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US Navy Receives Overlord Unmanned Ship Program From DOD’s Strategic Capabilities Office
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US Navy Receives Overlord Unmanned Ship Program From DOD’s Strategic Capabilities Office

The U.S. Navy has taken over leadership of a Department of Defense program aimed at converting large commercial ships into unmanned and autonomous vessels.

The DOD Strategic Capabilities Office transitioned the Ghost Fleet Overlord Program to the Navy Program Executive Office, Unmanned and Small Combatants during a ceremony at Naval Base San Diego, California, Naval Sea Systems Command said Thursday.

As part of the transition, SCO handed over to the Navy office two Overlord prototypes for their continued development and fleet experimentation to inform the service branch’s medium and large unmanned surface vessel programs.

Jay Dryer, director of SCO, explained that the changes will also provide the program with Navy-wide resources to advance autonomous technologies and deliver a USV capability to sailors.

Vice Adm. Stephen Koehler, commander of the 3rd Fleet, pointed out that unmanned systems will support manned platforms as teammates in the future Navy fleet.

Since being launched by SCO in 2018, the Overlord Program worked on perception and autonomy systems; command, control and communications architecture; and improved ship system reliability to produce USVs.

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HHS Execs Xavier Becerra, Rachel Levine Concur With Report on Climate Change’s Health Effects
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HHS Execs Xavier Becerra, Rachel Levine Concur With Report on Climate Change’s Health Effects

Xavier Becerra, the secretary of health and human services and a 2021 Wash100 Award winner, and Adm. Rachel Levine, the assistant secretary for health, have issued statements that support a recent report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

The IPCC report titled “Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability” presents how climate change can affect both physical and mental health, the Department of Health and Human Services said Sunday.

The report assesses climate change impacts against non-climatic global trends, such as the pandemic, economic inequalities, rapid urbanization, biodiversity loss and the unsustainable consumption of natural resources.

“This report makes it clear that the choices we make now will determine the future of our health and the health of the world; highlighting both the mental and physical health effects of climate change, which are often overlooked,” Levine stated.

“HHS is committed to using every tool available to protect the health of our nation from the devastating effects of climate change,” said Becerra. 

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New DARPA Program to Work on Trusted AI Algorithm Capable of Making Difficult Decisions
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New DARPA Program to Work on Trusted AI Algorithm Capable of Making Difficult Decisions

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is looking to build artificial intelligence algorithms that could make decisions in complex military scenarios where two commanders would not agree on a single right answer.

The In the Moment program aims at building military personnel’s trust in AI systems to present a choice at moments where there is no objective ground truth, DARPA said Thursday.

Matt Turek, ITM program manager, explained that participants will create a framework for evaluating AI decision-making in difficult domains by comparing an algorithm’s choice with a human in multiple scenarios.

“The [Department of Defense] needs rigorous, quantifiable, and scalable approaches to evaluating and building algorithmic systems for difficult decision-making where objective ground truth is unavailable,” added Turek.

DARPA will select companies to test AI systems on a small-unit medical triage domain for two years and on mass-casualty events for 18 months, with potential awards following the two phases for technology maturation.

The agency will hold a virtual event on March 18th to discuss the opportunity with potential proposers.

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Boeing to Provide $2 million for Humanitarian Relief Efforts in Ukraine
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Boeing to Provide $2 million for Humanitarian Relief Efforts in Ukraine

Boeing has committed to providing an emergency assistance package worth $2 million for humanitarian relief in Ukraine.

The company said Thursday its assistance package will fund organizations providing food, water, shelter, clothing and medicine to Ukrainians that were forced to leave their homes amid the conflict with Russia.

These Boeing Charitable Trust funds include $1 million to CARE USA for food, water and hygiene kit distribution; $500,000 to the American Red Cross for humanitarian relief; and $250,000 to Americares for medical care distribution.

Boeing will also provide a total of $250,000 to other organizations supporting vulnerable communities in Ukraine and nearby countries.

“It will help us provide durable food, hygiene items, diapers, sleeping bags, mats and other critical necessities to alleviate suffering,” Michelle Nunn, president and CEO of CARE USA, said about the relief package.

Additionally, eligible Boeing employee contributions supporting Ukraine will be recorded under the company’s charitable matching program.

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Mike Brown: DIU Turns to Industry for Tech
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Mike Brown: DIU Turns to Industry for Tech

Mike Brown, director of the Defense Innovation Unit and 2022 Wash100 Award winner, said his team looks at the private sector to identify technologies that address warfighter needs, DOD News reported Thursday.

He said in a discussion at George Mason University that DIU is using an other transaction authority or OTA to speed up commercial technology adoption. This procurement method is applicable to prototyping or research and development services.

The unit follows a “commercial solutions open” approach that includes the use of modular contracts and agile work statements. Brown said modular contracts provide the flexibility to have different vendors collaborate for prototyping and eventual production.

He also noted that DIU does not list its own requirements, because the private sector already offers products that the Department of Defense can use. Brown said this was the case when DIU was in search of counter-drone technologies.

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Frank Kendall: Advancing Joint All-Domain C2 Among Air Force’s 7 Operational Imperatives
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Frank Kendall: Advancing Joint All-Domain C2 Among Air Force’s 7 Operational Imperatives

Frank Kendall, secretary of the Air Force and a three-time Wash100 Award winner, said there are seven operational imperatives for the service branch to modernize to counter emerging threats and challenges and one of those is the need to achieve operationally optimized Advanced Battle Management System and Joint All-Domain Command and Control, the Air Force said Thursday.

“This imperative is the Department of the Air Force component of Joint All Domain Command and Control. It is intended to better define and focus DAF efforts to improve how we collect, analyze, and share information and make operational decisions more effectively than our potential adversaries,” Kendall said Thursday at a symposium.

He stressed that this imperative requires discipline and that the Air Force should focus on investing in improvements “with measurable value and operational impact.”

The other six imperatives Kendall discussed at the event are defining resilient and effective space order of battle and architectures; achieving moving target engagement at scale in a challenging operational environment; defining the B-21 Long Range Strike family-of-systems; defining the Next Generation Air Dominance system-of-systems; defining optimized resilient basing, sustainment and communications in a contested environment; readiness of the Department of the Air Force to transition to a wartime posture against a peer competitor.

Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Charles Brown and Chief of Space Operations Gen. John “Jay” Raymond, participated in a fireside chat Tuesday and noted that while the Air Force and Space Force are two independent services, these branches have similar objectives.

“We are so intertwined; we are dependent on each other not just from a base operating support construct, but also operationally. We could not do what we do as joint force without the Air Force and the Space Force,” Brown said.

Raymond, a 2022 Wash100 Award winner, discussed the Space Force’s partnership with the Air Force and shared his views on continuing resolutions. He also noted that space has transitioned into a warfighting domain.

“Our adversaries now have the advantages [in space] we’ve always enjoyed. It’s a different domain that required a different approach,” he said.

Air Education & Training Command Plans $195M IDIQ Contract for Small Businesses
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Air Education & Training Command Plans $195M IDIQ Contract for Small Businesses

A U.S. Air Force command has issued a request for proposals to the small business community for a $194.5 multiple-award contract opportunity to train military aircraft operators and maintainers.

The Air Education and Training Command plans to host a virtual preproposal conference on March 16 to discuss the potential 10-year acquisition program with interested offerors, according to a solicitation notice posted on SAM.gov.

AETC said the upcoming program will cover flight and simulator training for commercial off-the-shelf airframes and multi-engine pilot, instrument rating, recurrent training and basic and operational maintenance courses at locations worldwide to be determined on individual task orders.

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Senate OKs Strengthening American Cybersecurity Act
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Senate OKs Strengthening American Cybersecurity Act

The Senate has approved a legislative package that would direct critical infrastructure operators and owners and federal civilian agencies to report major cyberattacks and ransomware payments to the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.

The proposed Strengthening American Cybersecurity Act, which is now headed to the House, would authorize the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program for five years to help facilitate the secure adoption of cloud-based platforms by federal agencies, the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee said Wednesday.

Sens. Gary Peters, D-Mich., and Rob Portman, R-Ohio, authored the legislative package, which includes language from three bills: Federal Information Security Modernization Act of 2021, Federal Secure Cloud Improvement and Jobs Act and the Cyber Incident Reporting Act.

“As our nation continues to support Ukraine, we must ready ourselves for retaliatory cyber-attacks from the Russian government. … This landmark legislation, which has now passed the Senate, is a significant step forward to ensuring the United States can fight back against cybercriminals and foreign adversaries who launch these persistent attacks,” said Peters.

The measure would also update federal cybersecurity laws to require agencies to implement a risk-based approach to cybersecurity and facilitate coordination between agencies.

POC - 2022 CMMC Forum

Join the Potomac Officers Club for its 2022 CMMC Forum on May 18. Visit the Potomac Officers Club site to learn more about this event and view POC’s full calendar.

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DOE to Release 30M Barrels of Oil From Strategic Petroleum Reserve; Jennifer Granholm Quoted
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DOE to Release 30M Barrels of Oil From Strategic Petroleum Reserve; Jennifer Granholm Quoted

The Department of Energy will release from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve 30 million barrels of crude oil for emergency sale to address supply and market disruptions associated with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

DOE said Wednesday the move is part of a coordinated effort of the U.S. and other International Energy Agency member countries to make an initial 60 million barrels of oil available to the market to help mitigate supply challenges related to Russia’s military attacks on Ukraine.

According to the department, companies registered in the Crude Oil Sales Offer Program are eligible to take part in the emergency sale.

DOE announced the notice after President Joe Biden authorized Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm to make the commitment with regard to the deployment of oil from strategic reserves.

“We stand prepared to take additional measures if conditions warrant,” Granholm said. “We will continue advancing ongoing efforts to accelerate Europe’s diversification of energy supplies away from Russia and to secure the world from Putin’s attempts to weaponize energy supplies.

She also highlighted the need to invest in clean energy to reduce dependence on Russian oil and gas.

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Navy’s Fire Scout Mine Countermeasure Payload Set for Spring Demonstration
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Navy’s Fire Scout Mine Countermeasure Payload Set for Spring Demonstration

The U.S. Navy is planning to demonstrate a new mine countermeasure sensor payload built by BAE Systems for its intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and targeting unmanned helicopters in spring

The Naval Air Systems Command said Wednesday the Single System Multi-Mission Airborne Mine Detection payload will look for mines in shallow and deep water onboard the MQ-8C Fire Scout aircraft in Panama City, Florida.

SMAMD, MQ-8C’s first mine countermeasure system and its heaviest payload, will provide servicemen the capability to scan for mines and obstacles on land and at sea and analyze visual information onboard an aircraft in real time.

Capt. Thomas Lansley, the Navy’s Fire Scout program director, pointed out that a mine warfare technology would help reduce risks for vessels traversing in littoral waters.

Results of the demonstration will validate the ability of the MQ-8C to operate a podded MCM system without any impact on its performance.

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