DIU’s Hybrid Space Architecture to Expand Military Access to Commercial Satellite Imagery
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DIU’s Hybrid Space Architecture to Expand Military Access to Commercial Satellite Imagery

Rogan Shimmin, program manager for the Hybrid Space Architecture project at the Defense Innovation Unit, said the HSA initiative could make it easier for the Department of Defense to buy satellite imagery and intelligence from commercial providers, C4ISRNET reported Monday.

He shared that the hybrid architecture would enable military users to purchase data on a case-by-case basis and get insight into where the information originated.

“It’s all attributable, which gives us a bit of verification, a bit of history — if there’s a flaw found in one of the products, we can prevent that from happening,” Shimmin explained.

“Also, it allows for micro-transactions to reimburse each of these providers when their products have been sued, which creates a commercial incentive for the better analytics to bubble to the top,” he added.

In November 2022, the DIU selected Amazon’s cloud computing business, along with Project Kuiper, Microsoft and SpiderOak Mission Systems to support the development of an agile and resilient communications architecture.

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Gen. Eric Smith Takes Over as Marine Corps Acting Commandant
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Gen. Eric Smith Takes Over as Marine Corps Acting Commandant

Gen. Eric Smith, assistant commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps, assumed additional duties as acting commandant of the service branch following Gen. David Berger’s retirement after more than four decades in service and four years at the helm of USMC, USNI News reported Monday.

The Senate has yet to confirm Smith, who testified before the upper chamber in mid-June with regard to his nomination to the USMC commandant role. He is the first acting commandant since 1910.

“Because no 39th commandant has yet been confirmed by the Senate, I will perform the duties of the commandant using the full authority of that office until such time as a confirmation occurs,” Smith said in a video message after the relinquishment of command ceremony.

Smith said he will focus on advancing the service’s overhaul efforts and ensuring the force’s readiness to respond to crises worldwide, according to a report by the Marine Corps Times.

“I still retain the authorities of the office of the commandant, so as far as budgetary, experimentation, changing formations, I can still do all that,” the general said. “And those things that are working well for us — long-range fires, et cetera — we will move faster on them as long as we have a defense budget.”

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Dr. Stacey Dixon of ODNI Accepts Wash100 Award From Executive Mosaic CEO Jim Garrettson
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Dr. Stacey Dixon of ODNI Accepts Wash100 Award From Executive Mosaic CEO Jim Garrettson

Dr. Stacey Dixon, principal deputy director of national intelligence, was presented with her fourth Wash100 Award during a meeting with Executive Mosaic CEO Jim Garrettson.

She is one of the most popular inductees in the 2023 Wash100 — as proven by her status as the award’s 2021 popular vote champion. Dr. Dixon attained her 2023 award by commandeering strategies such as robotic process automation and open source intelligence to ensure protection and ethical use of sensitive data.

Every year, Wash100 highlights leaders who were instrumental in advancing the government contracting sector. Dr. Dixon’s full award profile is published here.

With Dr. Dixon as one of its pillars, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence helped dispel disinformation from Russia in the days leading up to its invasion of Ukraine. Taking lessons learned from the conflict, she expressed the importance of studying open source information in balancing data intelligence and the right to privacy.

At the U.S. Geospatial Intelligence Foundation’s 2022 GEOINT Symposium, Dr. Dixon endorsed public-private collaboration as a vital element to enhance domestic GEOINT capability. Partnerships “enhance our ability to do our job better, so our customers can do theirs, and keep our country safe, while upholding the democratic principles [on] which our nation and other free societies were built,” she remarked.

“As an individual who has held some of the highest, most consequential roles in the intelligence community, Stacey is uniquely positioned to help guide ODNI’s mission and strengthen the country’s information advantage,” said Garrettson, who founded the Wash100 Award.

Dr. Stacey Dixon of ODNI Accepts Wash100 Award From Executive Mosaic CEO Jim Garrettson

Hear Dr. Dixon deliver a keynote address to the Potomac Officers Club’s 9th Annual Intel Summit on Sep. 21! Register now and save your seat at this important and timely forum.

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RTX Business Secures $66M Contract Modification for F135 Core Engine Upgrade Program; Jen Latka Quoted
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RTX Business Secures $66M Contract Modification for F135 Core Engine Upgrade Program; Jen Latka Quoted

An RTX subsidiary has received a $66 million definitized contract modification to extend its F135 Engine Core Upgrade preliminary design work.

The award, which was funded by the Connecticut congressional delegation, brings the total contract value to $180 million and will be used to advance Pratt & Whitney’s efforts under the engine modernization project, the East Hartford, Connecticut-based company announced on Tuesday.

Jen Latka, vice president for the F135 program at Pratt & Whitney, said that the organization is “extremely grateful for the ceaseless support” of the Connecticut delegation.

“We’ll use this funding to make quick progress on our Engine Core Upgrade’s preliminary design efforts, and that will keep us on track to deliver this important capability starting in 2028,” she said.

Specific areas the new allocations will support include design engineering, program management and technology maturation, as well as risk reduction, long lead material and hardware purchase and weapons system integration.

Announced in March 2023 as part of President Biden’s 2024 budget proposal, the U.S. Air Force, Marine Corps and Navy decided to revitalize the F135 as opposed to replacing it with a completely new engine.

“A modernized F-35 needs a modernized engine to support it,” said Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Ct.

This additional funding, she asserted, will help Connecticut and the broader U.S. maintain a skilled workforce to create the important capability.

“Upgrading the F135 is the right decision to support our national defense priorities and defense industrial base, and I’ll continue to ensure this program gets the support and funding it needs,” DeLauro added.

The F135 ECU is a fast, cost-effective and low-risk path to Block 4 capability for every F-35 operator globally. Built for all three F-35 variants, the F135 ECU is expected to produce $40 billion in lifecycle cost savings by utilizing the current global sustainment infrastructure and limiting disruptive and expensive air vehicle changes.

Pratt & Whitney booked the initial $115 million contract in December 2022. At the time of the announcement, DeLauro emphasized the company’s workforce of 11,000 in East Hartford and Middletown, Connecticut alone. Across the country, the F135 initiative supports over 53,000 jobs spanning 36 states.

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European Commission Issues Adequacy Decision Supporting EU-US Data Privacy Pact
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European Commission Issues Adequacy Decision Supporting EU-US Data Privacy Pact

The European Commission affirmed the adequacy of the U.S. government’s data protection measures for personal information sharing between European Union and U.S.-based companies.

The decision advances the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework, which aims to ensure the safe and secure transmission of personal information from EU to U.S. organizations, the commission said Monday.

The draft framework was revised to address concerns by the European Court of Justice about the extent of U.S. companies’ access to EU data. In the newest version, a Data Protection Review Court to be established under the framework will be authorized to order the deletion of information if it was obtained in violation of data safeguards.

“The decision reflects our joint commitment to strong data privacy protections and will create greater economic opportunities for our countries and companies on both sides of the Atlantic,” U.S. President Joe Biden said in an official White House statement.

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NCSA to Deploy AI-Enabled Supercomputer Under NSF Award
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NCSA to Deploy AI-Enabled Supercomputer Under NSF Award

The National Center for Supercomputing Applications, which operates as a unit of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, has secured a $10 million award from the National Science Foundation to field an artificial intelligence-based supercomputer.

DeltaAI is projected to triple the AI-enabled computing capacity of NCSA and is expected to feature advanced web-based interfaces to support research efforts, the center said Wednesday.

“DeltaAI provides about double the performance of Delta and will be integrated into the same complex while also remaining separate projects,” said Bill Gropp, director of NCSA and principal investigator.

Gropp noted that DeltaAI will work to deliver capabilities for data science and simulation and supports NCSA’s mission to democratize high-performance computing.

Navy to Launch Next SBIR/SBTT Open Topics Opportunity
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Navy to Launch Next SBIR/SBTT Open Topics Opportunity

The U.S. Navy is set to kick off its next open topics opportunity under the Small Business Innovative Research and Small Business Technology Transfer programs on July 13 to seek commercial technologies that meet specific mission-critical needs of the service branch, Federal News Network reported Friday.

Phase I will run for four months and focus on approaches to adapt commercial products and services to improve performance, modernize an existing capability or fill a capability gap.

The Navy will then make competitive selections based on Phase I results and the initial Phase II proposal and award contracts to transition technology from the development to the production phase.

A small business may submit one proposal for each topic under the open broad agency announcement.

Topics range from improving the launch and recovery of air, sea, surface and unmanned underwater vehicles from naval vessels to enhancing the mission capabilities of UUV systems.

The BAA is scheduled to close on Aug. 15.

Air Force Materiel Command Establishes New Software Engineering Collaboration Organization
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Air Force Materiel Command Establishes New Software Engineering Collaboration Organization

Air Force Materiel Command is establishing a new organization within the Air Force Sustainment Center to facilitate software engineering collaboration throughout the enterprise.

The AFSC Software Engineering directorate will consolidate the three existing software engineering groups located at each of the Air Logistics Complexes in an effort to eliminate redundancy, improve the effectiveness of processes and prioritize the delivery of software.

“This decision will align and integrate our software ecosystem capabilities to Air Force priorities and rapidly address the growth in volume and complexity of software-enabled DAF weapon systems,” said Lt. Gen. Shaun Morris, commander of the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center.

Gen. Duke Richardson, commander of AFMC, said the new organization aligns with the command’s strategic plan and will enable seamless integration of other software factories in the future.

Software engineering group employees will begin consolidating workload and resourcing decisions through the new organization.

“This realignment will enable us to spread the workload and allow for an increased flow of idea-sharing. Working together to solve complex issues will greatly accelerate our capacity to support the warfighter,” said Michael Jennings, senior technical leader at the AFSC Software Engineering directorate.

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DOD’s National Security Innovation Capital Obligates Available Funds for 2023; Tex Schenkkan Quoted
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DOD’s National Security Innovation Capital Obligates Available Funds for 2023; Tex Schenkkan Quoted

The National Security Innovation Capital within the Defense Innovation Unit met has met an incremental investment goal by allocating all of its available funds early in 2023, Federal News Network reported Friday.

NSIC Director Tex Schenkkan attributed the progress to the venture fund’s maturity and the increasing awareness among companies about the opportunity to secure investments from NSIC.

In 2021, the Department of Defense launched NSIC as a program that seeks to provide government funding to startups working on hardware technologies that could have national security and commercial applications.

NSIC has a portfolio of 17 companies and explores investments in the areas of communications, space, autonomy, sensors and power.

Schenkkan said future expansion areas might include biotech hardware or microelectronics.

“There are other areas that we would go more directly at where there’s need, and where we think we could have an impact,” he told FNN in an interview.

Schenkkan also commented that NSIC intends to fund startups from the country’s closest allies to support mutual interests when it comes to national security.

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Marine Corps Sgt. Maj. Troy Black Named Senior Enlisted Advisor to Joint Staff Chair
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Marine Corps Sgt. Maj. Troy Black Named Senior Enlisted Advisor to Joint Staff Chair

U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Maj. Troy Black has been named senior enlisted advisor to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, succeeding SEAC Ramon Colon-Lopez, who is set to retire on Nov. 3.

The Department of Defense said Friday that Black is currently assigned as the 19th Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps and will soon serve at the SEAC Office in Washington, D.C.

Following the transfer of responsibility ceremony in November, Black will function as a direct tie between the Joint Staff chair and the enlisted force.

The official became the sergeant major of the Marine Corps in 2019 and has been with the service branch for 35 years.

Some of Black’s assignments were with 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Capable) during Operation Bright Star and with 3d Bn, 7th Marines in support of Operation Enduring Freedom in 2010.

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