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Bridge Core Federal Makes Expansion Moves With Board Appointments & New Acquisition
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Bridge Core Federal Makes Expansion Moves With Board Appointments & New Acquisition

Bridge Core Federal, a NewSpring Holdings platform company, has taken several steps in its efforts to create an influential, mission-informed intelligence-focused enterprise.

These actions include the acquisition of technical engineering services provider teKnoluxion as well as three key board appointments, the McLean, Virginia-based organization announced on Friday.

Bridge Core CEO Chad Kim highlighted the “remarkable team at teKnoluxion” that “sets high standards for talent and performance” that Jimmy Gardner, the company’s founder, has created.

“Their technical experts and leadership team will amplify our efforts to provide mission agility to the intelligence community,” said Kim.

Gardner added that teKnoluxion is “excited to embark on building a full spectrum intelligence company with Bridge Core,” a company that reportedly shares its cultural values of integrity, respect and transparency.

Board appointees include former Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence, the Honorable Sue Gordon, and Bob Sharp, a retired U.S. Navy vice admiral. Andy Maner, former Avantus chairman and CEO, was selected as executive chairman.

Gordon has considerable experience working within the intelligence community. During her more than 30-year career, she led strategic planning for multiple IC organizations, including the Central Intelligence Agency and National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency.

Kim emphasized Gordon’s “depth of knowledge and her innate understanding of our client’s mission” as factors that will expand Bridge Core’s impact. He added that her “continuing legacy of leadership and innovation” and “renowned integrity and extensive network make her an asset to the company’s work to grow its platform.”

Sharp’s career includes a long history of work in naval, joint and interagency intelligence activities. His responsibilities ranged from direct operational support to serving as director of the NGA.

“Bob’s strategic insight and history of inter-agency collaboration make him an ideal candidate for our Board,” said Kim, who also noted Sharp’s reputation for investing in human capital and culture and “comprehensive approach to mission success.”

An experienced leader in both public and private sector roles, Maner has served in the White House, Department of Homeland Security and as CEO of NISC and Avantus, two private equity platform companies, both of which have supported the federal government.

Lee Garber, general partner at NewSpring, said Maner’s focus on human capital, talent development and organizational culture is “pivotal” to providing support for intelligence missions.

“This is a great day for Bridge Core as we bring together intelligence community visionaries Sue, Bob, Jimmy, and Chad with the NewSpring Holdings Investment team to build the Bridge Core platform through strategic acquisitions, like teKnoluxion and GeoYeti, and investments to fuel organic growth,” said Maner.

Bridge Core acquired GeoYeti in early September.

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Amazon Reaches Into Space With First Project Kuiper Test Satellite Launch
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Amazon Reaches Into Space With First Project Kuiper Test Satellite Launch

Amazon has launched the first test satellites for its broadband network initiative, Project Kuiper, in a move to keep up in the evolving satellite-based internet sector, TechCrunch reported on Friday.

Launched from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, the satellites represent the first two of more than 3,200 planned satellites in the low Earth orbit constellation sent into space. Once deployed, the constellation is expected to enhance global internet access.

The two satellites took flight aboard United Launch Alliance’s Atlas V rocket, which was selected for its reliability. The launch marks the beginning of Amazon’s journey into this market, with plans to start offering service by the end of next year.

Amazon’s endeavor places it in direct competition with SpaceX, led by Elon Musk, which has already made significant strides with its Starlink satellite internet program. Since its initial test in 2018, SpaceX has successfully deployed over 5,000 Starlink satellites using its Falcon rockets, launched from sites in Florida and California.

While SpaceX currently leads the satellite internet race, Amazon, led by founder Jeff Bezos — who also helms rocket company Blue Origin — continues to take steps into the field of space-based communications.

9 Projects Selected to Experiment on DOE’s DIII-D Fusion Facility
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9 Projects Selected to Experiment on DOE’s DIII-D Fusion Facility

The Department of Energy has selected nine projects to receive $16 million in funding to conduct small-scale research experiments on the DIII-D National Fusion Facility, an Office of Science scientific user facility operated by General Atomics.

DOE said Wednesday the selected technology projects will develop new systems on the DIII-D tokamak and advance collaborative research to establish the scientific foundation for developing a fusion energy source.

“While establishing the scientific basis for fusion energy, we must also improve the maturity of existing fusion technologies and explore entirely new innovations that have the potential to revolutionize the fusion landscape,” said Jean Paul Allain, associate director of the Office of Science for Fusion Energy Sciences.

The projects will strive to assess and improve the technical maturity of plasma actuators, provide tools and algorithms to sustain high fusion performance, resolve key plasma transport issues, improve access to burning plasma regimes and optimize the fusion reaction process.

The awardees were selected by competitive peer review under the Innovative Fusion Technology and Collaborative Fusion Energy Research in the DIII-D National Program funding opportunity announcement released in January.

AFSOC Aims to Transform Training Activities With Extended Reality Technologies
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AFSOC Aims to Transform Training Activities With Extended Reality Technologies

Air Force Special Operations Command has developed a framework for incorporating immersive learning technologies into training activities across the entire command.

The Extended Reality Training Framework employs virtual, mixed and augmented reality technologies to redesign the command’s training landscape and provide a more realistic autonomous learning environment, AFSOC said Wednesday.

The framework focuses on four distinct lines of effort: building a virtual hangar for aircraft and munitions maintenance workforce training; incorporating VR into all flying training units responsible for training AFSOC aircrew; integrating XR into operational units; and utilizing AR for aircrew and special tactics teams.

“The use of XR in training allows Air Commandos to experience highly realistic simulations of complex scenarios, missions, and environments they may encounter in real-world operations,” said Lt. Gen. Tony Bauernfeind, commander of AFSOC.

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Highlight & Patriot Jointly Awarded SBA IT Service Center 2.0 Contract
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Highlight & Patriot Jointly Awarded SBA IT Service Center 2.0 Contract

Highlight Technologies has announced that the Small Business Administration awarded the company and its partner Patriot LLC the SBA Office IT Service Center 2.0 consolidation contract, worth an estimated $49 million. The contract supports the SBA Office of the Chief Information Officer and has a 12-month base period with four option years.

The SBA OCIO is responsible for strategic execution of agency-wide functions, including delivering IT services and managing day-to-day IT service desk operations. It also oversees enterprise IT general support system and data centers with over 10,000 end users in six major operating centers, 70 regional offices throughout the U.S., a major call center and multiple cloud-based services environments.

Highlight has been supporting SBA operations for the last five years under a BPA offering mission-critical administrative, legal, financial, risk management, technical and program management services. Patriot is Highlight’s prime partner and the parties reportedly commit to delivering round-the-clock network infrastructure monitoring, incident management, and comprehensive service desk operations support.

“Highlight is proud to support Patriot in providing critical information technology services to the SBA OCIO. We look forward to working alongside the Patriot team in ensuring the SBA and its users receive exceptional support,” said Lia Melakou, Vice President of Mission Solutions.

“Patriot is excited to be able to support the SBA in fulfilling its important mission. We look forward to working with our partner, Highlight Technologies, to exceed the SBA’s expectations in providing support to their users and environments.”, shared Anthony Russo, CEO of Patriot.

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Robert Silvers: DHS Working on Secure AI Tech Deployment Guidance for Critical Infrastruture Companies
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Robert Silvers: DHS Working on Secure AI Tech Deployment Guidance for Critical Infrastruture Companies

Robert Silvers, under secretary for policy at the Department of Homeland Security, said DHS is developing guidance to help critical infrastructure operators and owners securely deploy artificial intelligence tools in their operations, Federal News Network reported Wednesday.

“There’s tremendous promise, as you deploy AI to operate the grid — water supply, hospital systems, financial markets — you’re going to want to make sure, though, that that is done in a safe and secure way. That if things fail, it happens safely, not catastrophically, that you have adequate auditing and testing, that you give due consideration to when should certain kinds of decisions be made with a human in the loop, for example,” Silvers, a previous Wash100 awardee, told FNN on the sidelines of a conference Wednesday.

He said DHS is exploring new opportunities to leverage AI technology and is teaming up with AI companies to better understand the emerging technology’s capabilities and limitations.

The DHS official noted that the department sees the need to become one of the “early and aggressive adopters” of AI technology, which he said has been used in network defense activities.

“We should also be at the vanguard of establishing rules for responsible and ethical and safe use for our own programs,” he added.

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NSA, CISA Lead Public-Private Technical Report on Enterprises’ Multifactor Authentication Challenges
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NSA, CISA Lead Public-Private Technical Report on Enterprises’ Multifactor Authentication Challenges

A report led by the National Security Agency and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency suggested that multifactor authentication, or MFA, in organizations must have clearer definitions and security properties in order to protect enterprise systems.

The public-private technical report highlights key challenges and corresponding actions for developers and vendors of MFA and single sign-on, or SSO technologies, NSA said Wednesday.

The study, which was developed through the cross-sector group Enduring Security Framework, tied the increasing multiple use of computers in organizations to identity verification and access management vulnerabilities. Furthermore, lower levels of MFA have become susceptible to phishing attacks and other malicious activity.

The experts urged developers to create secure-by-default SSO and MFA tools for organizations. Identity standards and terminology must also be refined when it comes to enterprise IT systems, they recommended.

RAND Calls on Navy, Marine Corps to Reevaluate Connector Survivability
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RAND Calls on Navy, Marine Corps to Reevaluate Connector Survivability

New research from RAND Corporation‘s National Security Research Division found that the Navy and Marine Corps face a new threat environment that demands them to reevaluate the survivability of their current fleet of surface connectors.

RAND said the U.S. military’s existing fleet of amphibious connectors was designed and developed under different operational concepts and “might not be as survivable when they operate in a contested environment against an evolved adversary.”

The nonprofit research organization recommended that the naval services address the survivability of their current fleet of amphibious craft by developing and formalizing an analytic framework for connector survivability.

According to RAND, the Navy and Marine Corps must also invest in the survivability of the current connector fleet; develop techniques, procedures and associated training to support the new operating concepts; and utilize operational and tactical intelligence for amphibious forces.

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RTX Demos Solid-State Circuit Breaker for Hybrid-Electric Propulsion Systems
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RTX Demos Solid-State Circuit Breaker for Hybrid-Electric Propulsion Systems

RTX has developed and demonstrated a solid-state circuit breaker designed to support all-electric and hybrid-electric propulsion systems in future aerial platforms.

The RTX Technology Research Center has worked with Collins Aerospace and Pratt & Whitney to build the circuit breaker through NASA’s Advanced Air Vehicles Program, the company said Wednesday.

The circuit breaker technology can manage five times the power of the largest circuit breaker onboard existing aircratft, according to the company.

RTX concluded design, altitude and functional testing of the circuit breaker and plans to further develop the technology through flight demonstration and system integration work at Collins Aerospace’s electric power systems lab, called The Grid.

“Without new circuit breakers that can manage higher loads, hybrid-electric aircraft won’t be possible,” said Andreas Roelofs, vice president of research at RTX and director of RTRC.

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James Shappell on Implementing Prevention, Assistance & Response Program at DOD Joint Bases
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James Shappell on Implementing Prevention, Assistance & Response Program at DOD Joint Bases

James Shappell, director of the DOD Insider Threat Management and Analysis Center at the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency, discussed at a recent symposium how DITMAC works to mitigate and prevent insider threats at the installation level through the Prevention, Assistance and Response program, DVIDS reported Wednesday.

Under the PAR program, DITMAC hires, trains and assigns PAR coordinators to Department of Defense joint bases in an effort to help civilian leaders and commanders understand and counter insider risks.

“Our PAR program is designed to give commanders the right amount of detail and information so they can make informed, risk-based decisions on how they should best move forward to support their personnel,” Shappell said at the event.

He went on to explicate DCSA’s efforts to mitigate risks from trusted insiders across the enterprise, including initiatives to meet its personnel security mission.

“We run 95% of the background investigations for the federal government and we adjudicate the security clearances for the Department of Defense,” Shappell said. “Then we run Continuous Vetting for the Department of Defense and a large population of non-DOD entities. So, from a personal security perspective, the gatekeepers at DCSA have a great opportunity to lead the charge on stopping people from getting in the front door.”

The DSCA official also raised the agency’s Center for Development of Security Excellence and how it helps promote security education training and awareness.

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