The U.S. Army is keeping up with the increasing speed of technological change by taking advantage of different acquisition pathways to accelerate its own digital transformation, said Army Undersecretary Gabe Camarillo.

At the Capability Set Technical Exchange Meeting in Nashville, Tennessee, Camarillo and other Army leaders gave an overview of initiatives to modernize their IT infrastructure.

According to Camarillo, the service branch intends to expedite experimentation, prototyping and deployment of network technologies that are designed for emerging threats and operational landscapes. They will advance joint operations by using modern software and their accompanying development practices. He added that they plan to open up data silos, establish a link between enterprise and tactical networks and adopt systems that securely transmit data wherever it is requested.

Camarillo cited two transformational challenges faced by the Army. One is the evolution of combat operations into large-scale landscapes with modernized maneuver capabilities, and the other is the exchange of critical data in those complex situations.

To effectively modernize its infrastructure, the service branch feels it needs to reform its acquisition practices. The Army must “fundamentally rethink its buying models, accept different lifecycle assumptions, and review investment strategies and the incentives they create,” he stated.

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency has developed a new program intended to provide priority voice, data, video and information services to meet the government’s national security and emergency preparedness communications requirements.

The Next Generation Network Priority Services program is divided into two phases, with the first one aiming to transition NS/EP communications from circuit to packet voice priority service, An Nguyen, an electronics engineer for CISA, wrote in a blog post published Friday.

During Phase 2, CISA will work to extend priority service to multimedia applications and information services such as cloud services, enterprise web applications and online photo storage.

Priority capabilities will also be added to the network service providers’ environments to facilitate interoperable priority across government, commercial, wireless and private networks. 

“These capabilities will ensure that NS/EP officials have the prioritized network connectivity for communications in disaster and disadvantaged scenarios,” Nguyen said. 

CISA is also working with standards organizations and industry partners to standardize the priority access capabilities and is planning to engage with network service providers to determine the readiness of their communication platforms for deployment.

A 2012 executive order tasked the Department of Homeland Security to manage the development, testing, implementation and sustainment of NS/EP communications.

L3Harris Technologies has won a Popular Science “Best of What’s New” award, for its Vehicle Agnostic Modular Palletized ISR Rocket Equipment technology.

VAMPIRE received this recognition, which spotlights novel inventions that impact human lives, society and the planet, for its ability to transform nearly any vehicle with a cargo bed into a mobile weapons system able to engage ground and airborne targets, the Melbourne, Florida-based company revealed late last month.

“This award speaks volumes about the L3Harris team and demonstrates what is possible using raw ingenuity, creativity and forward thinking in responding to our customers’ needs,” said Luke Savoie, president of the intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance sector at L3Harris.

The enterprise submitted the VAMPIRE prototype to the Department of Defense earlier this year, after which it was chosen to be included in the department’s $3 billion security assistance package under the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative. It was designed to meet the DOD’s request for critical defense offerings needed to safeguard Ukraine from attacks on civilian infrastructure.

“VAMPIRE answered DoD’s call for a quickly produced capability that will help the people of Ukraine and hopefully save lives,” Savoie stated.

The modular, multi-purpose weapons system can be utilized against ground and air threats, which includes unmanned aerial vehicles. Its mission management system uses a WESCAM MX-10 RSTA targeting sensor with its weapons station, enabling an operator to swiftly and precisely engage targets. Users are able to tailor the system to the unique needs of each mission, as VAMPIRE can be configured with different sensors and weapons packages.

VAMPIRE was selected for use in Ukraine due to its affordable yet accurate nature. The Precision Kill Weapons System rocket delivers higher lethality for engaging small or soft targets when operated in tandem with L3Harris’ proximity fuse.

L3Harris began field testing the initial prototype in 2021 and continued range and durability tests of a more developed prototype this year.

The Senate has passed a bipartisan bill that aims to prevent data breaches enabled by quantum computers that are capable of decrypting protected information. 

The Quantum Computing Cybersecurity Preparedness Act was introduced by Sens. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., and Rob Portman, R-Ohio, and has a companion bill in the House introduced by Reps. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., and Nancy Mace, R-S.C., Hassan’s office said Friday.

Portman, a ranking member of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, said the legislation would require government agencies to inventory cryptographic systems and prioritize the transition of most at-risk systems to post-quantum cryptography.

“Data breaches exploited by quantum computing are a serious national security concern. America’s adversaries look for any vulnerabilities in our cybersecurity systems in order to threaten our infrastructure, data, and security,” Hassan said.

The legislation directs the Office of Management and Budget to prioritize the acquisition and migration of government information technology systems to post-quantum cryptography.

It also orders OMB to create guidance for assessing critical systems based on standards for the implementation of quantum-resistant cryptographic algorithms issued by the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

In addition, the agency would send a report annually to Congress summarizing progress and recommendations on the effort to migrate to post-quantum cryptography standards.