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Curtiss-Wright Wins RBSL Contract for British Army Tank Turret Stabilization Upgrades; Lynn Bamford Quoted
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Curtiss-Wright Wins RBSL Contract for British Army Tank Turret Stabilization Upgrades; Lynn Bamford Quoted

Curtiss-Wright Corporation has secured a $25 million contract from Rheinmetall BAE Systems Land to equip a battle tank weapon system with its turret drive stabilization apparatus.

The contract necessitates that Curtiss-Wright will contribute its customized Turret Drive Servo System to the British Army’s Challenger 3 Main Battle Tank, along with other enhancements, the Davidson, North Carolina-based aerospace and defense contractor said Tuesday.

Lynn Bamford, CEO and president of Curtiss-Wright, described how the company’s selection for this contract award demonstrates faith in its technological approach and “exemplifies our position as a leader in aiming and stabilization solutions to the global defense industry.”

“Furthermore, our defense electronics technology brings new levels of stability, reliability and high-precision motion control to the ground vehicle market,” Bamford, who is also a Wash100 Award recipient, added.

The collaboration between Curtiss-Wright and RBSL continues an ongoing partnership that has seen the two companies attempt to create a resilient and effective Challenger 3 tank. The work will entail modeling, testing and implementation of the latest modernization changes and is a part of the UK Ministry of Defence’s tank upgrade project.

Specifically, through Curtiss-Wright’s aiming and stabilization modifications, the Challenger 3 will be outfitted with capabilities such as maintaining target location accuracy and exacting turret balance while in motion. The company’s TDSS platform is also scalable to mission needs and environmental demands, allowing for the alteration of motion control and stability depending on the situation.

Marco Noeding, managing director of RBSL, called the system “impressive” and deemed it “fundamental to the operation of the tank.”

Curtiss-Wright’s newest contract follows its $70 million April award from Progeny to provide processor modules for a pair of U.S. Navy torpedo systems. This work will similarly involve the updating of crucial military technology.

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Bryan Walter, VP & GM of Gordian’s Federal Business Shares Industry Advice
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Bryan Walter, VP & GM of Gordian’s Federal Business Shares Industry Advice

Vice President and General Manager of Gordian’s federal business, Bryan Walter, was featured recently in an Executive Spotlight interview with the Potomac Officers Club. Walter — whose career has spanned nearly two decades across consulting firms like Accenture, Deloitte and Booz Allen — talked about how he’s adapted to new and emerging technologies within the federal landscape. 

In this excerpt from his interview, Walter shared his personal advice for someone looking to build their resume and accelerate their career in the government contracting market: 

“As I grew in my career, I always struggled with deciding whether to be broad or deep. I knew I wanted to lead a business, so I would need to have depth in certain leadership areas, but I regularly wondered, ‘Do I need to be more technical?’ or ‘Should I be diving deeper into this problem with the team, even though I know they have it under control?’ 

For me, having breadth allowed me to understand the business and be able to jump in and help solve a lot of different challenges both for clients and for the company. And I loved that kind of problem-solving, so I stuck to it, and I think it has served me well. Overall, resume building is going to be a mix of breadth and depth, and what really should drive where you go to best position yourself is to follow the things that interest you most. 

It’s also important to realize you may not achieve everything you want to in every role and that’s okay – you probably learn more in those roles. That’s where having a strong network of mentors that can lift you up is really important. Mentors can rely on their own experiences to help you see all the angles of how to have the most impact doing those things that interest you.”

To read the full Executive Spotlight interview with Gordian’s Bryan Walter, visit PotomacOfficersClub.com, where you can learn more about membership options and benefits.

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Executive Mosaic Unveils Air Force CIO Lauren Knausenberger as 2022 Wash100 Popular Vote Winner
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Executive Mosaic Unveils Air Force CIO Lauren Knausenberger as 2022 Wash100 Popular Vote Winner

Executive Mosaic is thrilled to name Lauren Knausenberger, chief information officer of the Department of the Air Force, as the winner of the 2022 Wash100 voting contest. EM, the industry-leader in forming connections between and reporting on the most prominent names in government contracting, government and related fields, has been compiling and celebrating the top 100 DMV executives annually for the last nine years.

Knausenberger now joins the esteemed company of prior-year popular vote winners Stacey Dixon, Deputy Director of National Intelligence and Scott McIntyre, CEO of Guidehouse. In a year of tough competition that netted north of 3,000 votes, Knausenberger received 1,100 nods to clinch her win.

It is Knausenberger’s second year of recognition among the Wash100. In 2021’s vote tally, she came in second behind Dixon.

The Air Force executive’s triumph and the widespread respect it signals are due to her career accomplishments supporting the Department of Defense’s Joint All-Domain Command and Control endeavors through IT innovation and a continual openness to new technological strategies.

“It was an honor to be recognized with the Wash100 Award among such incredible colleagues,” Knausenberger commented via LinkedIn. “It warms my heart that so many people took the time to join in the fun for the popular vote and to see such a strong cyber showing in the top 10 with myself, Robert Skinner and Gen Nakasone, and our fearless leader Sec Austin, all finishing strong. Also, congrats to Tonya Wilkerson from NGA and industry members Clara Conti, Amy Gilliland, Mary Petryszyn, Phebe Novakovic, and Craig Abod for rounding out the top 10!”

Immediately flanking Knausenberger in the 2022 Wash100 vote rankings were Amy Gilliland, president of General Dynamics Information Technology and Clara Conti, vice president and general manager of public sector affairs at Red Hat, who tied for second place. Gilliland and Conti took in just 46 fewer votes each than Knausenberger.

Executive Mosaic and its partners would like to thank every voter, reader and member of the GovCon community who followed along and participated in this year’s Wash100 rollout. This is a tradition that will continue proudly for years to come.

Be sure to visit Wash100.com to familiarize yourself with all of the worthy and ambitious candidates in the full list of 100 GovCon, government and industry leaders nominated in 2022. While browsing, you may also investigate every individual who has been recognized over the last near-decade.

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DOD Kicks Off 5G Smart Warehousing Project at Naval Base Coronado
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DOD Kicks Off 5G Smart Warehousing Project at Naval Base Coronado

The Department of Defense has launched the 5G Smart Warehousing project at Naval Base Coronado in an effort to capitalize on 5G-enabled capabilities to streamline naval logistic operations.

DOD said Monday its 5G-NextG Initiative within the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering collaborated with Naval Information Warfare Center Pacific, Naval Supply Systems Command, Navy Region Southwest, Naval Base Coronado and industry partners to develop the project demonstrating the use of 5G to support trans-shipments between shore facilities and naval units.

The transportation and storage of materiel and supplies, as well as their identification, recording, organization and retrieval, are some of the warehouse operations that the initiative looks to enhance.

“As one of the first sites funded to test this technology for the U.S. military, we will help map 5G development and DoD strategies moving into the future,” said Captain Timothy Brown, commanding officer, Naval Supply Systems Command Fleet Logistics Center San Diego.

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KBR-Elbit Systems Partnership to Help UK Military Test Electric Aircraft
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KBR-Elbit Systems Partnership to Help UK Military Test Electric Aircraft

A joint venture between KBR and Elbit Systems has pitched an eco-friendly flight concept to the U.K. defense ministry and initiated a program to demonstrate the proposed sustainable option for military aviation.

The Affinity Capital Works JV is using a two-seater Velis Electro trainer aircraft for the trials aimed at helping the British air force assess electronic-powered airplane technology, KBR said Monday.

Up to 20 airmen at the Royal Air Force Cranwell station in England will fly the vehicle in the coming months as part of Affinity’s test series.

RAF plans to examine the potential impacts of electric technology on flight and ground operations, infrastructure and logistics activity.

Affinity worked with the U.K. civil aviation authority last year to develop flight and safety assurance procedures to be used in the demonstration.

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Microsoft, Naval Postgraduate School Partner on Commercial Technology Research Projects; Aaron Weis Quoted
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Microsoft, Naval Postgraduate School Partner on Commercial Technology Research Projects; Aaron Weis Quoted

The Naval Postgraduate School has signed a cooperative research and development agreement with Microsoft to assess the potential military applications of commercial technologies.

The U.S. Navy said Monday the partnership will collaborate on technology research projects to determine the possibility of using new technologies to support warfighting and national security initiatives.

The joint research projects between NPS and Microsoft will examine operational uses of intelligent edge computing and cloud-enhanced networks; identify ways to incorporate gaming, exercising, modeling and simulation into command decision-making; and develop smart campus in Monterey.

Aaron Weis, chief information officer of the Department of the Navy and a three-time Wash100 Award, said DON works to find new ways to advance the operational capabilities of its components through research and development.

“This agreement between NPS and Microsoft takes that initiative to the next level, creating a defined cooperative research collaboration between a global tech giant and the capabilities it brings to bear, with the Navy’s leading science and technological university, where operationalizing innovation is core to their mission,” Weis added.

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DOE Lab Develops Satellite-Supercomputer Link System
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DOE Lab Develops Satellite-Supercomputer Link System

The Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory has built a satellite terminal designed to collect and connect satellite data to a high-performance computing facility.

ORNL said Monday it aims to finish the installation of the supercomputer-powered ground station this summer to support the transmission of imagery for automated detection of changes on the Earth’s surface.

The lab expects the new system to help government and industry partners downlink data from S-band and ultra-high-frequency satellites directly to ORNL’s supercomputing hub.

Researchers could use the HPC machine to analyze satellite data for use in emergency response and disaster relief missions. A Battelle-University of Tennessee partnership manages and operates ORNL.

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Melissa DeLuca Joins USAF Kessel Run as Chief of Contracts
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Melissa DeLuca Joins USAF Kessel Run as Chief of Contracts

Melissa DeLuca, who has been with the U.S. Air Force for more than a decade, has been named chief of contracts at the service’s Kessel Run software development unit.

Prior to joining Kessel Run, DeLuca served as contracting technical director for the program executive office digital.

She also held the roles of contracting branch chief for Kessel Run, contracting officer, senior contract cost and price analyst and contract specialist.

Before her move to the Air Force, DeLuca was survivor services case manager at Fidelity Investments.

Kessel Run, also known as Detachment 12 within the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, develops, tests, maintains and operates cloud-based infrastructure and software applications designed to deliver warfighting capabilities to U.S. airmen across the globe. The detachment is headquartered at Hanscom Air Force Base in Massachusetts.

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OMB Releases Guidance on Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act Implementation
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OMB Releases Guidance on Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act Implementation

The Office of Management and Budget has issued guidance directing agencies to designate a senior accountable official and an implementation coordinator to oversee a cross-functional team and processes needed to implement the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

OMB said Friday agency experts that should take part in cross-functional agency infrastructure implementation teams include chief information officers, chief information security officers, chief data officers, chief acquisition officers and chief financial officers.

The document also directs agencies to designate rural desk officers to support rural communities in accessing federal funding and assign a team to work with territorial governments to provide coordination between territorial governments and the agency.

The OMB guidance document also outlines steps to achieve effective stewardship and implementation of the law, including the development of program implementation plans and reducing administrative burden and providing technical assistance.

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David Ferriero on NARA’s Shift to Electronic Recordkeeping
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David Ferriero on NARA’s Shift to Electronic Recordkeeping

David Ferriero, most recently archivist of the U.S. and head of the National Archives and Records Administration, said NARA has made accomplishments in the past decade and one of those is getting the attention of the White House when it comes to implementing electronic record-keeping.

“We were fortunate that President Obama, in his Open Government Initiative, recognized the importance of good record-keeping for open government and transparency,” Ferriero told National Archives News in an interview published Friday.

“But that has set the tone for the shift from paper to electronic recordkeeping, which is underway now,” he added.

Another accomplishment he cited is the involvement of the public in transcribing records as part of the Citizen Archivist program.

“We’ve got people all over the world who are helping us transcribe records, tagging records. … So those kinds of activities—involving the public in our work—is another thing I would point to in terms of accomplishments. . . . [And] it’s become a model for other institutions; the Library of Congress, the Smithsonian, lots of libraries around the country are providing those kinds of tagging opportunities to involve the public in their work,” Ferriero said.

He also discussed the agency’s focus on culture and efforts to improve the quality of the work environment as part of its transformation work.

Ferriero retired from NARA last week after 12 years of leadership and the agency appointed Deputy Archivist Debra Steidel Wall to perform his duties on an acting capacity.

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