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Final DOD Rule to Impose Limitation on LRIP Procurement Under Certain Circumstances
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Final DOD Rule to Impose Limitation on LRIP Procurement Under Certain Circumstances

The Department of Defense has released a final rule to implement a section of the fiscal year 2023 National Defense Authorization Act that puts a limitation on the procurement of low-rate initial production, or LRIP, lots related to a major defense acquisition program under certain circumstances.

The final rule takes effect Thursday, April 25, according to a Federal Register notice.

Under Section 808 of the FY 2023 NDAA, the U.S. government may not purchase more than one LRIP lot associated with a major acquisition program if the milestone decision authority, at the time of Milestone B approval, authorizes the use of a fixed-price contract and the scope of work of such a contract includes both development and LRIP.

“Risk to a contractor is higher when the contractor must propose prices for multiple production lots of an item before the development and initial production of that item are complete,” the notice reads.

According to the final rule, the limitation may be waived by the service acquisition executive.

DOD released the final rule as an amendment to the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement.

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Vendors Must Submit Plan to Consolidate MAS Contracts by May, GSA Says
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Vendors Must Submit Plan to Consolidate MAS Contracts by May, GSA Says

Holders of two or more General Services Administration Multiple Award Schedule contracts that share a unique entity identifier — or UEI — must submit by May 24 a plan to consolidate those awards as part of phase 3 of the MAS Consolidation effort.

The GSA made the announcement on the MAS Program Interact community blog on Wednesday, warning affected contractors that non-compliance would result in a 30-day suspension from GSA eTools.

The GSA launched the MAS Consolidation effort to consolidate the 24 legacy Schedule contracts managed by the agency into a single Schedule. The ultimate aim of the initiative is to simplify and modernize acquisition and contract management for government agencies and vendors alike.

The effort also calls on recipients of more than one Schedule award to consolidate them into one contract per UEI. The plan required under phase 3 details how and when that consolidation would take place.

Suspension due to non-compliance with the requirement would result in contractors having their information removed from the eLibrary, not being notified of new opportunities in eBuy, not being given new orders under their Schedule contract and not receiving modifications to current tasks.

Additions or pricing modifications outside of phase 3 would also be rejected until the consolidation plan is submitted.

Non-compliance beyond the 30-day suspension would result in the cancellation of MAS contracts associated with the relevant UEIs.

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Daniel Karbler Selected as Advisory Board Member at TCOM
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Daniel Karbler Selected as Advisory Board Member at TCOM

Retired Lt. Gen. Daniel Karbler has joined TCOM’s advisory board.

He brings a wealth of experience in military leadership roles and in air and missile defense and space operations, the Columbia, Maryland-based company announced on Thursday.

“Our Advisory Board is integral to helping shape TCOM’s short- and long-term strategies that define our future business and technology roadmaps. Dan’s extensive experience will provide the guidance needed to help us navigate evolving customer requirements,” said Ron Bendlin, president and CEO of TCOM.

Karbler spent over 30 years serving in the U.S. military before retiring. During that time, Karbler helmed large military commands; conducted operations, requirements and capability development, test and evaluation; and formulated budgets. He is experienced in creating elevated sensor requirements.

TCOM expects his addition to the board to support its development of next-generation unmanned aircraft systems and counter-UAS technologies.

Karbler’s most recent role was commanding general of the U.S. Army’s Space and Missile Defense Command, where he was the Army’s proponent for Space and High Altitude. Prior to this position, he served as special assistant to the commanding general of the Army Materiel Command. His other previous roles include chief of staff for the U.S. Strategic Command, commanding general of the Army Test and Evaluation Command and director of joint and integration for the Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff G8.

His appointment, said Bendlin, “is another major milestone for TCOM and our customers and a welcome addition to the team.”

Google, Others Sign Pledge to Increase Energy Efficiency of US Semiconductor Sector
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Google, Others Sign Pledge to Increase Energy Efficiency of US Semiconductor Sector

The Department of Energy has named new organizations that have committed to advancing the energy efficiency of the U.S. semiconductor industry to increase economic competitiveness and strengthen domestic supply chains.

DOE said Tuesday Google, Vital Integration of Environmental Electronics, Los Angeles Trade-Technical College and the Florida Semiconductor Institute signed a pledge under the Energy Efficiency Scaling for 2 Decades, or EES2, initiative to reduce energy consumption from semiconductor applications.

With 65 signatories, the EES2 pledge aims to reduce semiconductor energy consumption at the material and device scale, guide new technology investments funded through the CHIPS and Science Act and diversify the future workforce.

“We’re committed to developing and deploying artificial intelligence to help address the challenge posed by climate change,” said Kate Brandt, chief sustainability officer at Google.

“As we look to the future, it’s essential that the technology industry build on our longstanding focus on improving energy efficiency at all levels of the value chain, including at the materials and hardware level,” Brandt said.

Intel, Microsoft, Micron, Synopsys, ARM and AMD are among the inaugural partners of the EES2 initiative.

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NASA Concludes CloudSat Mission
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NASA Concludes CloudSat Mission

NASA’s CloudSat mission was decommissioned in March and moved into position for eventual deorbiting, marking the end of nearly 18 years of operation.

CloudSat was launched in 2006 and was originally meant to be a 22-month mission, NASA said Tuesday.

The satellite carried with it the Cloud Profiling Radar, the first W-band radar to be operated in space. The radar was powered down for the last time in December.

The mission offered superior sensitivity compared to ground-based weather radars, generating 3D slices of cloud layers and helping scientists better understand and achieve key discoveries about weather systems and the climate.

Issues concerning the spacecraft’s battery and the mechanism controlling the spacecraft’s orientation repeatedly threatened to end the mission but CloudSat team members were able to offer solutions.

Deborah Vane, the CloudSat project manager at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, touted the dedication and talent of the agency’s personnel, saying, “We recovered from these anomalies with techniques that no one has ever used before.”

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Robert Johnson Named Acquisition Executive at DLA Land and Maritime
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Robert Johnson Named Acquisition Executive at DLA Land and Maritime

Robert Johnson, an acquisition and management professional with 24 years of civilian career in the U.S. Air Force, has assumed responsibility as the acquisition executive of the Defense Logistics Agency Land and Maritime.

He will oversee strategic sourcing, planning, research and development programs and other acquisition initiatives for the land and maritime supply chains, DLA said Monday.

Prior to his appointment, Johnson served as chief of contracting for the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center’s Fighters and Advanced Aircraft Directorate and Mobility and Training Aircraft Directorate.

“[His] 27 years of logistics expertise supporting multiple programs throughout the Air Force only highlight a smidge of the depth and breadth of acumen that [he has] brought and will continue to bring to the fight,” said Brig. Gen. Gail Atkins, commanding general of DLA.

Johnson’s Air Force career includes time as division functional lead for ISR Sensors and FMS contracting, acting chief of contracting for the F-16 program and contracting officer and source selection team lead for contracted support services.

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DARPA Expands RACER Robotic Fleet With Heavy Platform Demonstration
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DARPA Expands RACER Robotic Fleet With Heavy Platform Demonstration

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has demonstrated the extreme speed off-road ground autonomy of 12-ton vehicles as part of its Robotic Autonomy in Complex Environments with Resiliency, or RACER program.

DARPA said Tuesday the recent autonomous movement tests for the RACER Heavy Platform vehicles marked the second phase of the DARPA initiative and reflected the agency’s continued round of autonomy development and testing.

The heavy vehicles dubbed RHPs have the Textron M5 base platform, which was developed and utilized in U.S. Army robotic combat vehicle campaigns and was upfitted by Carnegie Robotics to support RACER autonomy integration hardware stacks and software.

The 20-foot-long, skid-steer tracked vehicles are expected to complement RACER Fleet Vehicles, or RFVs, which are the two-ton, 11-foot-long, Ackermann-steered, wheeled platforms already in use.

RACER Program Manager Stuart Young remarked, “Having two radically different types of vehicles helps us advance towards RACER’s goal of platform agnostic autonomy in complex, mission-relevant off-road environments that are significantly more unpredictable than on-road conditions.”

He added that there are higher goals for the off-road average autonomous speed and lower intervention rates during Phase 2 and that the two platforms enable RACER to demonstrate the adaptability and resilience of autonomous software in complex, military-relevant environments.

The University of Washington and Overland AI; and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Offroad Autonomy, Georgia Institute of Technology and Duality Robotics worked as RACER Phase 2 performer teams.

More Info on Tech Hubs Phase 2 Proposals Now Available
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More Info on Tech Hubs Phase 2 Proposals Now Available

The Economic Development Administration is now offering more details about the applications submitted in February by the 31 Tech Hub Designees for phase 2 of the Regional Technology and Innovation Hubs, or Tech Hubs, program.

EDA said Tuesday that for phase 2, it plans to award five to 10 Tech Hubs $40 million and $70 million each to finance three to eight projects per Hub. Winners will be announced this summer.

Enacted via the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022, the Tech Hubs Program aims to invest in regions that show potential for transformation within 10 years into competitive innovation centers. The program aims to promote U.S. economic growth and bolster national security.

EDA selected 31 out of 400 applicants as Tech Hub Designees in October last year. Designees are given the opportunity to apply for funds via Tech Hub funding opportunities.

So far, Designees have proposed a total of 182 projects worth $2 billion in all. These proposals include technology commercialization, workforce development and entrepreneur support.

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OMB Unveils FY 2024 Q1 Agency Priority Goals
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OMB Unveils FY 2024 Q1 Agency Priority Goals

The Office of Management and Budget has released the new agency priority goals of major federal agencies to mark the first quarterly update to the fiscal year 2024-2025 performance period.

The Small Business Administration is working to further promote equity across its services and products, according to a blog post published Tuesday on Performance.gov.

To achieve the goal, SBA plans to evaluate programs and processes, expand services to underserved markets, embed equity principles into its programs and advance evidence-building activities and performance measures by the end of September 2025.

SBA’s key goals include raising federal contracting awards to small disadvantaged businesses to 15 percent, increasing the loan portfolio of the Community Advantage Small Business Lending Company program by 10 percent and boosting the number of underserved small companies supported by the agency’s Entrepreneurial Development Programs by 10 percent.

The Department of Commerce intends to further develop domestic capacity for semiconductor manufacturing by Sept. 30, 2025.

The department set two strategies to achieve this goal: incentivizing the development of semiconductor facilities and upstream suppliers, including at least two clusters focused on fabricating leading-edge logic chips, and building research and development capacity through the creation of a public-private consortium and operator and initial implementation of metrology, advanced packaging and semiconductor manufacturing programs.

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Gen. Chance Saltzman on Building Readiness With Space Force Generation Model
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Gen. Chance Saltzman on Building Readiness With Space Force Generation Model

Gen. Chance Saltzman, chief of space operations for the U.S. Space Force and a 2024 Wash100 awardee, has called on service leaders to implement a new model to build up readiness and help maximize the military branch’s combat effectiveness.

In a notice to Guardians published Friday, Saltzman wrote that the Space Force Generation model, also known as SPAFORGEN, “is based on the straightforward observation that day-to-day space operations do not prepare Guardians for the challenges they will face in a high-intensity combat environment.”

Under the SPAFORGEN model, Guardians assigned to combat squadrons and combat detachments rotate through three phases: prepare, ready and commit.

Guardians develop expertise in assigned roles under the prepare phase and take part in advanced training to prepare for high-intensity conflict as part of the ready phase.

“Guardians then rotate into the Commit Phase as part of a combat squadron or combat detachment. Once complete, they rotate back into the Prepare Phase and begin the process again,” Saltzman wrote.

According to Saltzman, the new readiness model alters how the Space Force prepares for operations and helps the service to develop the capacity to conduct the current mission while getting ready for the future fight.

“Under SPAFORGEN, both officers and enlisted in mission squadrons will continue to rotate in and out of operations while assigned to the unit, creating a more experienced, capable, and threat-focused crew force,” he added.

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