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DOD Releases Schedule of Procurement Management Reviews for FY 2024
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DOD Releases Schedule of Procurement Management Reviews for FY 2024

The Department of Defense’s defense pricing and contracting office has tasked the Defense Contract Management Agency with leading procurement management reviews of each Fourth Estate component agency that performs contracting functions.

A memorandum issued and signed by John Tenaglia, principal director for defense pricing and contracting, outlines the PMRs scheduled for fiscal year 2024 involving several agencies, including the National Security Agency, U.S. Transportation Command and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.

According to the memo issued Tuesday, DCMA depends on military departments and Fourth Estate organizations to support reviews by providing personnel to supplement individual teams.

Tenaglia has asked each of the Fourth Estate agencies with contracting personnel of 40 or more to nominate at least two volunteers to take part in one of the reviews scheduled in the upcoming fiscal year.

“Volunteers may request a particular agency they would be interested in reviewing and DCMA will seek to accommodate those requests,” the memo reads.

Agencies have until Sept. 8 to submit the names of their volunteers and their corresponding review preferences and contracting experience.

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NIST Opens Public Comment Period for Cybersecurity Framework Update
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NIST Opens Public Comment Period for Cybersecurity Framework Update

The National Institute of Standards and Technology’s Cybersecurity Framework is being revised nearly 10 years after its initial release.

NIST on Tuesday published a draft of Cybersecurity Framework 2.0 in an effort to adapt to the changing landscape of cyber defense.

The new version incorporates feedback from a request for information issued by the institute in February 2022. It retains key attributes of the framework, while providing additional guidance about evolving ransomware threats and supply chain risks stemming from online vulnerabilities.

Extending its scope beyond critical infrastructure, the latest edition attempts to cater to all types and sizes of organizations. CSF 2.0 now has six main functions: to identify, protect, detect, respond, recover and—the newest addition—govern.

The draft is open to public comment until Nov. 4, with a finalized version to be released in early 2024.

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NASA Prepares ComPair Instrument for Scientific Balloon Campaign
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NASA Prepares ComPair Instrument for Scientific Balloon Campaign

NASA is preparing its ComPair science instrument for a scheduled launch aboard a high-altitude balloon from Fort Sumner, New Mexico to test new technologies for measuring and studying gamma rays.

ComPair is designed to detect gamma-ray emissions with energies between 200,000 and 20 million electron volts, an energy range that current missions have not covered, NASA said Tuesday.

The payload needs to reach above the majority of the Earth’s atmosphere up to 130,000 ft to ensure technical readiness of new gamma-ray technologies.

“Gamma rays are too high-energy for a traditional telescope to detect – the light flies right between the mirror’s atoms,” according to Regina Caputo, ComPair project manager at Goddard Space Flight Center.

“Instead, our instrument uses layers of different kinds of elements and compounds stacked on top of each other. As gamma rays pass through the instrument, they interact with different layers depending on their energies,” Caputo said.

ComPair has four major components: a tracker containing 10 layers of silicon detectors; a high-resolution calorimeter made of cadmium, zinc and telluride; a high-energy calorimeter made of cesium iodide; and an anticoincidence detector.

The instrument was developed in collaboration with Goddard, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Los Alamos National Laboratory and the Naval Research Laboratory.

NASA’s 2023 fall scientific balloon campaign window opens Aug. 10.

DOD Manufacturing Innovation Arm to Launch 1st Domestic Production Line for Electrochemical Separators
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DOD Manufacturing Innovation Arm to Launch 1st Domestic Production Line for Electrochemical Separators

LIFT, the manufacturing innovation institute of the Department of Defense, is slated to develop a pilot line for electrochemical separators in a bid to reduce the cost of energy storage and conversion at its operations.

The Detroit-based project will make LIFT the first U.S.-based producer of such instruments, the organization said Monday.

Electrochemical separators are the main components of energy storage and conversion devices. They have shown promise as a lightweight alternative to corrosion-resistant separators, which are necessary for isolating chemical reactants and waste heat from energy systems.

LIFT’s plan is to make test units from the pilot line, transition to full production after two years and support activities to find a permanent owner and operator of the line.

The program “will secure the supply chain of a critical component of energy systems, it will lower costs, and it will create an enduring research tool for separators in general,” DOD Program Manager Kevin Cronin remarked. “All of these benefits lend to providing the warfighter the best technology we can get them.”

Sponsored by the Manufacturing Science and Technology Program under the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the project is expected to be operational in the third quarter of 2025.

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US Army Reserve Oversees 10 Pilots, Demonstrations to Improve Facilities
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US Army Reserve Oversees 10 Pilots, Demonstrations to Improve Facilities

The U.S. Army Reserve and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory are conducting 10 pilot programs and demonstrations to enhance the efficiency of the service branch’s facilities and infrastructure.

B.T. Collins Army Reserve Center, Arden Hills U.S. Army Reserve Complex in Minnesota, and Fort McCoy in Wisconsin are some of the military installations involved in projects ranging from climate resilience to water conservation, the Army Reserve announced Monday.

B.T. Collins is working with the 63rd Readiness Division to test the potential of a substance called phase change material to boost thermal mass in buildings. The team, which began its study in 2017, has expanded the project into a testbed for heating, ventilation and air conditioning.

The Environmental Security Technology Certification Program funded three of the 10 pilots focused on the use of machine learning to improve the functionality of the branch’s Enterprise Building Control System.

Meanwhile, Fort McCoy’s energy management staff are exploring a rapid deployment hybrid microgrid that combines natural gas and captured waste heat to create a heat and power turn-key system for buildings.

“The results of these demonstrations and pilots are key in addressing the potential challenges we face – whether it be from manmade cyber attacks or the effects of climate change and increasing natural disasters,” said Col. Martin Naranjo, director of the Army Reserve Installation Management Directorate.

Air Force Major Commands Deploy Standard Command and Control Tool
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Air Force Major Commands Deploy Standard Command and Control Tool

Air Combat Command and Air Mobility Command have designated a Kessel Run-managed application as their standard installation command and control tool.

The two U.S. Air Force major commands have each released “concept of employment” directives to standardize the operational use of the Command and Control Incident Management Emergency Response Application across their installations, Kessel Run announced Tuesday.

C2IMERA gives a common operating picture of installation resources and features tools for planning and coordinating base operations and communicating C2 data in real time.

The application has been implemented throughout several Air Force installations and forward operating bases to streamline planning, reporting, emergency management, force generation and C2 monitoring and execution.

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Executive Mosaic CEO Jim Garrettson Delivers Wash100 Award to Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro
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Executive Mosaic CEO Jim Garrettson Delivers Wash100 Award to Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro

Department of the Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro was given his 2023 Wash100 Award during a visit by Executive Mosaic CEO and award founder Jim Garrettson.

Del Toro’s first-ever Wash100 induction is a salute to his direction of acquisition process reform and modernization initiatives within the service branch.

Earlier this year, he led the implementation of amendments to the SECNAV Instruction 5000.2G manual for product and service acquisition, which encourages the Navy’s different departments to coordinate when it comes to data analytics and the use of next-generation tools in programmatic decision-making.

“This updated instruction empowers our Navy and Marine Corps acquisition professionals to aggressively develop promising technologies into capabilities our warfighters need to maintain maritime dominance,” Del Toro commented.

His 30-year infrastructure modernization strategy includes reconfiguring and revitalizing funding for shipyards, and expanding the long-term visibility of the Navy into its priorities and challenges.

“If we’re going to get better as a Navy, as a military, as a nation, we’ve got to get real about the infrastructure problems that we face,” Del Toro said.

The Navy secretary continues to push for the development and adoption of technologies such as unmanned systems and drones, a new class of guided-missile destroyers and nuclear attack submarines, opening avenues for more partnerships with the government contracting industry.

Virtru Data Security Platform Secures FedRAMP Approval; Will Ackerly Quoted
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Virtru Data Security Platform Secures FedRAMP Approval; Will Ackerly Quoted

Virtru has achieved Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program approval for its Data Security Platform.

Through the process, which was sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the software received Authorization to Operate at the Moderate level, Virtru announced from its Washington, D.C. headquarters on Wednesday.

“Federal organizations are realizing the urgent need for data-centric security, embracing strategies that enhance rather than impede the mission by prioritizing control and secure access to data at a granular level first, while also protecting the systems and networks that store and transmit it,” said Virtru Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer Will Ackerly.

He highlighted the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, which recently shared its goal of establishing a data-centric framework, as one of these organizations.

Virtru Data Security Platform, he said, provides public sector organizations with a foundation to “execute against advanced data-centric cybersecurity strategies.”

The system hosts a suite of data protection tools to help users scale data-centric security across sensitive data workflows. Since receiving its first FedRAMP ATO at the Moderate level in 2019, Virtru has diversified the platform’s set of capabilities to offer its users secure encryption, access controls and key management capabilities.

One expansion made to the system is the addition of the Virtru Secure Share encrypted file-sharing tool, which enables organizations to send and receive sensitive data securely while allowing data owners the option to remove access at any time.

Ackerly said that as a sponsor, the CDC used Virtru’s Data Security Platform to handle sensitive data at rest and in motion.

“Virtru’s FedRAMP Moderate ATO could not have come at a more critical time for our nation, and we look forward to our continued technology deployments for our federal customers,” he said.

Along with meeting FedRAMP standards, Virtru applications comply with FIPS 140-2, an encryption security requirement for cryptographic modules used by both agencies and contractors.

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Deltek Report: Federal Agencies Spent $7.7B on AI in Past 3 Fiscal Years
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Deltek Report: Federal Agencies Spent $7.7B on AI in Past 3 Fiscal Years

A new Deltek report revealed that federal agencies’ spending on artificial intelligence technologies totaled $7.7 billion between fiscal years 2020 and 2022, reflecting an increase of 36 percent over the three-year period.

The report showed that research and development accounted for 60 percent of agencies’ total AI prime contract obligations from FY 2020 through FY 2022, Christine Fritsch, a senior principal research analyst at Deltek, wrote in a market analysis piece published Tuesday.

Agencies have cited data quality, ethics, security, effective oversight, explainability and transparency as top challenges to AI adoption in the federal government and that they are buying AI capabilities to support both their mission needs and the procurement process, according to the company’s Federal Artificial Intelligence Landscape, 2024 report.

The analysis noted that other transaction agreements and other contracting mechanisms have enabled agencies to increase spending on AI tools and Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer program awards have benefited some small vendors.

Trusted AI and Autonomy Forum

Join the ExecutiveBiz Trusted Artificial Intelligence and Autonomy Forum on Sept. 12 to hear public sector leaders and technology experts as they talk about the opportunities and risks associated with generative AI and related tools. Click here to register. 

Top Government Contracts Awarded by the Air Force Research Lab
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What are the top government contracts won by AFRL?
Photo by Freepik from Freepik.com

The United States Air Force (USAF) has led several missions encompassing aerospace defense, technological advancement, and homeland security missions on land, sea, and cyber spaces. Behind many of these efforts is the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL).

This scientific research and development (R&D) division leads and develops various research initiatives and products for warfighters and the air and space forces. AFRL’s mission success is influenced by federal contracts from the USAF and other federal government agencies.

Top 6 Government Contracts Won by Air Force Research Lab

Outlined below are the top government contracts won by Air Force Research Lab and awarded to trusted government contractors.

Utah State University Space Dynamics Laboratory Won a Contract for Space-related Tech Development and Mission Support

USU/SDL Space-related tech development and mission support
Photo by Gorodenkoff from Shutterstock.com
  • Contract awardee: Utah State University Space Dynamics Laboratory
  • Value: $1 Billion
  • Contract type: Indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity
  • Contract date: November 15, 2021

The Space Dynamics Laboratory at Utah State University (USU/SDL) achieved a significant milestone on November 15, 2021, as it was chosen to fulfill one of the Air Force Research Lab’s largest contracts. Under the indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contract worth $1 billion, USU/SDL was tasked to develop space and nuclear-advanced prototypes, conduct space-related research and technology efforts, and provide mission support to the AFRL and its partners.

Additionally, the contract award solidifies AFRL’s alliance with USU/SDL, with the partnership accelerating crucial space science and technology projects. Some areas to be tackled under the IDIQ agreement are space sensors, space cybersecurity, space environmental research, advanced satellite navigation, and many more.

 

AFRL Awarded Agile Cyber Technology 3 Contract to Five Small Businesses

Agile Cyber Technology 3 Contract for future digital transformation
Photo by Blue Planet Studio from Shutterstock.com
  • Contract awardee/s: Assured Information Security, CNF Technologies, Global InfoTek, Invictus International Consulting, and Radiance Technologies
  • Value: $950 Million
  • Contract type: Multi-award IDIQ
  • Contract date: June 13, 2022

On June 13, 2022, five small businesses made significant turning points in their government contracting operations as the Air Force Research Lab awarded them the third iteration of the Agile Cyber Technology contract. With a contract value of $950 million, the contract awardees were assigned to support rapid research phases, develop and prototype cyber capabilities, and deliver innovative technology to the US warfighters.

The previous Agile Cyber Technology contracts had a combined value of $1.4 billion and entailed the development and delivery of cyber technology capabilities to different agencies under the Department of Defense. Agile Cyber Technology 3 is a combination of the first two contracts as the evolving cyber domain requires a compatible pace and an increasing demand signal from operation units to executive rapid development, enhancement, and deployment of cyber capabilities.

Assured Information Security, CNF Technologies, Global InfoTek, Invictus International Consulting, and Radiance Technologies, the contract awardees, are expected to complete Agile Cyber Technology 3 by 2032.

 

PAR Government Systems Won a Contract for the Development of Anti-drone Technology

AFRL anti-drone technology
Photo by Dizfoto from Shutterstock.com
  • Contract awardee: PAR Government Systems Corp.
  • Value: $490 million
  • Contract type: Single-award IDIQ
  • Contract date: September 24, 2021

On September 24, 2021, the Air Force Research Laboratory awarded PAR Government Systems the IDIQ contract–with cost-plus-fixed-fee completion and firm-fixed-price type orders– for providing software, hardware, and technical documentation of the Counter-small Unmanned Aircraft System (C-sUAS) technologies.

Under the agreement worth $490 million, PAR Government Systems implemented research, designing, prototyping, testing, evaluation, integration, transition, and technical installation of C-sUAS machinery and equipment.

Counter-small Unmanned Aircraft Systems are designed to detect, track, disrupt, and destroy uncrewed airborne vehicles such as drones. The development of C-sUAS tech bolsters the military’s efforts to face evolving threats from commercial uncrewed aircraft that can potentially carry explosives and can be networked with swarms of drones.

PAR Government Systems received fiscal 2021 research and development funds worth $5.7 million at the time of awarding and will continue developing and testing anti-drone technology until August 31, 2029.

 

AFRL Awarded Howard University Contract to Establish University Research Consortium

AFRL Howard University research consortium contract
Photo by Postmodern Studio from Shutterstock.com
  • Contract awardee: Howard University
  • Value: $90 Million
  • Contract type: Indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity
  • Contract date: January 19, 2023

The academic domain achieved a significant milestone through Howard University’s landing of the Air Force Research Lab’s contract for its Tactical Autonomy R&D project. With a contract value of $90 million, the IDIQ tasked Howard University, a private research university based in Washington, DC, to establish a center to employ research projects for identifying and aiding the transition of practical applications of autonomous technology.

Howard University received fiscal 2023 funds of nearly $3 million to complete the contract’s first task order. The research university is expected to complete the research consortium by January 31, 2028.

 

Northrop Grumman Landed Contract to Establish Communication with Military Platforms via Commercial Space Internet Service

Commercial Space Internet Service
Photo by Gorodenkoff from Shutterstock.com
  • Contract awardee: Northrop Grumman Systems Corp.
  • Value: $80.3 Million
  • Contract type: Cost-plus-fixed-fee
  • Contract date: June 2, 2023

Northrop Grumman Systems, a distinguished government contractor in the aerospace and defense realms, secured a contract from the Air Force Research Lab for the Defense Experimentation Using Commercial Space Internet Advanced Research Announcement program.

Under the cost-plus-fixed-fee contract, the Virginia-based defense company was awarded $80.3 million to develop and demonstrate the ability to communicate with military platforms through commercial space internet constellations in various orbital dominions. The contract also entails Northrop Grumman testing these space technologies with common user terminal and hardware elements.

A total of $31 million in fiscal R&D funds have been awarded to Northrop Grumman to complete some of the agreement’s task orders. AFRL’s Defense Experimentation Using Commercial Space Internet Advanced Research Announcement contract is scheduled to conclude on February 25, 2027.

 

Concurrent Technologies Corporation Secured AFRL Contracts to Improve Microgrid Resiliency and USAF Efficiency

CTC Microgrid resiliency
Photo by metamorworks from Shutterstock.com
  • Contract awardee: Concurrent Technologies Corp.
  • Value: $9.4 Million (combined)
  • Contract date: June 2023

Concurrent Technologies Corporation (CTC) achieved significant milestones when it secured two contracts from the Air Force Research Lab to improve microgrid resiliency and provide support to the USAF in June 2023.

The first contract, which has a value of $4.8 million, tasked CTC to build direct current (DC) microgrid technology to bolster energy resilience at the Kirtland Air Force Base in New Mexico. CTC’s improvement of microgrid solutions will help save energy when connected to the utility grid and provide resilient power during power loss. Added to that, the resilient microgrids reduce the air base’s reliance on DC/AC inverters, which are common failure points for traditional inverters.

The other deal, valued at $4.6 million, entailed overhauling diesel-powered generators for fighter aircraft used during the Vietnam War. Due to CTC’s previously successful battery hybrid generator prototypes, AFRL tapped into the company to design, develop, and test a second version of Next Generation Powerhead Systems to support the US Air Force’s missions.

 

AFRL Awarded KBR Contract for xGEO Space Situational Awareness

KBR Inc. non-traditional orbit research
Photo by Sophia Dagnello from NRAO/AUI/NSF
  • Contract awardee: KBR Inc.
  • Value: $25 million
  • Contract date: July 31, 2023

KBR Inc., a trusted government contractor for the Department of Defense and NASA, received a task order contract from the Air Force Research Laboratory to study and analyze non-traditional orbits within the xGEO domain, or the orbit out of the Earth that goes beyond out to the Moon. With contract funds worth $24.9 million, KBR was tasked to implement research on space situational awareness.

KBR cover areas on N-body problems, predicting the individual movement of a group of celestial matter interacting with each other gravitationally. It will also work on developing robust solutions for data association, maneuver detection, initial orbit determination, and analyzing and predicting orbital motion and is expected to complete the task orders by 2028.

 

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Air Force Research Lab?

The Air Force Research Laboratory is the research and development division of the US Air Force, spearheading the delivery, discovery, development, and integration of warfighting technologies tailored for the air, space, and cyberspace forces.

For over a century, AFRL has revolutionized the aerospace industry by employing cutting-edge research methods, modernizing old technology, and tailoring solutions and services to suit the needs of its academia, private business, and government customers.

What are AFRL’s products and services?

The Air Force Research Laboratory offers its full-spectrum laboratory and a broad range of services and solutions to the US Air Force and Space Force, the US Department of Defense, and other enterprises focused on space-based technologies.

AFRL’s roster of capabilities includes munitions, sensors, space vehicles, aerospace systems, directed energy, artificial intelligence, integrated capabilities, cross-domain solutions, and healthcare crisis response.

Where is AFRL’s headquarters located?

Air Force Research Laboratory is headquartered at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio, the home of the Wright Brothers and where aviation originated. Within AFRL’s headquarters is the Center for Rapid Innovation, an agency that handles urgent operational requests from Air Force Global Strike Command, Air Force Space Command, Air Mobility Command, and other USAF division commanders.

 

AFRL Government Contracts: Leading Industries to Greater Heights

As a distinguished research and development agency, the Air Force Research Laboratory has maintained over 100 years of expertise in aviation, aerospace, and cyberspace to deliver innovative solutions to customers and partners in the private sector and federal government.

Over the years, AFRL has partnered with companies to deploy government missions effectively. Its federal contracts have revolutionized space-based technologies and propelled various industries to greater heights.

 

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