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Marine Corps Deploys UAS Threat Defense System to Installations
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Marine Corps Deploys UAS Threat Defense System to Installations

The U.S. Marine Corps has started to field an artificial intelligence-based system for service personnel to detect, identify and track drones that pose a threat to military bases.

USMC’s Installation-Counter small Unmanned Aircraft Systems equipment uses a radar and an optical sensor through the Long Range Sentry Tower and a radio frequency detector that works to help the operator visualize the flight path of drones, the service said Thursday.

Maj. Kyle Yakopovich, a fixed site project officer at USMC’s program executive office for land systems, said that I-CsUAS facilitates autonomous sensor data analysis with the system’s AI and machine learning tools.

The platform is built to defend against commercial off-the-shelf drones that belong to the Group 1 and Group 2 categories.

Yakopovich noted the system works with a non-kinetic technology that has been demonstrated in other ground-based air defense programs and will support counter-UAS efforts at installations within the continental U.S.

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NSTC Report Highlights Challenges, Best Practices Related to Federal Use of Cloud for AI R&D
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NSTC Report Highlights Challenges, Best Practices Related to Federal Use of Cloud for AI R&D

The White House National Science and Technology Council has released a report outlining the lessons learned from federal adoption of cloud computing to advance research and development work on artificial intelligence.

NSTC said the report touched on the benefits of investments in the cloud, best practices and common challenges in implementing strategies to improve access to cloud resources.

According to the report, several programs facilitated rapid access to graphics processing units and other advanced computational capabilities to advance deep learning and collaboration among government and nongovernment researchers.

The report noted that cloud adoption has helped streamline computational access to data maintained and owned by federal agencies.

User authentication, precomputed workflows and training and education are some of the best practices that have emerged with regard to the use of cloud in advancing AI research within the federal government, according to the report.

The council’s machine learning and AI subcommittee discussed its vision for the federal government’s future use of commercial cloud to pursue AI-related R&D and identified opportunity areas to optimize federal adoption of cloud computing resources, such as automating identity and access management through federated systems and cultivating open-source technologies that can support ways to develop and execute workloads for multicloud deployment.

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DARPA Sets Proposers Day for Rotating Detonation Engine Project
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DARPA Sets Proposers Day for Rotating Detonation Engine Project

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency will host an industry event on Aug. 16 in Arlington, Virginia, to discuss a forthcoming program that centers around propulsion technology envisioned to power a long-range air-to-ground strike weapon system.

DARPA expects the two-phase Gambit project to last 36 months with the goal of developing and demonstrating a rotating detonation engine, according to a notice posted Monday on SAM.gov.

The first phase will cover preliminary RDE design work and direct-connect combustor and freejet inlet tests, followed by detailed system design and tip-to-tail testing in simulated flight environments.

Efforts under the program seek to pave the way for a flight test of a high-supersonic weapon prototype, DARPA noted.

Interested business representatives should register in advance to attend the proposers’ day as the agency will fill accept registrations on a first-come, first-served basis.

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DOD to Fund 10 Projects via Tech Procurement Pilot Program; Heidi Shyu Quoted
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DOD to Fund 10 Projects via Tech Procurement Pilot Program; Heidi Shyu Quoted

The Department of Defense has introduced the first batch of 10 projects that will get funding through the Accelerate the Procurement and Fielding of Innovative Technologies pilot program.

Heidi Shyu, undersecretary for research and engineering at DOD and a 2022 Wash100 Award winner, said in a statement published Tuesday the APFIT pilot program holds promise in transforming the way the Pentagon buys next-generation platforms and will be a key asset as the department continues to work to address the “valley of death” and help companies speed up the delivery of technologies to warfighters.

APFIT is a merit-based program established through the fiscal year 2022 National Defense Authorization Act. Under this pilot initiative, 10 program offices within DOD will each get $10 million in funding as they purchase technologies from nontraditional defense contractors and small businesses.

The projects to be funded under the APFIT program are:

  • Advanced Sensor Package Procurement project of the U.S. Navy and Arete Associates
  • Anti-Jam Radio-links for Maritime Operations Resiliency project of the U.S. Marine Corps with Pacific Antenna Systems, Titan Systems and Naval Systems
  • Atmospheric Plasma Coating Removal System project of the U.S. Marine Corps and Atmospheric Plasma Solutions
  • Augmented Reality Tactical Assault Kit project of U.S. Special Operations Command and Eolian
  • Autonomous Unmanned Aerial System – Vertical-BAT project of the U.S. Air Force and Shield AI
  • Drop-Glide Munitions project of the U.S. Army and Orbital Research
  • Lightfield Directing Array Secure Production effort of the Missile Defense Agency and Bright Silicon Technologies
  • Lightweight Wide Field of View Aviation Goggle project of USSOCOM and Aviation Specialties Unlimited
  • Rapid Analysis of Threat Exposure, a project of the Defense Innovation Unit and Philips Healthcare
  • Real-Time Sensor Data Transformation project of the U.S. Space Force and Meroxa
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Savannah River National Lab to Pursue DOE-Backed Fusion Energy Development Projects With 2 Companies
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Savannah River National Lab to Pursue DOE-Backed Fusion Energy Development Projects With 2 Companies

Savannah River National Laboratory aims to mature fusion energy technologies in partnership with General Atomics and General Fusion under two Innovation Network for Fusion Energy awards from the Department of Energy.

“These two new INFUSE awards continue SRNL’s efforts to deepen industry engagement through public-private partnerships that help industry develop their technologies into viable commercial solutions,” Brenda Garcia-Diaz, fusion energy research program manager at SRNL, said in a statement released Tuesday.

The national lab will build two models that General Atomics will use as it develops a modeling workflow for a fusion pilot plant as well as conduct FPP optimizations with the company using the models. SRNL will also perform a preliminary cost analysis for the tritium processing facilities under the project, which will be led by SRNL scientist Holly Flynn and principal investigator David Weisberg from General Atomics.

“One of the most attractive aspects of a fusion power plant is the environmentally friendly hydrogen fuel, which doesn’t require any harmful mining or drilling activities,” said Weisberg. 

“But we also need to perfect the way we recycle fuel inside the power plant, and SRNL has expertise to advance the technological readiness of that system,” he added.

SRNL scientist George Larsen and Ryan Guerrero, chief technology officer at General Fusion, will oversee a project that seeks to understand tritium inventory to inform the company’s design for a commercial pilot plant.

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Paperless Innovations Names Michael Tocci as Public Sector President, Heidi Egusquiza as Division Manager
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Paperless Innovations Names Michael Tocci as Public Sector President, Heidi Egusquiza as Division Manager

Procurement management and audit systems information technology company Paperless Innovations has instated two new members to the executive team of its government-facing division.

Michael Tocci will be president of Paperless Innovations’ public sector programs and Heidi Egusquiza will be the department’s manager, the Fairfax, Virginia-based, woman-owned small business said Tuesday.

Paperless Innovations Names Michael Tocci as Public Sector President, Heidi Egusquiza as Division Manager
Michael Tocci, president of Public Sector Programs for Paperless Innovations

In his new role, Tocci will leverage a decade and a half serving federal accounts such as the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Homeland Services in strategic and consulting positions at Maryland-based company Intramalls LLC.

Tocci brings expertise in program management, procurement and process improvement to his new public sector president role. He is also a member of the Potomac Officers Club and a frequent public speaker on the subjects of software-as-a-service, cybersecurity, purchase-to-pay and business process efficiency.

Paperless Innovations Names Michael Tocci as Public Sector President, Heidi Egusquiza as Division Manager
Heidi Egusquiza, manager of Public Sector Programs for Paperless Innovations

Egusquiza is distinguished in the government contracting field, netting significant experience procuring acquisitions at companies such as Ace Technology, CounterTrade Products and, most recently, Carroll Communications, where she worked as vice president.

Her over 20 years of contract management and business development work has included collaborations with the majority of federal civilian agencies, as well as the U.S. Air Force and the Department of Defense. Egusquiza’s recent efforts have focused on the federal government’s Shared Services endeavors and the executive has actively participated in ACT-IAC and the Shared Services Leadership Coalition.

Egusquiza’s core strengths include customer relationship management, cloud computing and sales operations.

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Verizon Public Sector Wins $400M FBI Contract for Network, Communications Updates; Maggie Hallbach Quoted
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Verizon Public Sector Wins $400M FBI Contract for Network, Communications Updates; Maggie Hallbach Quoted

The Federal Bureau of Investigation has awarded Verizon’s public sector business a task order exceeding $400 million in value for data bandwidth expansion and network services.

Under the enterprise infrastructure solutions contract, the Verizon Public Sector team will furnish the FBI with improved network speeds and secure communications apparatuses, as well as comprehensive access to their technical assistance team, the Washington, D.C.-based business arm said Tuesday.

Maggie Hallbach, senior vice president of Verizon Public Sector, emphasized the crucial impacts of the company’s partnership with the Bureau, which has been ongoing for almost two decades and is customized and individualized to the law enforcement agency’s needs.

Speaking to the company’s new collaboration, Hallbach added, “this next phase will provide stable solutions and a modern network that is faster, more scalable and secure that will help the FBI achieve its mission.”

The EIS task order calls upon Verizon to evolve and update the FBI’s legacy IT architecture with mission-specific tools and interfaces, including security-minded virtual private network services and 4G LTE and 5G cellular wireless networks. These installments are aimed to provide the FBI with delay-free maximum internet and communications access at top speeds.

They will also institute cloud computing, video and imaging transmission capabilities. The changes made are intended to accommodate both FBI facilities and agents who are off-site or on the go.

Verizon Public Sector’s latest FBI award follows the company’s acquisition of almost $1 billion in task orders from the Department of Defense in March. This trio of GSA Enterprise Infrastructure Solutions contracts expect Verizon to modernize voice and data services at the Pentagon, the DOD National Capital Region and Fort Belvoir.

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Coast Guard Transitions Authorized Smartphones to DoD365 Collaboration Tool
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Coast Guard Transitions Authorized Smartphones to DoD365 Collaboration Tool

The U.S. Coast Guard has begun transitioning authorized, government-provided mobile devices to the Department of Defense’s new collaboration platform, dubbed DoD365.

The DoD365 Mobile+ phones work as a mini-workstation that provides users with remote access to productivity and collaboration tools and applications, including Outlook emails, Teams, OneDrive documents and SharePoint, the Coast Guard reported Monday.

The service branch said it has transitioned 1,000 volunteer mobile users to DoD365 Mobile+ during the pilot project and plans to migrate the remaining 7,000 users licensed for BlackBerry Unified Endpoint Management services to the new collaboration software by July 31.

DoD365 Mobile+ can link smartphone users to many Common Access Card-enabled websites and is expected to feature additional capabilities in the future, including PDF document signing and printing.

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Lawmakers Want More Info on Cryptomining Energy Usage
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Lawmakers Want More Info on Cryptomining Energy Usage

Six members of Congress have called on the Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency to require cryptocurrency mining companies to disclose energy consumption and carbon emissions. 

The Democratic lawmakers asked DOE Secretary Jennifer Granholm and EPA Administrator Michael Regan in a letter to submit information by Aug. 15 regarding their authority to impose a reporting requirement for the environmental impacts of cryptomining.

Their missive cites data from a congressional study of seven large cryptomining businesses that indicated the sector uses huge amounts of electricity.

“Our investigation suggests that the overall U.S. cryptomining industry is likely to be problematic for energy and emissions. But little is known about the full scope of cryptomining activity,” the lawmakers wrote.

“Given these concerns, it is imperative that your agencies work together to address the lack of information about cryptomining’s energy use and environmental impacts, and use all available authorities at your disposal …  to require reporting of energy use and emissions from cryptominers.”

The letter was signed by Sens. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass; Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I.; Edward Markey, D-Mass.; and Jeff Merkley, D-Ore.

Reps. Jared Huffman, D-Calif., and Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich, also signed the written communication.

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CISA Establishes Attache Office in UK; Director Jen Easterly Quoted
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CISA Establishes Attache Office in UK; Director Jen Easterly Quoted

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency has established a London, U.K.-based attache office that will open this month to facilitate collaboration with the British government officials on cyber and critical infrastructure security as well as emergency communications.

CISA said Monday its first attache office will serve as a model as the agency works to advance cybersecurity missions via global network.

Additionally, it will support the international strategic goals of CISA: advancing operational cooperation, building partner capacity, strengthening collaboration through stakeholder engagement and outreach as well as shaping the global policy ecosystem.

“As America’s cyber defense agency, we know that digital threat actors don’t operate neatly within borders. To help build resilience against threats domestically, we must think globally,” said Jen Easterly, director of CISA and a 2022 Wash100 Award recipient.

Julie Johnson, formerly regional protective security adviser for CISA in New York, will serve as the first U.K. attache. Her government career includes working as regional lead for federal interagency working groups at CISA and serving with several bureaus at the State Department.

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