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Air Force Extends Partnership with Virtualitics to Advance AI; Michael Amori Quoted
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Air Force Extends Partnership with Virtualitics to Advance AI; Michael Amori Quoted

The U.S. Air Force Global Strike Command has extended its existing three-year partnership with Virtualitics, an artificial intelligence and data exploration-focused organization.

Under the expanded partnership, Virtualitics will support the creation of a Center of Excellence and provide AI software for the AFGSC’s bomber and missile weapon systems, the Pasadena, California-based company announced on Tuesday.

“We’re extremely proud to grow our partnership with the United States Air Force to solve some of the world’s most complicated problems and support vital missions carried out across the globe,” commented Michael Amori, CEO and co-founder of Virtualitics.

Virtualitics’ AI technology is expected to enhance predictive maintenance, inventory management, supply chain optimization and manpower resource allocation to identify aircraft maintenance needs and align them with necessary resources and parts.

The software will also pair technicians with the correct job to quickly address critical routine maintenance issues to minimize unplanned downtime as key aircraft are kept airworthy.

In continuing the Air Force’s efforts to enhance Mission-Capable rates — or, the crucial figures that determine the health and preparedness of an aircraft fleet — Virtualitics’ AI platform will additionally work to aid the AFGSC in predicting aircraft failure and bolstering the MC rates.

With the company’s transparent AI techniques, the AFGSC will be able to understand its predictions in depth and execute more comprehensive analysis of raw data. The platform is expected to improve the decision-making process across all levels of the command.

Air Force Major General Jeff Taliaferro discussed the significance of working alongside Virtualitics in advancing the command’s AI capabilities.

“Virtualitics makes it possible for not only improved day-to-day decisions but even more importantly deployment decisions. Knowing in advance an aircraft will need a major repair before deployment will enable much better decisions that could save missions and millions of  taxpayer dollars,” he said.

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Biden to Nominate Martin Gruenberg for 2nd Term as FDIC Chair
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Biden to Nominate Martin Gruenberg for 2nd Term as FDIC Chair

President Biden has announced plans to nominate Martin Gruenberg, acting chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation’s board or directors, to lead the FDIC on a permanent basis.

Gruenberg has been a member of the FDIC’s board since August 2005 and has held chairman and vice chairman roles at the banking regulator, the White House said Monday.

If confirmed by the Senate, Gruenberg would serve his second term as head of the federal agency, having previously completed a five-year term as chairman of the FDIC board from 2012 to 2018.

Prior to joining the FDIC, Gruenberg was a Senate staffer focused on banking, domestic and international financial regulation, trade and monetary policy.

He also served as chairman of the executive council and president of the International Association of Deposit Insurers.

In a separate statement, Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, said Gruenberg brings “years of experience shepherding the agency through difficult economic times.”

“With experienced leadership at the helm, the FDIC can continue to address risks to our financial system, increase access to affordable financial services to consumers, and ensure that banks honor their commitment to communities across the country through the Community Reinvestment Act.” Brown continued.

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US Treasury Sanctions Target Russian Military Procurement Network; Janet Yellen Quoted
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US Treasury Sanctions Target Russian Military Procurement Network; Janet Yellen Quoted

The Department of the Treasury has imposed sanctions on 28 entities and 14 individuals for their involvement in a network that buys microelectronics in support of Russia’s military industry and association with two elites that have ties to the Russian government.

The Treasury said Monday the office of foreign assets control also designated as blocked property eight aircraft operated by a luxury aviation company with links to Suleiman Abusaidovich Kerimov, who was sanctioned in September for being a Russian government official.

“The United States will continue to expose and disrupt the Kremlin’s military supply chains and deny Russia the equipment and technology it needs to wage its illegal war against Ukraine,” said Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen.

“Today’s actions demonstrate Treasury’s steadfast commitment to targeting people around the world aiding Putin’s war effort and the crony elites who bankroll his regime,” added Yellen.

OFAC sanctioned immediate family members of Kerimov, a Swiss national – Alexander-Walter Studhalter – who has played a key role in Kerimov’s financial network and eight entities with ties to the Swiss national.

Russian businessman Murat Magomedovich Aliev with links to Studhalter was also sanctioned, along with five companies related to Aliev.

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CRDF Global Selected as Platform for CDAC for Ukraine; Mike Dignam Quoted
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CRDF Global Selected as Platform for CDAC for Ukraine; Mike Dignam Quoted

CRDF Global has been selected as the platform for the Cyber Defense Assistance Collaborative for Ukraine.

As the collaborative’s platform, CRDF will help numerous organizations provide accelerated defense aid to Ukraine in the wake of expanded invasions and increasingly intense cyber attacks against the nation, the Arlington, Virginia-based organization announced on Monday.

“By providing the platform for CDAC, we are now able to help companies bring operational cyber defense assistance to Ukraine in an accelerated fashion.  I couldn’t be happier to support this effort and further expand CRDF Global’s capabilities in the cyber security realm,” said Mike Dignam, CEO of CRDF Global.

The organization, which was formed to support the United States in reducing threats after the Soviet Union’s collapse, has a long history of operating in the region. More recent operations include running hackathons, establishing cyber curriculums for universities and providing cybersecurity training for veterans of the 2014 conflict in Ukraine. Additionally, the nonprofit holds a regular meeting with over 100 stakeholders for Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council.

Craig Newmark Philanthropies, which wanted a nonprofit to provide the platform, provided much of the funding required for CRDF to move to its new position.

Greg Rattray, a former National Security Council director, retired Air Force Colonel and expert on cybersecurity and Ukraine, stressed the urgency of the situation and the need to mobilize quickly.

“With the invasion, the Ukrainian government and critical infrastructure operators urgently needed to deal with immediate threats posed by cyber attacks,” Rattray emphasized.

The expert additionally discussed the lack of foreign support within current U.S. cybersecurity networks and the growing number of requests from Ukraine that must be met. He also stated that strengthening the relationship between the public and private sectors surrounding defense efforts is a current priority for the U.S.

Rattray began collaborating with CRDF in developing Ukraine’s cybersecurity strategy prior to this selection alongside Matthew Murray, a former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Europe, the Middle East and Africa and fellow expert on Ukraine and cybersecurity.

As a result of conversations with U.S. government officials that highlighted the critical need to mobilize the private sector, Rattray developed a network of organizations to support the nation under the Cyber Defense Assistance Collaborative rubric. Those involved include Avast, the Cyber Threat Alliance, LookingGlass Cyber Solutions, Mandiate, Next Peak, Palo Alto Networks, Recorded Future, Symantec and Broadcom, ThreatQuotient and numerous others.

To increase delivery speeds, Murray worked with Ukraine’s National Cyber Security Coordination Center to create a pathway to accelerate the provision of cybersecurity support on a daily basis within the collaborative.

Volodomyr Pavelko, founder of Ukraine’s Global Cyber Cooperative Center, offered commentary on the results of working with CDAC.

“Ukraine needed urgent help to defend critical infrastructure. Collaborating with CDAC to meet specific demands from our government ministries and state-owned enterprises quickly became the way we could obtain that help, and we’ve already seen a significant impact in some of our most important sectors,” he said.

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Army Seeks to Promote Tech-Related Small Biz Projects; Matthew Willis Quoted
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Army Seeks to Promote Tech-Related Small Biz Projects; Matthew Willis Quoted

The U.S. Army is launching a series of projects aimed at providing more opportunities for small businesses while supplying next-generation technology to military personnel.

The strategy involves using part of the service’s Small Business Innovation Research and xTech Prime Competition funds, the Army said Friday.

Fifteen percent of the SBIR funding will be dedicated to the SBIR Catalyst program, which will focus on technological development resulting from collaborations with prime contractors, private companies, and venture capital firms.

The service branch will also take advantage of the xTech program to offer cash prizes, incentives and potential follow-on contracts to prime contractors that team up with small businesses to design soldier-friendly and relevant technologies.

“The strength of our nation is rooted in a strong commercial economy comprised of small businesses that are ready, willing and able to help us build an enduring advantage,” said Matthew Willis, director of Army Prize Competitions and Army Applied SBIR Program.

The service will work on the initiatives in the coming year and assess the pilot test in 2024.

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DCISE Reaches 1K Voluntary Partners for Defense Industrial Base Cybersecurity Program
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DCISE Reaches 1K Voluntary Partners for Defense Industrial Base Cybersecurity Program

The DOD-Defense Industrial Base Collaborative Information Sharing Environment within the Department of Defense Cyber Crime Center has completed onboarding its 1,000th voluntary partner into the DIB Cybersecurity Program.

Through the DIB Cybersecurity Program, DCISE collaborates with cleared defense contractors to help protect their networks from cyberthreats, DC3 said Thursday.

DCISE serves as the operational arm of the DIB Cybersecurity Program and has attracted a considerable number of major defense contractors.

DCISE provides companies involved in the voluntary onboarding program with free malware analysis, cyber threat intelligence reporting, cybersecurity-as-a-service capabilities and opportunities to engage with industry and government experts.

According to DC3, the program kicked off with only 16 voluntary partners in 2008 and has recorded an average year-over-year partner growth of 24 percent.

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Anne Neuberger Reiterates NATO’s Commitment to Boosting Cybersecurity
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Anne Neuberger Reiterates NATO’s Commitment to Boosting Cybersecurity

Anne Neuberger, deputy national security adviser for cyber and emerging technologies at the White House, has called on NATO members to be more active in responding to nation-state cyberattacks and other threats facing the alliance’s digital systems, CyberScoop reported Thursday.

Speaking at NATO’s 2022 Cyber Defense Pledge Conference in Rome, Neuberger, a two-time Wash100 awardee, reiterated the group’s commitment to boosting partnerships with the military and civil society to build more robust cyber defenses.

“We must be more nimble as an alliance … in providing direct, technical and necessary support if a country faces a significant disruptive attack,” Neuberger said.

She also highlighted the importance of investing in cybersecurity amid ongoing Russian cyberattacks on Ukraine.

In February, Neuberger deployed to NATO to discuss with allies how to coordinate response to Russian cyberattacks targeting Ukraine’s electric grid, communications systems and government.

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Denis McDonough Offers Update on VA’s Service Records Digitization Effort
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Denis McDonough Offers Update on VA’s Service Records Digitization Effort

Denis McDonough, secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs, said VA has begun storing digitized veteran service records in the cloud and building automated decision platforms to speed up military retirees’ access to health care, Federal News Network reported Friday.

“When you make a claim, for example, we can go prosecute those records using automated decision support tools, rather than requiring somebody to leaf through them page by page,” McDonough said Wednesday at a town hall event.

“So leaving to the machines what the machines do well, which is go through a lot of data quickly, to pull out of the relevant pieces, and then leaving to humans — our great VBA workforce — to do what they do well, which is to make a judgment about that analytic information,” he added.

Although the implementation of an electronic health record system from Oracle Cerner has been slow, McDonough said he believes the EHR platform would help streamline the transfer of digital records between VA and the Department of Defense.

“That will allow us to access digitally your full record, from your service in the Corps, from the moment you joined, until the moment your care with us is no longer needed,” McDonough said.

In October, VA announced its decision to further push back to June 2023 the upcoming EHR deployments to review and address technical and system performance issues facing VA health care personnel and veterans.

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GAO Examines Sustainment Costs, Mission Capable Rates of Military Aircraft
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GAO Examines Sustainment Costs, Mission Capable Rates of Military Aircraft

The Government Accountability Office analyzed 49 types of military planes and found that only four types of aircraft achieved their annual mission readiness goals between fiscal year 2011 and FY 2021.

Those four types are the B-2 heavy strategic bomber, RC-135S-W reconnaissance aircraft and the UH-1N helicopter of the U.S. Air Force and the U.S. Navy’s EP-3 reconnaissance aircraft, according to a GAO report published Thursday.

The report showed that 26 types of aircraft failed to meet in any fiscal year their mission capable rate or the percentage of total time when a plane can carry out at least one mission.

Of those 49 aircraft, only two reached the service-established mission capable goal in FY 2021.

Program officials told GAO that many of the examined aircraft are facing at least one sustainment challenges that have an impact on mission capable rates. Those challenges include maintenance problems, aging planes and parts shortage and delay.

In FY 2020, operating and support costs hit approximately $54 billion, reflecting a decline of about $2.9 billion since FY 2011. Maintenance costs, which are part of the total O&S costs, have increased by $1.2 billion since FY 2011.

According to the report, O&S costs of Air Force and Army aircraft have dropped, while those of the Navy and Marine Corps have climbed “driven by changes in the size of aircraft inventory and reduced flying hours.”

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Derek Tournear: SDA’s Tracking Layer Constellation to Inform NC3 Network
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Derek Tournear: SDA’s Tracking Layer Constellation to Inform NC3 Network

Derek Tournear, director of the Space Development Agency and a previous Wash100 awardee, said the agency is working on the possible integration of the Tracking Layer data into the military’s nuclear command, control and communications system, Breaking Defense reported Friday.

While the executive has yet to define a timeframe for certifying SDA’s constellation of low Earth orbit satellites as sensors for the NC3 integrated tactical warning and attack assessment system, he has nonetheless expressed confidence in meeting the program’s two key requirements.

Tournear stated that the NC3 sensors must “have the right probability of false alarms and probability of false detections” and maintain the proper resilience to continue working in case of a nuclear attack.

According to the official, SDA’s planned satellite constellation will detect missile threats from the LEO layer, supplementing similar missile warning and tracking satellites in medium Earth orbit from the Space Systems Command.

“It cuts down [false warnings] and gives you higher confidence. So I’m not worried at all about meeting that aspect of it,” Tournear commented.

For the second requirement, Tourner said, the SDA is working with partners to ensure that Tracking Layer’s “overall architecture can continue to perform and provide these needs under a nuclear strike.”

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