The Biden administration has unveiled a plan to address the threats posed by unmanned aircraft systems to homeland security, public safety and privacy.

The Domestic Counter-UAS National Action Plan offers eight recommendations, including the need to work with Congress on a bill that would expand and reauthorize counter-UAS authorities for the departments of Homeland Security, Defense, State, Justice, CIA and NASA, the White House said Monday.

The action plan proposes to come up with a list of U.S. government-authorized detection equipment to guide authorized organizations in buying UAS detection platforms, establish oversight mechanisms to support critical infrastructure operators and owners and create a national counter-UAS training center.

Other recommendations are developing a federal drone incident tracking database; establishing a process to coordinate research, development, testing and evaluation of drone detection and mitigation technology across the government; and improving cooperation on counter-UAS technologies with the international community.

An electronic warfare aircraft designed to serve as a technology demonstrator for a U.S. Army aerial intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance program took off for an operational mission in the Indo-Pacific region, the Army reported Friday.

The contractor-owned Airborne Reconnaissance and Electronic Warfare System aircraft will support processing, exploitation and dissemination operations and gather intelligence in real time within the area of responsibility of Indo-Pacific Command.

The service branch will use the data from the tech demonstration to inform future sensor requirements for the multidomain sensing system and allocate platform investments for the High Accuracy Detection and Exploitation System’s future program of record.

An L3Harris Technologies-designed ARES tech demonstrator completed its maiden flight in August 2021.

Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro signed an updated manual that offers multiple pathways for acquisition personnel to incorporate commercial innovation into service programs.

The branch said Friday that the SECNAV Instruction 5000.2G manual is intended to encourage departmentwide collaboration on the use of data analytics and other modern tools in making programmatic decisions.

“This updated instruction empowers our Navy and Marine Corps acquisition professionals to aggressively develop promising technologies into capabilities our warfighters need to maintain maritime dominance,” Del Toro said.

The Department of the Navy last revised its acquisition policy instruction in 2019 and outlined in the latest document some measures for the two branches to implement the Adaptive Acquisition Framework.

DON also promotes Defense Acquisition System implementation through the updated manual.

The Potomac Officers Club’s 2022 Navy Summit will feature Carlos Del Toro as a keynote speaker. Click here to sign up for the in-person event on June 2 at the Ritz-Carlton Tysons Corner in Virginia.

The U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory has teamed up with small business DeepMedia to advance technology capable of detecting synthetic media called deepfakes.

DeepMedia provides tools for identifying videos where a person’s likeness is replaced with somebody else’s, a type of media that poses danger to troops on and off the battlefield, AFRL said Friday.

According to Amanda Lannie, an AFRL computer scientist, synthetic media generated with malicious intent could threaten the military’s data and intelligence model that relies on trustworthy information.

The partnership was made possible by Air Force and Space Force Tech Connect, a website that connects businesses with subject matter experts and opportunities within the service branch.

Daniel Selli, a director for DeepMedia, said TechConnect enabled the business to engage with the military simply by submitting ideas on an online portal.