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Watch: Amentum CEO John Heller Shares How UAVs Are ‘Changing the Battlefield’
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Watch: Amentum CEO John Heller Shares How UAVs Are ‘Changing the Battlefield’

Technology is developing and advancing at a rapid pace, and leaders from government and industry alike are working to harness these changes at the speed of innovation. For Amentum, the company is viewing emerging technologies through the lens of their core growth markets.

In the area of engineering modernization, Amentum CEO John Heller said unmanned aerial vehicles, or UAVS, and counter UAVs hold great potential for the future of defense and represent a major growth market for the company.

“We’ve seen just recently on the battlefield over in Ukraine how effective autonomous technology can be on the battlefield — how it’s really changing our idea of how the battlefield field will operate not just today, but just perceiving change for the future,” said Heller, a 2023 Wash100 Award winner, in an exclusive video interview with Executive Mosaic.

Heller explained that Amentum has “tremendous experience” in UAVs as well as an established leadership position in operating and maintaining UAVs for the U.S. government. Beyond Amentum’s work on its own though, the company is forging key partnerships with technology companies as it expands its UAV portfolio and offerings.

The company is working with Spark AI to develop “the next generation of artificial intelligence to help deliver unmanned, autonomous technology to the battlefield,” Heller said, noting that he also sees major applications for autonomous technology off the battlefield too, specifically in helping businesses operate more effectively.

Additionally, Amentum is partnering with DJI and Deep Trekker to develop drones that can assist in cleaning environmental waste or help with dangerous environmental problems, Heller mentioned.

Watch John Heller’s full video interview here, and vote for him in the 2023 Wash100 popular vote competition at Wash100.com.

John Mengucci of CACI & Maria Demaree of Lockheed Martin Space Reach Career Highs with 2023 Wash100 Award
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John Mengucci of CACI & Maria Demaree of Lockheed Martin Space Reach Career Highs with 2023 Wash100 Award

Today, Executive Mosaic is singing the praises of two private sector juggernauts in light of their induction to the 2023 Wash100 class. CACI CEO John Mengucci and Lockheed Martin Space General Manager Maria Demaree were commended in ExecutiveGov sister publications GovCon Wire and ExecutiveBiz for the feats that led them to be counted among the top government contracting executives in the U.S.

The Wash100 Award is an annual compilation and commemoration of GovCon and the federal sector’s best and brightest. EM’s discerning voting body considers a plethora of candidates and factors, weighing traits such as vision, innovation, leadership and reliability. Now having completed its first decade of life, the award marks an enormous and widely-respected honor in the industry and the Capitol region.

After announcing the honorees in January, EM begins a yearly, much anticipated popular vote competition. Participants like yourself can — nay, should! Ought to! — submit 10 votes before voting closes at the end of April. Support your favorite Wash100 winners at Wash100.com now.

2023 is Mengucci’s fourth consecutive Wash100 win. The former CACI COO and Lockheed Martin veteran earned yet another spot in esteemed company due to his dogged pursuit of new and wide-ranging contract award opportunities for CACI, such as massive wins from the Army, Navy and the Defense Agencies Initiative. 2022 also saw CACI log high, $1 billion-plus revenue numbers that easily bested and built upon prior year periods.

Read more about Mengucci and CACI’s banner year at GovCon Wire here.

Demaree, a first-time Wash100 awardee, has been a dedicated Lockheed Martin team member for over 30 years. Her work as vice president and GM of special programs at LM Space entails overseeing the unit’s construction and execution of high-performance systems as well as developing boundary-pushing concepts for national security space needs.

In addition to being on the cutting edge of the creation of new technologies for NASA missions, Demaree is committed to uplifting young people — particularly women — to succeed in STEM. Learn about Demaree’s unique career and her plan for future success at ExecutiveBiz here.

Executive Mosaic extends a hearty congratulations to John Mengucci, Maria Demaree, CACI and Lockheed Martin on their Wash100 wins and encourages everyone to vote for their favorite candidate at Wash100.com today!

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Commission Seeks to Enhance Competition in AbilityOne Program With Proposed Rule
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Commission Seeks to Enhance Competition in AbilityOne Program With Proposed Rule

The U.S. AbilityOne Commission is soliciting feedback on a plan to amend its regulations to clarify its authority when it comes to considering different pricing methods in establishing the fair market price for changes to the FMP and additions to the Procurement List as part of efforts to modernize the AbilityOne Program and align it with the needs of federal agency customers.

The proposed changes also intend to better define the parameters for performing competitive allocations among qualified nonprofit agencies and clarify the commission’s procedures and responsibilities to authorize and deauthorize NPAs, according to a notice of proposed rulemaking published Monday in Federal Register.

The suggested revisions seek to integrate the recommendations by a panel in accordance with Section 898 of the fiscal year 2017 National Defense Authorization Act.

The commission said the panel’s recommended actions are being introduced in the proposed rulemaking.

These include requiring central nonprofit agencies to consider technical capability, past performance and price when making an NPA allocation decision, establishing policy and business rules for competition and recompetition of the Procurement List within the AbilityOne Program and protecting the jobs of incumbent employees who are blind or have other significant disabilities if an NPA is deauthorized.

Comments on the proposed changes are due May 11.

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NASA’s OTPS Conducts Cost-Benefit Analysis of Orbital Debris Remediation Methods
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NASA’s OTPS Conducts Cost-Benefit Analysis of Orbital Debris Remediation Methods

NASA’s Office of Technology, Policy, and Strategy has published a cost-benefit analysis to determine which orbital debris remediation approaches are worth implementing.

The new report suggests that large space debris should be pushed away from collisions rather than being completely removed from orbit in order to minimize near-term expenses for satellite operators, NASA said Saturday.

Remediation is one of the three broad methods proposed under the U.S. National Orbital Debris Implementation Plan to reduce risks posed by space junk. Previous proposals called for the extraction of unused space objects based on their size.

In the current study, OTPS found that the most cost-effective method involves using laser systems to eliminate small debris 1 to 10 centimeter in size, while nudging large debris to steer them away from potential collisions.

The agency intends to obtain the space community’s feedback on the cost-benefit study before conducting a more wide-reaching analysis on debris remediation.

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GSA Aims to Double Down on Initiatives to Boost WOSB Participation in GovCon
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GSA Aims to Double Down on Initiatives to Boost WOSB Participation in GovCon

The General Services Administration is ramping up its efforts this year to reduce the resource and opportunity barriers facing women-owned small businesses, said Exodie Roe, associate administrator of the GSA Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization.

In a blog published Monday, Roe said OSDBU will host more matchmaking events to give WOSBs access to subcontracting prospects, as part of GSA’s goal to grant five percent of prime contracts and five percent of subcontracts to companies with female owners.

Roe noted that their office has reached or exceeded Statutory Federal Small Business Procurement Goals for 12 consecutive years. 

OSDBU helps WOSBs as well as other underrepresented enterprises by educating and training them about government contracting. The office also connects them with procurement experts as needed, and gives them access to the Forecast of Contracting Opportunities online tool.

On March 23, OSDBU is teaming up with the U.S. Women’s Chamber of Commerce to host a Virtual Meet & Match, a networking event to introduce WOSBs and other small enterprises to GSA’s prime contractors.

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SDA Seeks Industry Input on Tranche 2 Tracking Layer Program
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SDA Seeks Industry Input on Tranche 2 Tracking Layer Program

The Space Development Agency has published a request for information on the second tranche of the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture’s tracking layer that will support missile defense missions.

A notice posted Monday on SAM.gov states that the Tranche 2 Tracking Layer architecture will provide global surveillance and targeting services from the low-Earth orbit and enable continuous missile warning and tracking capabilities.

The T2 Tracking Layer will also deliver a missile defense fire control capability expected to deploy to LEO in fiscal year 2027.

SDA is seeking industry input on constellation architecture, mission data processing parameters and infrared mission payload development.

L3Harris Technologies and Northrop Grumman secured prototyping agreements worth $1.3 billion in July 2022 to build and deploy 28 satellites for the T1 Tracking Layer.

Each spacecraft will include an infrared mission payload, optical communications terminals, a Ka-band communications payload and multiple pointing modes.

In late January, SDA renamed the National Defense Space Architecture as the PWSA to better reflect its mission to provide space-based warfighting capabilities.

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NGA, Partners Develop Lunar Reference System for Moon Exploration Mission
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NGA, Partners Develop Lunar Reference System for Moon Exploration Mission

The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency is spearheading the development of a new positioning and navigation system designed to support NASA’s lunar exploration missions.

The Lunar Reference System will serve as a framework that will power a transmission system being built by NASA and partners to achieve accurate navigation on the moon similar to the earthbound Global Positioning System, NGA said.

Trevor Garner, senior GEOINT officer for space in NGA’s Office of Geomatics, said the effort aims to enable astronauts to navigate safely on the lunar surface as there is no existing GPS on the moon.

NGA is working with NASA, the U.S. Space Force, the U.S. Geological Survey and other agencies and universities on the LRS program.

According to Garner, the team expects to complete the new system within the next decade.

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New CISA Program Designed to Protect Critical Infrastructure Against Ransomware Attacks
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New CISA Program Designed to Protect Critical Infrastructure Against Ransomware Attacks

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency has launched a pilot program authorized by the Cyber Incident Reporting for Critical Infrastructure Act of 2022 intended to help protect critical infrastructure organizations against ransomware threats.

CISA said Monday the Ransomware Vulnerability Warning Pilot program will use existing data sources, threat intelligence technologies and vulnerability identification services to detect information systems with internet-exposed security vulnerabilities.

“The RVWP will allow CISA to provide timely and actionable information that will directly reduce the prevalence of damaging ransomware incidents affecting American organizations,” said Eric Goldstein, executive assistant director for cybersecurity at CISA.

According to the agency, 93 organizations were identified as running instances of Microsoft Exchange Service with a ProxyNotShell vulnerability exploited by ransomware actors.

The Joint Ransomware Task Force, an interagency body jointly led by the FBI and CISA, will coordinate the RVWP efforts.

“We encourage every organization to urgently mitigate vulnerabilities identified by this program and adopt strong security measures consistent with the U.S. government’s guidance on StopRansomware.gov,” Goldstein said.

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AUKUS Defense Alliance Launches Arrangement for Australia Nuclear Submarine Procurement
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AUKUS Defense Alliance Launches Arrangement for Australia Nuclear Submarine Procurement

The leaders of the U.S., Australia and the U.K. have established a pathway for Australia to acquire nuclear-powered submarines through a trilateral security partnership called AUKUS as part of efforts to ensure security, strengthen deterrence and advance stability in the Indo-Pacific region.

The AUKUS alliance, which was introduced in September 2021, will provide the Royal Australian Navy with the conventionally armed submarine, dubbed SSN-AUKUS, that will be based on the U.K.’s next-generation SSN design and integrate submarine technologies from the U.S., the White House said Monday.

Australia and the U.K. will build and deploy the submarine as part of the plan, which seeks to strengthen the undersea capabilities and submarine industrial bases of the three countries.

The alliance will implement a phased approach to help Australia sustain its undersea capabilities. The approach includes embedded personnel and port visits, submarine rotational forces and sale of U.S. Virginia-class submarines to Australia.

The U.K. and Australia intend to kick off construction work on SSN-AUKUS before the end of 2030. The British government plans to hand over the first submarine to its naval force in the late 2030s, while Australia intends to have the first SSN-AUKUS delivered to its navy in the early 2040s.

The Australian government will manage all radioactive waste that will emerge from the nuclear-powered submarine program in accordance with its nuclear non-proliferation obligation and other international commitments.

BAE Systems said it will play a role in the delivery of SSN-AUKUS submarines to Australia.

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Kathleen Hicks Says President’s FY24 Defense Budget Request Includes $33B for Space Capabilities
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Kathleen Hicks Says President’s FY24 Defense Budget Request Includes $33B for Space Capabilities

Kathleen Hicks, deputy secretary of the Department of Defense, said the Biden administration’s proposed fiscal year 2024 defense budget of $842 billion would allocate $33.3 billion for the development of a resilient space architecture and improvement of space command and control capabilities, DOD reported Monday.

Hicks, a 2023 Wash100 awardee, told attendees during a press briefing Monday that such capabilities seek to ensure the safety of space from civilian, military and commercial operations.

“This the largest DOD space budget ever. It funds diverse constellations for both sensing and communications, while also leveraging America’s world-leading commercial space sector,” she said.

The deputy DOD secretary said the proposed defense budget includes $67.4 billion for cybersecurity, information technology and electronic warfare capabilities, $30.6 billion for munitions and $1.4 billion for the Joint All-Domain Command and Control concept to help the department maintain its decision and information advantage.

Hicks was joined by Navy Adm. Christopher Grady, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, during the briefing.

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