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FCC Initiates Step to Reauction AWS-3 Spectrum Licenses
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FCC Initiates Step to Reauction AWS-3 Spectrum Licenses

The Federal Communications Commission has approved proposed rules that would update the competitive bidding rules for the AWS-3 spectrum bands as part of efforts to bring unused 5G-grade spectrum to the marketplace.

Reauctioning AWS-3 Spectrum Licenses

FCC said Thursday the notice of proposed rulemaking, or NPRM, seeking to update the bidding rules marks the initial step in reauctioning AWS-3 spectrum licenses in its inventory and represents its first set of proposed rules to auction wireless spectrum licenses for commercial use since 2020.

The commission will accept comments on the NPRM through the end of March and intends to auction licenses for the AWS-3 spectrum by June 23, 2026.

According to the FCC, the AWS-3 band covers the spectrum between 1695-1710 MHz, 1755-1780 MHz and 2155-2180 MHz.

Funding FCC’s National Security Initiative

The commission said the proceeds from the AWS-3 inventory auction will fund the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program.

Also known as “rip and replace,” the FCC program is a national security initiative that intends to eliminate Huawei and ZTE equipment from U.S. communications networks.

The Spectrum and Secure Technology and Innovation Act, which was signed into law as part of the National Defense Authorization Act in late December, allows the FCC to auction licenses for the AWS-3 spectrum and borrow up to $3.08 billion from the Department of the Treasury to fund its national security initiative.

The inclusion of the Supporting National Security With Spectrum Act in the 2025 NDAA is “not just for wireless leadership but for network security,” FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks said in a statement.

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GAO: Navy Needs Ship Industrial Base Strategy
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GAO: Navy Needs Ship Industrial Base Strategy

The Government Accountability Office has called on the secretary of the Navy to develop a ship industrial base strategy that aligns with the National Defense Industrial Strategy.

In a report published Thursday, GAO made the recommendation after it found that the service branch lacks an overall strategy for managing the ship industrial base.

According to the report, the Navy’s lack of such a strategy impedes its efforts to address challenges, such as changing plans for future work and handling competing priorities.

Performance Metrics Development

GAO is urging the Navy to establish performance metrics to assess the aggregate and programmatic effect of the service’s ship industrial base investments.

According to the report, the Navy and the Office of Secretary of Defense, or OSD, need established performance metrics and better visibility across investments to ensure that their investments in the shipbuilding industrial base reflect the effective use of federal funds to build a larger fleet of ships.

Other Recommendations

According to the congressional watchdog, OSD should ensure that the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment and the Secretary of the Navy regularly coordinate on industrial base support investments. Efforts include collecting and sharing relevant data.

GAO said the commander of Naval Sea Systems Command should update and implement policies to direct its contracts directorate to gather data for shipyard investment incentives from contracting officers to continuously track its incentive efforts.

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Trump Nominates Hung Cao as Under Secretary of the Navy
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Trump Nominates Hung Cao as Under Secretary of the Navy

Hung Cao, a former Virginia Republican Senate candidate, was nominated by President Donald Trump on Thursday as under secretary of the U.S. Navy.

Cao, who Trump described as the “embodiment of the American Dream,” will have to be approved by the Senate to assume the role, New York Post reported Friday.

Cao’s Leadership Ideology

The former special operations officer is a vocal critic of the diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI, initiatives implemented in the military during former President Joe Biden’s term. Trump instructed the military to end its DEI programs last month.

Cao, who ran as a Republican candidate for the Virginia Senate against incumbent Tim Kaine, said during a televised debate last year that military branches should recruit “alpha males and alpha females who are going to rip out their own guts, eat ’em and ask for seconds.”

When asked about the DEI’s effect on military recruitment, Cao said, “When you’re using a drag queen to recruit for the Navy, that’s not the people we want.”

“As a refugee to our great nation, Hung worked tirelessly to make proud the country that gave his family a home,” said Trump.

“With Hung’s experience both in combat and in the Pentagon, he will get the job done,” the president added.

The retired Navy captain responded to his nomination by tweeting Thursday, “It’s time to get to work.”

Cao’s Career History

Cao previously worked at CACI International as vice president of its Navy and Marine Corps business, a client executive and a solutions architect. He served in the Navy for 25 years holding a wide range of leadership positions, including division chief of the Defense Threat Reduction Agency, director of counter improvised threats – combined security transition command Afghanistan and commanding officer of the Naval Diving and Salvage Training Center.

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Senators Propose Bipartisan Bill Prohibiting DeepSeek Use
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Senators Propose Bipartisan Bill Prohibiting DeepSeek Use

U.S. Sens. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., Jon Husted, R-OH, and Pete Ricketts, R-Neb., have introduced bipartisan legislation to prohibit the use of DeepSeek, China’s new artificial intelligence platform, on all government devices and networks.

Boosting National Security

Sen. Rosen said Thursday DeepSeek is directly connected to the Chinese Communist Party and could be a potential threat to national security. As an AI program, there is concern that DeepSeek gathers data and shares it with the Chinese government and its intelligence agencies. Multiple U.S. states and allied countries have already implemented measures to ban DeepSeek from government devices.

“As the artificial intelligence landscape continues to rapidly expand, the U.S. must take steps to ensure Americans’ data and government systems remain protected against platforms — like DeepSeek — that are linked to our adversaries,” said Sen. Rosen. “This bipartisan legislation takes proactive steps to ban DeepSeek on all U.S. government devices, helping to further safeguard sensitive government data from the Chinese Communist Party.”

“Our bill is an urgent first step toward protecting our citizens, government, and economy from China’s Communist Party,” added Husted.

“This bipartisan bill ensures that DeepSeek does not expose our government to potential national security risks—or give our data to Communist China,” said Ricketts.

A former computer programmer, Rosen has advocated for strengthening the country’s cybersecurity. In 2024, the senator pushed for the creation of a concrete plan to address cyber attacks on healthcare systems after the ransomware attack on Change Healthcare. She also introduced the Department of Defense Civilian Cybersecurity Reserve Act and other bipartisan bills strengthening the cybersecurity of the Department of Veterans Affairs medical devices and records.

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NASA Launches New Mission to Moon
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NASA Launches New Mission to Moon

NASA launched Intuitive Machines’ IM-2 mission on Feb.26 from Launch Complex 39A at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The agency said Thursday the mission, launched aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, is carrying NASA instruments to be utilized for science and technology demonstrations on the lunar surface. Intuitive Machines’ Nova C lunar lander is expected to reach the Moon’s surface, specifically in Mons Mouton located in the Moon’s South Pole, on March 6.

Paving the Way for Future Moon Missions

The new mission, part of the Commercial Lunar Payload Services initiative and Artemis campaign, aims to deliver payload needed to gather data about the Moon and help enable astronauts to explore it further on future missions.

The payload includes four vital NASA science and technology instruments. The Polar Resources Ice Mining Experiment-1, or PRIME-1, will explore and analyze the Moon’s subsurface to locate possible lunar resources. The Laser Retroreflector Array is designed for precision laser ranging and will serve as a permanent location marker on the Moon. The Micro Nova Hopper, an autonomous drone named Grace, will survey the Moon’s surface, including the permanently shadowed regions, and transmit data back to the lander. The Nokia 4G/LTE Lunar Surface Communications System will demonstrate advanced cellular communications between the lander, a Lunar Outpost rover and the Micro Nova hopper to determine the possibility of future infrastructure on the Moon.

NASA’s Lunar Trailblazer spacecraft, launched with the IM-2 mission, will determine the locations of different water forms on the lunar surface and analyze their changes over time. The results of the two-year water-mapping mission will be used to understand water cycles on airless bodies.

Janet Petro, NASA acting administrator, stated, “These science and technology demonstrations are more than payloads – they represent the foundation for future explorers who will live and work on the Moon.”

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Air Force Official on How DMM Can Accelerate Capability Deployment
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Air Force Official on How DMM Can Accelerate Capability Deployment

Digital material management can accelerate the process of turning capabilities from concept to deployment, giving warfighters an edge over adversaries, according to a Department of the Air Force official. During a presentation at Wright State University, Kyle Hurst, chief of the Air Force Digital Transformation Office, said DMM can address challenges related to the speed at which capability is developed.

“DMM is a way to go fast,“ he told the audience. 

Air Force’s Long Development Timelines

Hurst pointed out that it takes China about seven years to push out a new capability to warfighters, giving troops more time to train and develop a concept of operations. For comparison, the U.S. spends about 16 years building and deploying a weapon system. 

The official also compared the current process of weapon deployment to World War II. He revealed that it took the military 102 days from the initial contract award to roll out the first P-51 Mustang single-engine fighter aircraft from the production lines and another 50 days for the fleet to take to the skies. 

How DMM Could Help

DMM, he said, can improve the development process by allowing leaders to make more informed decisions. 

He mentioned a recent project at Tyndall Air Force Base, where civil engineers got to see a digital twin of the base infrastructure. The digital twin provided a better map that helped determine what parts are needed and where civil engineers should go. 

“This digital approach helps with proactive decision-making and efficiency, ensuring that our teams are always one step ahead,” he explained.

Hurst added that DMM is already showing positive impacts in traffic flow management and aircrew scheduling. 

Join Kyle Hurst and other government leaders as they discuss the benefits of adopting technology-forward solutions at the Potomac Officers Club’s 2025 Digital Transformation Summit on April 24. Register for the event here. 

Air Force Official on How DMM Can Accelerate Capability Deployment
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NIST Seeks Public Comments on Chipmaking Cybersecurity Roadmap
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NIST Seeks Public Comments on Chipmaking Cybersecurity Roadmap

The National Institute of Standards and Technology is gathering public comments on its draft framework for managing and reducing cybersecurity risks in semiconductor manufacturing. 

The 136-page draft, titled “Cybersecurity Framework Version 2.0 Semiconductor Manufacturing Profile,” structures methods for identifying and addressing areas for improvement in current cybersecurity practices within semiconductor manufacturing systems. 

It also offers cybersecurity evaluation approaches to ensure that control environments work within acceptable risk levels. In addition, the profile provides a standardized approach for the development and maintenance of cybersecurity plans across the semiconductor manufacturing process. 

Roadmap’s Focus Areas

The profile’s roadmap follows the six primary functional areas under NIST’s Cybersecurity Framework 2.0: govern, identify, protect, detect, respond and recover. In addition, it expands to various semiconductor subdomains — fabrication, enterprise IT and equipment, and tooling — for framework flexibility and adaptability.

Sanjay Rekhi, group leader of the security components and mechanisms group at NIST, described the profile as a “comprehensive framework” drawn from industry and government collaboration. “This initiative is part of a broader, multi-year effort to strengthen the security of critical infrastructure, with a particular focus on the security of semiconductors and their supply chain,” he added.

The deadline for submitting comments is on April 16. NIST’s National Cybersecurity Center of Excellence plans to hold a virtual workshop for the profile on March 13 to provide an overview of the draft.

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GAO Urges Reforms for DIU’s Rapid Tech Acquisition Process
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GAO Urges Reforms for DIU’s Rapid Tech Acquisition Process

The Government Accountability Office is urging the Defense Innovation Unit to institute reforms on its DIU 3.0 process adopted in 2023 for more rapid acquisitions of commercial technologies for the Department of Defense’s most critical needs. 

In a report released Thursday, GAO maintained that DIU lacks a complete performance management process, limiting its capability to measure progress in addressing DOD’s most critical requirements at scale.

Metrics and Timelines Seen as Lacking 

The congressional watchdog office noted that no performance measures and timelines were established to check DIU 3.0’s progress toward its goals. It also observed that DIU officials have not pinpointed the performance data they need to gather as basis for DIU 3.0 decision-making.

In addition, GAO said DIU has no assessment measures in place to check its progress in coordinating commercial technology adoption activities with other DOD innovation organizations, such as the Defense Innovation Community of Entities. Related collaborative activities were also established in March by DIU, AFWERX and NAVALX in the Joint Defense Innovation office in Austin, Texas, to facilitate collaboration between government agencies and startups.

Concurring DIU Opinion

To address its concerns, GAO recommended that DIU establish specific performance goals and metrics, well as a data collection and assessment processes, for DIU 3.0. The unit concurred with its recommendations, GAO said. 

DIU 3.0 is being implemented amid sentiment expressed in the defense industrial base during the 2024 Baird Defense and Government Conference that the U.S. government’s procurement system is unable to keep up with the rapid pace of technological innovation, a situation becoming a threat to national security.

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Databricks Gets FedRAMP High Authorization for Data Platform
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Databricks Gets FedRAMP High Authorization for Data Platform

Databricks has earned High authorization under the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program for its Data Intelligence Platform on Amazon Web Services GovCloud.

Gaining High Authorization

The San Francisco, California-based company said the authorization allows organizations handling sensitive data to innovate while meeting U.S. government security and compliance standards.

Rory Patterson, chairman of the board of Databricks Federal, said, “Data is a critical part of decision making in the government and Databricks is enabling government agencies to understand their organization’s data, identify waste, pass audits, and gain efficiencies — all while remaining secure and compliant.”

Used by over 400 public sector entities, the open-source platform supports analytics, artificial intelligence and machine learning to enhance national security, fraud prevention, government efficiency and immigration processes.

The authorization expands Databricks’ existing Department of Defense Impact Level 5 Provisional Authorization and FedRAMP High and IL5 certifications for Azure Databricks.

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EO Mandates Centralized System to Record Spending on Contracts, Grants
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EO Mandates Centralized System to Record Spending on Contracts, Grants

President Donald Trump has released an executive order directing agency heads to work with Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, team leads to develop a centralized technological system to record payments issued to covered contracts and grants. 

The White House said Wednesday that each record should include a written justification submitted by the agency employee who approved the payment.

The centralized system should be implemented in a way that allows agency heads to pause and assess payments that do not come with written justification.

The requirement is part of the EO seeking to implement the cost efficiency initiative for DOGE.

Review of Covered Contracts, Grants

The new policy requires agency heads to assess all covered grants and contracts and modify or terminate them to reduce federal spending or shift funds in support of the current administration’s policies.

Within 30 days of the order’s issuance, agency heads should conduct and complete a comprehensive review of agencies’ contracting policies, personnel and procedures.

According to the document, DOGE team leads should provide the administrator of the DOGE Service with a monthly report on contracting activities.

Justification of Non-Essential Travel

The EO requires the creation of a tech system within each agency to record approval of federally funded travel for conferences and other non-essential purposes. Those records in the system should come with brief justifications, which will be posted publicly.

A monthly report outlining justifications for non-essential travel should be submitted to the administrator.

Real Property Disposition

Within seven days, agency heads should confirm to the General Services Administration that they have submitted updates to the Federal Real Property Management System to ensure that the platform reflects an accurate inventory of real property.

Within 30 days, agency heads should be able to identify all termination rights they have under existing leases of government-owned property. 

The order also directs the GSA administrator to submit to the director of the Office of Management and Budget a plan to dispose of properties that agencies no longer need.

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