construction of a 120,000-square-foot manufacturing facility and generate over 1,200 construction, manufacturing and research and development jobs in Covington, Georgia.

“An important part of the success of President Biden’s CHIPS program is ensuring the United States is a global leader in every part of the semiconductor supply chain, and the advanced semiconductor packaging technologies Absolics is working on will help to achieve that goal, while also creating hundreds of jobs in Georgia,” said Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo.

The proposed investment will enable Absolics to improve innovation capacity in support of the local talent pipeline through its partnership with Georgia Tech.

According to the department, glass substrates for advanced semiconductor packaging could help reduce power needs and improve the performance of chips that support artificial intelligence tools and other high-performance computing applications.

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Kathleen Hicks Establishes Policy for Defense SBIR, STTR Due Diligence Program With New Memo
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Kathleen Hicks Establishes Policy for Defense SBIR, STTR Due Diligence Program With New Memo

Kathleen Hicks, deputy secretary of the Department of Defense and a 2024 Wash100 awardee, has released a memorandum to establish policy and guidance for the implementation of a due diligence initiative for the DOD’s Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer programs.

The Defense SBIR and STTR Due Diligence Program will help evaluate and mitigate security risks associated with small business concerns with links to foreign countries of concern, according to a memo signed by Hicks on May 13.

According to the document, the undersecretary of defense for research and engineering should be responsible for ensuring that common minimum standards established through the policy for the Due Diligence Program are implemented across all DOD components that make awards under the SBIR and STTR programs.

“Working closely with the R&E leadership and DoD services and components, we will successfully implement this plan to vigilantly protect taxpayer funds and small businesses from foreign influence,” said Gina Sims, director of the Defense SBIR/STTR Program.

In early 2023, the Defense SBIR/STTR Program collaborated with military services and other DOD components to plan the implementation of the Due Diligence Program.

The Pentagon launched an online course on foreign ownership, control or influence to support small companies seeking funding under the SBIR and STTR programs.

The department also worked with the Small Business Administration to integrate due diligence requirements into the SBIR/STTR policy, including the incorporation of forms evaluating security risks into proposals being submitted to the Defense SBIR/STTR Innovation Portal.

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DOD to Deliver $275M in Aid to Ukraine
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DOD to Deliver $275M in Aid to Ukraine

The Department of Defense will provide additional capabilities to Ukraine under a $275 million security assistance package.

Produced using Presidential Drawdown Authorities, the new aid package will support Ukraine’s response to the Russian assault near Kharkiv, the DOD said Friday.

This package will pull from DOD inventories and include ammunition from High Mobility Artillery Rocket systems, 155 millimeter and 105 millimeter artillery rounds and 60 millimeter mortar rounds. It will also contain Tube-Launched, Optically-Tracked, Wire-Guided missiles, Javelin and AT-4 anti-armor systems and precision aerial munitions as well as small arms, small arms ammunition and grenades.

Other capabilities set for delivery include demolitions munitions, anti-armor mines and tactical vehicles to recover equipment. The DOD will additionally provide helmets and body armor as well as chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear protective equipment and spare parts.

The new assistance package marks the 58th round of equipment from DOD stock to be supplied to Ukraine since August 2021. In total, the Biden administration has sent over $51 billion to Ukraine since it was invaded by Russia in February 2022.

According to William LaPlante, under secretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment and a two-time Wash100 Award recipient, the defense industrial base has also been an important contributor to U.S. support for Ukraine.

As the DOD ships out equipment from its inventories, new capabilities must be acquired to maintain military readiness. That is where industry comes in.

The “truly historic” response from the industrial base, LaPlante said, has been “a nationwide effort that spans the full spectrum of our supply chains in nearly every capability area.”

Industry’s participation in these endeavors has played a role in the DOD’s wider work to rejuvenate the U.S. defense industrial base.

DOD to Deliver $275M in Aid to Ukraine

Join us at the Potomac Officers Club’s first-ever GovCon International Summit on October 10th for a closer look into the role of industry in today’s complex geopolitical landscape. To learn more and register to attend the event, visit the GovCon International Summit event page on the POC website.

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NASA Posts Draft Solicitation for Multi-Center Administrative Support Services Contract
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NASA Posts Draft Solicitation for Multi-Center Administrative Support Services Contract

NASA has issued a draft request for proposals for an indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract to procure multi-center administrative support services, or MCASS, for the agency’s space flight centers.

The MCASS contract has an ordering period of five years and encompasses support for flight crews, special teams and short-term projects at Stennis Space Center, Johnson Space Center, White Sands Test Facility, Kennedy Space Center, Marshall Space Flight Center and the Michoud Assembly Facility, according to a notice posted Thursday on SAM.gov.

Tasks include information services, data management, property coordination, general office services, time and labor collection, office relocation, training support and other services.

Work is expected to commence on April 1, 2025, and conclude by May 31, 2030.

Interested parties have until May 30 to respond to the draft request for proposals.

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Everfox Upgrades Cross Domain Access Product; Sean Berg Quoted
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Everfox Upgrades Cross Domain Access Product; Sean Berg Quoted

Everfox has updated its Trusted Thin Client offering, a product that enables federal customers to access multiple networks concurrently.

These changes include improvements to security and speed as well as new native cloud capabilities, the Herndon, Virginia-based company announced on Thursday.

“Every day we strive to innovate and provide solutions that support the unique and complex missions of those who protect and govern,” said Everfox CEO Sean Berg.

He said the company is “unwavering in our commitment to deliver solutions” that adhere to Raise-the-Bar requirements – a set of standards for cross domain solutions instituted by the National Cross Domain Strategy Management Office – and broaden its portfolio of capabilities in the areas of data protection and information access and sharing.

Trusted Thin Client allows users to access multiple sensitive or classified networks from one endpoint. The platform offers integrated secure information-sharing and access across separate, compartmented networks and clouds.

These upgrades follow Everfox’s recent entry into a partnership with Microsoft, through which the former integrated its technology into the latter’s Azure cloud platform. By joining forces, the two companies aim to develop and deploy new products that provide on-demand, multi-level cloud desktop services for government agencies.

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Intelligence Authorization Act for FY 2025 Passes Senate Intelligence Committee
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Intelligence Authorization Act for FY 2025 Passes Senate Intelligence Committee

The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence voted 17-0 to pass legislation authorizing fiscal year 2025 appropriations for the government’s intelligence-related activities.

Committee Chairman Sen. Mark R. Warner, D-Va., said in a statement published Wednesday the Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2025, or IAA, will enhance the intelligence community’s ability to counter adversarial threats, including foreign adversaries’ efforts to establish dominance in areas like artificial intelligence, biotechnologies and next-generation energy.

“The IAA also designates foreign ransomware organizations as hostile cyber actors and ensures the IC has the tools it needs to counter economic coercion and illicit technology transfer, in particular by the People’s Republic of China,” Warner said.

If enacted, the IAA would require the president to develop procedures to enhance the government’s collaboration with the private security sector on AI system-related threats and establish an AI Security Center within the National Security Agency.

The bill would also update the National Counterproliferation and Biosecurity Center’s roles and objectives to help counter threats relating to the illicit uses of biotechnologies.

“Importantly, this bill takes unprecedented steps to address counterintelligence risks to our  National Laboratories by prohibiting visitors from foreign adversary nations thereby protecting America’s research and competitive advantage,” said Committee Vice Chairman Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla.

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Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division AI Computer Seen to Accelerate Technology R&D
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Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division AI Computer Seen to Accelerate Technology R&D

The Naval Gold Standard AI Computer, or DGX H100, will make it possible for Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division personnel to investigate and develop new capabilities more quickly than when using conventional computing resources, according to an official tasked with assisting in the AI computer’s planning and execution.

Ben Goldman of NSWCDD’s Autonomous Weapons Branch said in an interview reported by the Naval Sea Systems Command website on Wednesday that the work NSWCDD engineers and scientists did was so complex, it would take “days or weeks” to be completed, but with the help of DGX H100, that time frame will be reduced to “less than an hour.”

For Goldman, the AI computer is “an opportunity to help our scientists and engineers make sure they have the resources they need to solve hard problems promptly in ways we could not before.”

Housed within the Innovation Lab and built for machine learning processing, DGX H100 is meant for use by the NSWCDD workforce for the exploration, development and maturation of technology. It is also expected to enable multi-departmental collaboration.

The computer’s acquisition was made possible by a cooperative research and development agreement with NVIDIA and funding from Naval Innovative Science and Engineering.

At present, DGX H100 is being tested to make sure it functions at maximum capacity.

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$883.7B Fiscal Year 2025 NDAA Clears House Armed Services Committee
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$883.7B Fiscal Year 2025 NDAA Clears House Armed Services Committee

The House Armed Services Committee has approved a draft version of the Fiscal Year 2025 National Defense Authorization Act via a vote of 57 in favor and 1 against, Breaking Defense reported Wednesday.

The FY2025 NDAA authorizes $883.7 billion overall for defense spending, with $849.8 billion going to the Department of Defense.

Highlights of the bill include funding for the construction of a second Virginia-class submarine; the acquisition of F-35 fighter jets, albeit 10 fewer than the DOD originally requested; and the acquisition of F-15EX fighters in fiscal year 2026.

The bill also contains provisions that call for the audit of an ongoing review of the Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missile program; empower Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Space Acquisition and Integration Frank Calvelli to sanction contractors that perform poorly; and require DOD officials to provide lawmakers clarification on the agency’s Replicator program.

The bill will now have to be voted on by the whole House of Representatives then reconciled with the version that the Senate will produce. The Senate’s committee-level markup of the FY2025 NDAA is expected to begin in June.

NTIA Requests Comments on Future 6G Wireless Communications Tech Development
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NTIA Requests Comments on Future 6G Wireless Communications Tech Development

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration is requesting public comments to inform future U.S. government policies and engagements to enable the development and deployment of sixth-generation wireless communications technology.

NTIA said Tuesday it is seeking industry input on the development of appropriate government policies to enable the U.S. to plan for the 6G future and ensure that it can effectively harness the technology’s benefits.

The agency is interested in when 6G technology is expected to start lab and field testing, when it will become commercially available and what developments could replace obsolete wireless communications technologies.

NTIA is also assessing whether 6G can improve network resilience during disaster and recovery operations.

“6G will be a next step in the mobile revolution that has brought the Internet to billions of people around the word,” said Alan Davidson, assistant secretary of commerce for communications and information and NTIA administrator. “While we are still realizing the full benefits of 5G, it is not too early to be planning for 6G. We look forward to learning more about this next-generation technology and how we can harness the innovations it will bring.”

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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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