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Marine Corps Selects FPV Drone Platforms From 4 Companies to Advance to Next Project GI Phase
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Drones in flight. The U.S. Marine Corps selected companies whose technologies will move to the next Project G.I. phase

The U.S. Marine Corps has selected first-person-view, or FPV, unmanned aerial vehilces from Auterion, ModalAI, Neros and Nokturnal to move to the next stage of the Defense Innovation Unit’s Project G.I. The proposed solutions from the four companies will now undergo National Defense Authorization Act compliance and cybersecurity review, DIU said Thursday.

The selection was made after eight days of flight demonstrations at the Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton in California. The demonstration is part of the FPV tactical kinetic effects Phase of Project G.I.

Military evaluators also picked a component from Kraken Kinetics to move forward in the program.

Learn more about worldwide requirements for FPV UAVs at the Potomac Officers Club’s 2025 GovCon International and Global Defense Summit on October 16!

What Is Project GI?

Project G.I. is DIU’s agile development and deployment effort for uncrewed aerial systems and supporting items. It is designed to rapidly identify, assess and integrate “ready-now” autonomous technologies at scale to support warfighters.

The program has three phases: proposal evaluation and downselection, live demonstration, and further maturation, procurement and delivery.

DIU a request for proposals for Project G.I. in June.

Next Steps for FPV Platforms

Once deemed compliant with the required defense standards, the selected FPV platforms may be added to the DIU’s Blue Unmanned Aircraft System and Framework, the military catalog for drones and related components pre-approved for use across the Department of Defense.

The technologies will also continue to develop and improve capabilities based on end-user feedback from the 3rd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, the Marine Corps’ designated unit, through a series of three 60-day sprints. Testing will be carried out in representative electronic warfare environments across various geographic locations.

DIU may announce additional winners in the future.

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Naval Research Lab Completes Robotic Servicing Payload Thermal Vacuum Test
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NRL logo. NRL, DARPA and Northrop Grumman have completed a key test of a robotic servicing spacecraft.

The Naval Research Laboratory has collaborated with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and Northrop Grumman‘s SpaceLogistics to demonstrate a robotic spacecraft developed to service and extend the life of space-based satellites.

Thermal Vacuum Test

NRL said Thursday that the test, completed on Sept. 5, evaluated the space readiness of the Robotic Servicing of Geosynchronous Satellites, or RSGS, payload. The spacecraft, integrated with SpaceLogistics’ Mission Robotic Vehicle, underwent the thermal vacuum, or TVAC, test, which confirmed the system can endure the extreme temperatures and vacuum conditions of space.

Following the successful test, the system will be returned to Northrop Grumman’s Dulles, Virginia, facility for final checks and integrated systems testing before it is brought to the launch site.

“The completion of spacecraft thermal vacuum testing marks the most critical milestone of recognizing the NRL-developed payload and MRV are capable of working together as a system,” said Bruce Danly, director of research at NRL.

Advancing Satellite Servicing Technology

The RSGS program, a result of over two decades of research and development at NRL, is intended to develop robotic systems capable of performing close inspections, orbital adjustments, hardware upgrades and in-orbit repairs on satellites in geosynchronous orbit.

The robotic spacecraft will carry a Rendezvous and Proximity Operations suite, including cameras, sensors and infrared imaging that will reportedly enable it to approach safely and service client satellites.

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Senate Bill Seeks to Address Contractor Price Gouging
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Capitol Hill building. Four U.S. senators introduced the bipartisan Transparency in Contract Pricing Act of 2025.

Four U.S. senators have proposed a bipartisan bill that seeks to address price gouging by defense contractors and improve transparency in maintenance contracts.

Sens. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., introduced the Transparency in Contract Pricing Act of 2025 with Sens. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Joni Ernst, R-Iowa.

In a statement published Wednesday, Warren said some contractors threaten U.S. military readiness by introducing unreasonably high prices into military contracts for spare parts and other basic materials.

“Our common-sense bill puts these contractors on notice and requires them to justify major price increases — and they can bet we’ll double-check their math to ensure we are getting a fair shake,” she added.

Provisions of the Proposed Transparency in Contract Pricing Act of 2025

The proposed legislation would require contractors to report price increases to the Pentagon’s contracting officers within 30 days of becoming aware of a covered price increase and direct the Defense Contract Audit Agency to report vendors that fail to comply with the price notification requirements, audits performed regarding noncompliance and details regarding the product that was not reported on the Federal Awardee Performance and Integrity Information System.

The bill would define a covered price increase as 25 percent above the price specified in the contract bid that the government agreed to or the price the government paid for the product in the previous calendar year. 

The proposed measure would define a covered contract as one that was awarded on a sole-source basis, meaning there was no competitive bidding process.

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SRNL Taps Former ORNL Official Dana Hewit to Lead Laboratory Operations
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Dana Hewit, deputy laboratory director for operations at SRNL. Hewit joins SRNL from ORNL

Savannah River National Laboratory has named Dana Hewit as its deputy laboratory director for operations. Hewit, who previously led the Office of Integrated Performance Management at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, will officially join SRNL in mid-October, the South Carolina lab said Monday.

In her new role, she will oversee the laboratory’s facilities and infrastructure and ensure that SRNL is operating safely, securely, efficiently and in compliance with the Department of Energy’s mission.

“I am honored to join SRNL at such an exciting time for the laboratory,” stated the official “I look forward to working with the talented operations team and staff across the lab to build on SRNL’s strong foundation of safety, security and mission support.”

Who Is Dana Hewit?

At ORNL, Hewit served as director of the Office of Integrated Performance Management. In the role, she was in charge of contractor assurance and performance management systems and aided the deputy director of operators in developing and implementing lab’s mission support strategy. She joined ORNL in 2020 as chief operations officer for the Physical Sciences Directorate.

Hewit also held leadership roles at the Canadian Nuclear Laboratories and Idaho National Laboratory earlier in her career.

“Dana brings deep experience in laboratory operations and a proven record of leadership,” stated Johney Green, director of SRNL. “Her expertise will be instrumental in strengthening SRNL’s operational capabilities as we continue to expand our mission impact.”

Hewit holds a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Central Florida.

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MITRE, FAA Launch Aerospace LLM Evaluation Benchmark
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Artificial intelligence. MITRE and the FAA launched the ALUE benchmark to enable the evaluation of LLMs for aerospace tasks.

The Federal Aviation Administration and MITRE have unveiled a benchmark to facilitate the assessment of large language models, or LLMs, for aerospace tasks.

ALUE Benchmark

MITRE said Wednesday the Aerospace Language Understanding Evaluation, or ALUE, benchmark is designed to streamline the inference and evaluation of LLMs using information specific to the aerospace domain.

ALUE supports open-source and domain-specific LLMs, custom datasets, user-defined prompts and various quantitative performance metrics. LLM evaluations are important in assessing a model’s performance and understanding its potential risks and limitations, including biases, hallucinations and privacy concerns.

“ALUE allows the FAA and the aerospace community to create a definitive library of diverse and specific aviation nomenclature and terms that will enable the agency to harness the power of AI for tools and tasks that will continuously improve safety and efficiency today and into the future,” said Kerry Buckley, vice president at MITRE and director of the Center for Advanced Aviation System Development.

MITRE noted that ALUE will help ensure artificial intelligence tools are fit to improve the safety of the National Airspace System.

Ongoing & Future Work Related to ALUE Benchmark

According to MITRE, ongoing work will continue to expand the ALUE benchmark’s scope to address more complex aerospace challenges, such as developing tasks for extracting complex data from charts.

For future work, the nonprofit organization said it expects the benchmark to integrate tasks that require LLMs to consult aircraft operational manuals and other external data sources to determine thrust and flap settings and other parameters under specific conditions.

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Johns Hopkins APL Initiative Aims to Accelerate Materials Development
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Additive manufacturing. Johns Hopkins APL is working on TETRA to accelerate the process of testing metal components.

Scientists and engineers at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory are developing a new approach that aims to speed up the process of designing, optimizing and testing metal components for the defense industrial base using artificial intelligence and robotics.

APL’s TETRA Initiative

APL said Wednesday the Transforming Evaluation and Testing via Robotics and Acceleration, or TETRA, effort is funded by the Pentagon’s Industrial Base Analysis and Sustainment program.

“When developing materials for defense needs, it’s not just about the composition of the alloy or system — it’s also about how you shape, treat and refine it,” said Morgan Trexler, head of the research program area at APL’s Research and Exploratory Development Mission Area.

“TETRA has potential to be game-changing because it allows us to simultaneously consider every variable that impacts performance, which until now, has been painstaking and time-consuming, sometimes taking months to achieve what TETRA can accomplish in just a matter of days,” added Trexler.

Paul Lambert, TETRA co-lead, mentioned how the TETRA lab could help accelerate the material testing process.

“With the TETRA lab, we’re working to simultaneously explore all of the different composition and processing variants that influence properties and performance — or at least we aim to do this significantly more rapidly,” Lambert noted.

TETRA’s Adoption of Additive Manufacturing

APL said TETRA leverages the blown-powder directed energy deposition, or DED, process. DED is an additive manufacturing technique that involves the use of a laser to melt metal powder as it is fed into the build area, solidifying quickly and allowing the formation of dense metal structures.

The TETRA lab is expected to serve as a materials research and development facility. It will feature several capabilities, including a melting furnace for the synthesis of custom castings from raw materials, hot forging equipment and custom heat treatment furnaces.

Lamber stated that such tools could help researchers identify problems in the manufacturing of legacy or existing parts, such as figuring out why a large number of parts are rejected due to poor quality.

“One envisioned future use for the TETRA lab is to help diagnose those kinds of problems with existing parts, in addition to creating new ones,” Lambert said.

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DOE Expands Quantum-in-Space Initiative With IonQ, Honeywell & EPB
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DOE seal. The Department of Energy welcomed the addition of IonQ, Honeywell and EPB to its Quantum-in-Space Collaboration.

The Department of Energy’s Office of Technology Commercialization has announced the addition of IonQ, Honeywell and the Electric Power Board of Chattanooga, or EPB, to its Quantum-in-Space Collaboration.

Hear experts discuss the impact of quantum computing on national security during a panel discussion at the 2025 Intel Summit on Oct. 2! Register for this action-packed GovCon networking event before it’s too late.

Advancing Space-Based Quantum Capabilities

DOE said Wednesday the three new signatories will join the collaboration, which unites government, industry and academic partners with a common goal of accelerating the development and deployment of space-based quantum capabilities technologies to strengthen national security.

“This expansion shows how DOE is building the bridge from demonstration to deployment by adding commercial partners that can bring lab-proven systems into orbit and open pathways to market applications,” said Anthony Pugliese, DOE chief commercialization officer and director of OTC.

Quantum-in-Space Collaboration

The DOE initiative is evolving into a significant testing ground for quantum technologies, providing the DOE, Department of Defense and NASA a platform for feasibility studies and demonstrations. The collaboration currently includes the following companies:

  • Boeing
  • Axiom Space
  • USRA
  • Vescent
  • Qrypt
  • Blue Origin
  • Infleqtion
  • Accenture
  • Nebula

“This collaboration will help us seed a quantum sandbox in space to support resource exploration and manufacturing of high-value products leveraging microgravity, as well as explore new capabilities,” said Rima Kasia Oueid, DOE senior commercialization executive and lead architect of the Quantum-in-Space Collaboration.

DOE Expands Quantum-in-Space Initiative With IonQ, Honeywell & EPB
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GAO Flags Potential Redundancies in DOD Cyberspace Operations
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GAO logo. GAO released a report urging the DOD to address overlapping cyberspace operations roles.

The Government Accountability Office has released a report detailing the potential of overlapping or redundant roles within a network of nearly 500 organizations in the Department of Defense’s cyberspace operations.

DOD Cyberspace Structure

GAO mentions in its report published Wednesday that the DOD’s cyberspace operations workforce includes 440 organizations with 61,000 military and civilian employees, as well as 9,500 contractors. The agency also identified around 70 organizations and 3,400 personnel performing supporting roles.

Most of these organizations are aligned with the U.S. Cyber Command or retained by various military services. They perform a variety of functions including offensive, defensive and DOD Information Network operations.

GAO Identifies Possible Overlapping Functions

GAO noted the potential for redundancy and inefficiency among multiple organizations, particularly within the supporting organizations and personnel in areas such as budgeting, policy and training. It particularly mentioned similar cyberspace training courses provided by organizations and the administration of various cybersecurity service providers. The agency pointed out that some overlaps were intentional and necessary, while the others can result in wasted funds.

To address this issue, GAO recommended that the DOD evaluate the feasibility of consolidating similar training courses to establish a joint training model. The agency also urged the DOD to explore opportunities to combine cybersecurity service providers to enhance mission effectiveness.

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RTX Named Principal Contractor in $162M Norway Torpedo FMS
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MK 54 MOD 0 lightweight torpedoes. Possible foreign military sale to Norway

The Department of State has approved a possible foreign military sale of up to 50 MK 54 MOD 0 lightweight torpedoes and related equipment to Norway valued an estimated $162.1 million. RTX will serve as the principal contractor for the transaction, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency said Wednesday. 

RTX Named Principal Contractor in $162M Norway Torpedo FMS

Potomac Officers Club’s 2025 GovCon International and Global Defense Summit on Oct. 16 will cover the bureaucracy surrounding foreign military sales and the global supply chain. Book your seat at the Hilton McLean Tysons Corner-hosted event to hear insights on the defense topic from participating U.S. and NATO military leaders , as well as industry experts.

According to DSCA, the non-major defense equipment included in the FMS include torpedo parts, storage containers and software, as well as U.S. government and contractor support services. Implementing the sale will require temporary assignment of U.S. government and contractor representatives for technical oversight and assistance, the agency added. 

The armory of the Royal Norwegian Navy currently holds MK 54 MOD 0 lightweight torpedoes, and it will not be difficult for the service to absorb the additional all up rounds munitions.

Other Recent FMS Approvals for Norway

The State Department in May also approved the proposed FMS of AIM-9X Block II Tactical Missiles and related equipment to Norway for $370.9 million, with as RTX as the principal contractor.

Besides the Norwegian torpedo and missile procurements, DSCA also announced on Friday the State Department’s approval of a possible FMS to Norway of 816 GBU-39B Small Diameter Bomb Increment I and support equipment worth an estimated $113 million. Boeing is the principal contractor in the proposed bomb sale.

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ICE Recruitment Surge Attracts 150,000 Applicants, 18,000 Job Offers
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U.S.-Mexico border. ICE has received an influx of applicants after it has changed the requirements for joining the agency.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement has reported record interest in its latest hiring campaign, receiving more than 150,000 applications nationwide and extending over 18,000 tentative job offers.

The recruitment effort is part of a push to expand ICE’s workforce with new financial incentives and eligibility changes, the Department of Homeland Security said Tuesday.

At the Potomac Officers Club’s 2025 Homeland Security Summit on Nov. 12, hear from U.S. Customs and Border Protection Chief Digital Transformation Officer James McCament on a panel discussing how to balance innovation with the law enforcement mission. Register now for this critical GovCon networking event!

Incentives Driving Applications

To boost hiring, ICE has rolled out new pay and benefit structures, including:

  • Signing bonuses of up to $50,000
  • Student loan repayment and forgiveness programs
  • Enhanced retirement benefits
  • Overtime pay for certain enforcement and investigative roles

Officials say these offerings are designed to make ICE careers more competitive while addressing retention and recruitment challenges that have affected the agency in recent years.

Expanded Eligibility Requirements

ICE has also relaxed its previous age restrictions, widening the applicant pool. This change, combined with the enhanced incentives, has significantly increased interest in law enforcement positions within both Enforcement and Removal Operations and Homeland Security Investigations, according to reports.

Agency leaders have characterized the hiring surge as essential to meeting operational demands, particularly in efforts to remove high-risk individuals and strengthen border security.

Managing Rapid Growth

The scale of the recruitment effort presents challenges. Analysts and observers note that while the campaign has succeeded in drawing attention, processing applicants through background checks, medical screenings and training will take time and resources. Concerns have also been raised about maintaining training standards and oversight amid such rapid expansion.

Former 15-year ICE official Phil Miller, now a senior vice president at Procentrix, will moderate a panel discussion about how AI and commercial-off-the-shelf solutions are powering DHS innovation at the 2025 Homeland Security Summit on Nov. 12. Ensure your company’s presence at the event!

DHS and Federal Hiring Context

The ICE recruitment surge comes as the Department of Homeland Security and other federal agencies are making similar workforce pushes to address staffing shortages, modernize operations, and respond to evolving national security demands. Broader government hiring initiatives have increasingly emphasized incentives such as loan repayment and expanded eligibility in order to attract new talent to public service.

ICE says it will continue to process its current applicant pool and expects additional hiring rounds in the months ahead.

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