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Russell Rumbaugh of The Aerospace Corp. Nominated as Navy Comptroller
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Russell Rumbaugh of The Aerospace Corp. Nominated as Navy Comptroller

Russell Rumbaugh, a systems director at The Aerospace Corp., has been nominated to serve as assistant secretary for financial management and comptroller at the Department of the Navy.

The former U.S. Army infantry officer analyzes institutional defense policy in his current post at the nonprofit corporation’s Center for Space Policy and Strategy, the White House said Friday.

Rumbaugh previously held analyst roles at the Senate Budget Committee, the Office of the Secretary of Defense and the CIA. He has taught defense budget to graduate students at Georgetown University, University of Maryland and George Mason University.

If confirmed, Rumbaugh would take over DON’s financial operations from acting ASN (FM&C) Alaleh Jenkins.

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CFR’s Michael Horowitz, Lauren Kahn: CDAO Office to Help Accelerate Pentagon’s AI Adoption
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CFR’s Michael Horowitz, Lauren Kahn: CDAO Office to Help Accelerate Pentagon’s AI Adoption

Council on Foreign Relations fellows Michael Horowitz and Lauren Kahn said the Department of Defense’s move to advance the integration of data and artificial intelligence through the creation of the office of the chief digital and AI officer reflects the elevation of AI’s importance in national defense.

“From this point on, a more cohesive approach to AI and data through the CDAO is more likely to accelerate AI adoption throughout the U.S. military because it links DoD’s AI efforts with data, the fuel AI requires,” Horowitz and Kahn wrote in a blog post published Friday.

They said CDAO needs to do two things to address the Pentagon’s siloed data and improve the quality of data used for training algorithms and the first is building close relationships with military branches and combatant commands.

Another step is coordinating with the Defense Innovation Unit and other research and development organizations at DOD to advance AI experimentation and research initiatives.

David Spirk, the departing chief data officer at the Pentagon and a previous Wash100 Award winner, said CDAO will serve as the successor organization to the department’s Joint AI Center.

“Moving forward, however, bringing the JAIC into the CDAO will create a more integrated approach to AI and data that is likely to help the United States achieve defense AI leadership,” Kahn and Horowitz wrote.

Horowitz is senior fellow for defense technology and innovation at CFR, while Kahn is a research fellow at the council.

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Bob Kolasky: Continued Partnership With Industry Key to CISA’s Mission
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Bob Kolasky: Continued Partnership With Industry Key to CISA’s Mission

Bob Kolasky, most recently director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency’s National Risk Management Center, said key to CISA’s mission are ongoing initiatives meant to strengthen partnerships with industry over the security of critical infrastructure, Inside Cybersecurity reported Thursday.

He noted about the consistency in CISA’s work with the private sector over cybersecurity issues and industry’s willingness to “invest and partner with government.”

“The urgency in terms of dealing with the risks has also been a big factor, which causes us to look for closer operational collaboration and that’s an area where we’ve made great progress over the last couple of years,” said Kolasky.

Kolasky, who joined Exiger as senior vice president for critical infrastructure, oversaw the development of national critical functions at CISA.

“I think that is part of why they are a big deal because they are allowing us to mitigate risk for things that are most critical to our economy, national security and our communities,” he said of the critical functions structure.

Kolasky also shared his thoughts on CISA’s work on election security and supply chain risk management initiatives.

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JADC2 Success is a Joint Effort: US Military Branches Increase Collaboration
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JADC2 Success is a Joint Effort: US Military Branches Increase Collaboration

Military service branches are deepening their partnerships with each other in efforts to synchronize capabilities, accelerate innovation and make progress on the Department of Defense’s Joint All-Domain Command and Control initiative.

The U.S. Army’s response to JADC2, called Project Convergence, was launched in 2020 as an Army-centric effort, but this past year, the project expanded to include the Army’s sister services, said Army Secretary Christine Wormuth during the McAleese and Associates FY2023 Defense Programs Conference on Wednesday.

“We’ve got to experiment and learn as a joint force because we’re going to fight and win as a joint force,” Wormuth said.

Project Convergence aims to leverage technology such as artificial intelligence, robotics and autonomous technologies to improve multi-domain situational awareness and boost decision making capabilities.

“I’m working very closely with my service partners and with combatant commanders to make sure that we’re complimenting each other’s efforts and doing our part to look at joint capability requirements,” added Wormuth.

Navy Vice Adm. Jeffrey Trussler, deputy chief of naval operations for information warfare and director of naval intelligence, has expressed a similar sentiment.

“As we looked at this emerging world of strategic competition … all the services have recognized we need to be more interoperable, and eventually seamlessly integrated,” Adm. Trussler said during AFCEA’s West 2021 Conference.

Military service collaboration is critical to creating a connected network between Defense Department agencies, disparate sensors, shooters and systems – in other words, the essence of JADC2.

Carlos Del Toro, secretary of the U.S. Navy, said the service branch is working to connect an array of capabilities in a new structure as part of its highly confidential JADC2 response program, Project Overmatch.

Del Toro listed weapons and capabilities like Columbia- and Virginia-class submarines, non-kinetic electronic warfare and offensive cyber capabilities as components of the Navy’s future central network.

“Linking all of these new warfighting capabilities together will be a new Naval Operational Architecture we are developing through Project Overmatch,” Del Toro shared at the 2022 McAleese Defense Programs Conference.

Vice Adm. Jeffrey Trussler is scheduled to keynote the Military Service’s Intelligence Plans and Priorities Forum to discuss how the Navy is working to shore up its intelligence capabilities in response to the increasingly tense geopolitical environment and the rise of information warfare. 

JADC2 Success is a Joint Effort: US Military Branches Increase Collaboration

Join GovCon Wire Events on Apr. 20 to hear from Adm. Trussler, military service leaders and industry experts on the future of our nation’s military intelligence capabilities.

Registrations are open now!

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Navy Launches Solution Request for Hypersonics Support Tech
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Navy Launches Solution Request for Hypersonics Support Tech

The U.S. Navy has issued a request for solutions on different technologies that can improve hypersonic weapon systems and plans to award other transaction agreements after evaluating entries.

These technologies include battery modules, high-temperature radio frequency apertures and position, navigation and timing systems that can serve as alternatives to GPS, Naval Sea Systems Command said Friday in a SAM.gov notice.

The Navy is particularly interested in RF apertures that can withstand extreme environments, which range from hypersonic regimes at Mach 5 to ones at almost Mach 25th. Resulting prototypes would undergo demonstration through a flight test campaign.

The RFS is open to members of the Strategic and Spectrum Missions Advanced Resilient Trusted Systems or S2MARTS consortium. The Navy will accept submissions through March 21st.

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DOE’s Research Agency Announces New Funding for Studies on Advanced Nuclear Reactor Waste Management
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DOE’s Research Agency Announces New Funding for Studies on Advanced Nuclear Reactor Waste Management

The Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy has awarded $36 million in funding to 11 projects aimed at solving the problem of managing radioactive wastes from advanced nuclear reactors.

Participants of the Optimizing Nuclear Waste and Advanced Reactor Disposal Systems program will research ways to reduce nuclear waste and store domestic fuel stocks safely and sustainably, the Department of Energy, ARPA-E’s parent agency, said Thursday.

According to DOE, the funding would help mitigate concerns surrounding nuclear reactors’ fuel cycles and support the administration’s push toward clean energy sources.

“Developing novel approaches to safely manage nuclear waste will enable us to power even more homes and businesses in America with carbon-free nuclear energy,” explained Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm.

The awardees are:

  • Brigham Young University
  • Citrine Informatics
  • Deep Isolation
  • General Electric
  • Idaho National Laboratory
  • Oklo
  • Orano Federal Services
  • Rutgers University
  • Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
  • Stony Brook University
  • TerraPower
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New Charles River Tech to Provide Extended Reality Training for Army Combat Medics
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New Charles River Tech to Provide Extended Reality Training for Army Combat Medics

Charles River Analytics has launched a new extended reality system that provides a haptics-integrated environment where U.S. Army soldiers could train on taking care of casualties while on a live battlefield.

The Haptics Ontology and Peripheral Layer for Integrative Training Environments (HOPLITE) tool works with 3D touch systems that allow soldiers to virtually train care under fire scenarios without leaving their classrooms, Charles River said Thursday.

The company teamed up with the Army’s Combat Capabilities Development Command Soldier Center and retired combat medics to translate the real world nuances involved in tactical combat casualty care into HOPLITE, presenting an alternative to expensive live-action training events the service branch currently holds.

“It’s simple on paper—return fire, get cover, stop life-threatening external hemorrhages—but incredibly complex and situation-dependent in practice,” explained James Niehaus, Charles River’s principal investigator on HOPLITE.

The tool was built using the company’s Virtuoso open-source kit for developing XR software.

FAA to Open Application Period for New Drone Service Suppliers
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FAA to Open Application Period for New Drone Service Suppliers

The Federal Aviation Administration is looking for companies to provide Low Altitude Authorization and Notification Capability services to unmanned aircraft system operators.

The agency said Wednesday it will open the application period for new UAS service suppliers from May 2nd to June 3rd and review submissions from qualified applicants from June 6th to July 8th.

FAA will hold technical interviews from July to August and conclude formal onboarding on October 14th. LAANC automates the process for drone operators to request FAA authorizations to fly in restricted airspace.

The automated system was launched in 2017 and is available at approximately 735 airports. In February, FAA released its millionth airspace authorization for UAV pilots through LAANC.

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Airgility Progresses to Final Round of Autonomous Technology MoSAIC Challenge; CEO Pramod Raheja Quoted
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Airgility Progresses to Final Round of Autonomous Technology MoSAIC Challenge; CEO Pramod Raheja Quoted

Airgility, an autonomous and intelligent robotics company, has advanced to the final round of competition for the MoSAIC Challenge.

The College Park, Maryland-based company said Thursday it has been selected to move forward in the competition, which is designed to spur breakthroughs and modernizations in remote autonomous indoor missions.

The MoSAIC, or Mobile Standoff Autonomous Indoor Capabilities, Challenge is facilitated by the U.S. Department of Defense, the Israeli Ministry of Defense and the Merge Institute.

Pramod Raheja, Airgility co-founder and CEO, said the collaboration “is very interesting for Airgility as [the organizations’] combined interests for military and law enforcement tactical operations align well with our current and future aerial robotic solutions.”

The event is broken up into three virtual challenges and two physical challenges. The latter category entails indoor navigation, room mapping and human/object tagging, as well as tactical robotic systems and human presence detection.

For the tactical robotic systems aspect, Airgility will go to Israel and compete with its DS-1 Minotaur drone.

“We are excited to travel to Israel…the selected finalists for the tactical robotic systems demo are all very impressive and some have spent millions of dollars in development,” commented Evandro Valente, Airgility co-founder and chief technology officer.

Valente said the challenge is fitting for Airgility due to the company’s specialization in technologies such as “on-board autonomy algorithms, navigation-specific decision-making and mission-specific decision-making,” in addition to “GPS-denied operations and AI-based anomaly detection.”

Cash and other awards amounting to $600,000 will be distributed to the startup or innovator who crafts the most inventive product for the MoSAIC Challenge. There are prizes in each competition category.

In August 2021, Airgility was chosen to participate in the AFWERX Revolutionizing USAF Flight Line Operations Challenge with its MS-1 Kampe unmanned aircraft system.

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HII Lays Keel of Future Flight III Destroyer USS; Capt. Seth Miller Quoted
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HII Lays Keel of Future Flight III Destroyer USS; Capt. Seth Miller Quoted

Huntington Ingalls Industries has laid the keel of what would be the U.S. Navy’s third Flight III destroyer under the Arleigh Burke class.

Naval Sea Systems Command said Thursday it held a ceremony on March 9 to commemorate the future USS Ted Stevens‘ start of construction, where the ship’s modular components have been joined together at the land level.

Catherine Stevens, wife of the senator whose name the ship takes, and her daughters serve as the ship’s sponsor. HII had their initials etched onto the ship’s keel plate as part of the ceremony.

The ship, also known as DDG 128, will employ the AN/SPY-6(V)1 air and missile defense radar as part of the Flight III package, which includes updated electrical and cooling systems.

“Flight III ships like the future USS Ted Stevens will serve as a deterrent to our adversaries using the ship’s increased power projection capability as a result of the upgraded AEGIS Combat System and air and missile defense radar,” said Capt. Seth Miller, the Navy’s program manager, for the Arleigh Burke class.

Stevens was the country’s longest-serving senator under the republican party and had served as president pro tempore from January 2003 to the same month in 2007.

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