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Heidi Shyu Highlights DOD’s Need for Trusted AI, Machine Learning
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Heidi Shyu Highlights DOD’s Need for Trusted AI, Machine Learning

Heidi Shyu, undersecretary for research and engineering at the Department of Defense and a previous Wash100 Award winner, discussed several technology areas that are critical to DOD’s efforts in countering adversaries and one of those is artificial intelligence, Defense One reported Monday.

“Industry is spending billions of dollars on AI ML [machine and learning] and billions on autonomy. What I want to do is make sure we converge on trusted AI ML, trusted autonomy… In my mind, we have to drive towards affordable, attributable, survivable unmanned platforms. To do that, it's gonna be critical to have trusted AI ML and trusted autonomy,” Shyu told the publication in an interview.

When it comes to cybersecurity, she highlighted the need to speed up detection of cyber vulnerabilities and the importance of open architectures.

“What you don't want to do is lock into one architecture and so, as the threats evolve, you're stuck with a legacy architecture. So, if we have a modular open architecture…with a secure processor that's able to evolve at the speed of commercial technology, that's what's going to be critical,” Shyu said.

Shyu also shared her insights on hypersonics, microprocessors, space and biotechnology.

Supply Chain Cybersecurity: Revelations and Innovations

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DARPA Unveils Coded Visibility Program; Rohith Chandrasekar Quoted
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DARPA Unveils Coded Visibility Program; Rohith Chandrasekar Quoted

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has launched a new program that seeks to develop tunable obscurants designed to deliver asymmetric advantage to soldiers by improving their visibility on the battlefield while countering adversaries’ detection and vision systems.

“Coded Visibility aims to develop new types of obscurant particulates that can be tailored to allow U.S. and allied forces to see the enemy through the plume in one direction, while the adversary is unable to see through the plume in the opposite direction,” Rohith Chandrasekar, program manager at DARPA’s defense sciences office, said in a statement published Tuesday.

“We call this passive asymmetry, somewhat like the concept of privacy-window film that allows vision through glass in one direction and not the other,” Chandrasekar added.

DARPA will hold a Proposers Day for the Coded Visibility program on Oct. 21.

Chandrasekar said DARPA will also use novel materials to explore active asymmetry through the program.

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Naval Surface Warfare Center Prepares to Establish New Radiation Facility; Shana Goodman Quoted
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Naval Surface Warfare Center Prepares to Establish New Radiation Facility; Shana Goodman Quoted

Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC), Crane Division, has broken ground on what would become a radiation testing facility for various defense systems. 

The future Radiation Modernization facility will feature new testing equipment as the Navy assesses the radiation of missile defense, space and nuclear deterrence systems, Naval Sea Systems Command said Friday. The facility's groundbreaking ceremony took place on Oct. 4th.

“This new facility will house a new Short Pulse Gamma (SPG) system, required shielding, and space for required maintenance," said Shana Goodman, the division manager for NSWC Crane's strategic microelectronics division.

She said the military has been working since 2019 to plan the new facility, which is funded by the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Research and Engineering. Goodman noted that the facility will be ready for use before the end of fiscal year 2023.

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DOE to Issue FOA for Regional Clean Hydrogen Studies
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DOE to Issue FOA for Regional Clean Hydrogen Studies

The Department of Energy (DOE) plans to issue a new funding opportunity announcement for studies on how to streamline regional clean hydrogen deployments.

The effort aims to reduce clean hydrogen costs, create jobs and address environmental challenges as the Biden administration seeks to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, DOE said Friday.

The department believes co-locating clean hydrogen in specific regions can help the government meet hydrogen-related goals.

The FOA's supported projects will assess hydrogen producers, consumers and infrastructure to determine how clean hydrogen deployments would impact regions environmentally, socially and economically.

DOE announced its intent to issue the FOA as part of the weeklong Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Day celebration. The announcement also serves as a response to feedback from DOE's Hydrogen Program request for information and the first Hydrogen Shot Summit.

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GSA Launched Efforts to Support Small Business Week; Robin Carnahan Quoted
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GSA Launched Efforts to Support Small Business Week; Robin Carnahan Quoted

The General Services Administration (GSA) released opportunities and held an educational workshop event to support last month's Small Business Week campaign.

The agency said Friday that its Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization showcased federal contracting opportunities to small businesses seeking to pursue federal projects.

GSA also virtually hosted the Small Business Works: 2021 Level Up & Network Series, an event that helped small businesses learn more about federal contracting and determine pursuits that match their strengths.

“We want to ensure that small businesses from disadvantaged socioeconomic categories and communities are well-represented in the procurement process," said Robin Carnahan, GSA administrator.

The agency is helping the Biden administration grow the number of small disadvantaged businesses engaged in federal contracting by fifty percent.

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David McKeown: DOD Eyes Industry Technologies to Support Defense Cybersecurity
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David McKeown: DOD Eyes Industry Technologies to Support Defense Cybersecurity

David McKeown, the Department of Defense’s chief information security officer (CISO) and deputy chief information officer (CIO), has looked on the industry for cybersecurity technologies to defend defense networks.

He shared that his agency needs help from private-sector companies to bake in cybersecurity on tools and networks to replace its current practice of purchasing defense capabilities as an add-on feature, DOD said Friday.

Speaking at the Billington CyberSecurity Summit, McKeown conceded that the historically secure Pentagon still has a spot malicious actors can exploit given the sheer number of devices connected to defense networks.

He pointed out that the industry provides better security solutions, noting an effort in which DOD tapped Microsoft to help secure defense personnel’s transition to a cloud environment.

The official also shared that DOD will continue to adopt technologies of different types from the industry, including those that can be purchased at scale and those that can be overlaid on top of its network infrastructure.

“We want to meet with industry, we want to know what they have, but we do want them to be cognizant of the fact that we really kind of demand a secure solution coming in the door,” explained McKeown.

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Carlos Del Toro’s NavSec Strategic Guidance Focuses on Maintaining Naval Dominance
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Carlos Del Toro’s NavSec Strategic Guidance Focuses on Maintaining Naval Dominance

Carlos Del Toro, the secretary of the Department of the Navy, has released guidance detailing the planning, investments, budgeting and other efforts of his agency to maintain U.S. naval dominance.

The One Navy-Marine Corps Team: Strategic Guidance outlines Del Toro's vision for building, training and equipping naval forces to ensure victory in future conflicts, the U.S. Navy said Friday.

The document also touches on the civilian official's priorities of keeping the Navy the most dominant maritime force, empowering the naval workforce and strengthening strategic relationships with allies and partners.

Del Tero explained that investing in the right capabilities will enable the Navy to defeat its adversaries, which will define the service's missions in the following years.

“Building the future capability we need to compete globally while taking care of our Sailors, Marines and military personnel requires a fully integrated Navy and Marine Corps team,” explained the official.

The document builds on Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin's integrated deterrence vision, U.S. Marine Corps Commandant Gen. David Berger's Force Design 2030 for modernized USMC expeditionary posture and Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mike Gilday's Navigation Plan for expanded fleet capabilities.

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Lt. Gen. Michael Groen: AI-Backed Cyber Defense Begins With Network Security
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Lt. Gen. Michael Groen: AI-Backed Cyber Defense Begins With Network Security

Lt. Gen. Michael Groen, director of the Joint Artificial Intelligence Center (JAIC) and a 2021 Wash100 Award recipient, said that artificial intelligence’s first cyber defense aspect begins with network security, DOD News reported Friday. 

The Department of Defense is shifting its mindset on networks and architecture because these play a significant role in warfighting and must be treated as weapons, Groen said at a cybersecurity summit. 

“We have to plan to protect them, make them resilient because everything that we're going to do in an artificial intelligence or data-driven way will depend on the security [of] those networks," he added.

JAIC is working with the U.S. Cyber Command on various efforts to apply AI in network protection—a mission that Groen expects to expand rapidly in the coming years. 

But to adopt AI integration in the military, he said the department will field through an “incremental approach” by using AI to address small-scale issues first and later on develop other AI-backed strategies to improve processes in the service. 

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U.S. Space Force Taps Serco for Space Fence Operations, Maintenance; CEO Dave Dacquino Quoted
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U.S. Space Force Taps Serco for Space Fence Operations, Maintenance; CEO Dave Dacquino Quoted

Serco Inc. has secured a potential five-year $33 million Space Fence Operations and Maintenance contract from the U.S. Space Force’s Space Operations Command (SpOC). The contract has a five-month base period with five one-year options.

Under the new contract, Serco will provide management, operation, maintenance and logistical support for SpOC’s Space Fence surveillance system, the company said Tuesday.

Two-time Wash100 Award winner Dave Dacquino, Serco’s CEO, said the company will leverage its established history and expertise in space operations to perform the contracted work.

“From Serco’s RAF Fylingdales work in the U.K starting in 1963 through our GEODSS win here in the U.S. last year, Serco brings an impressive depth and breadth of experience and knowledge to space operations,” Dacquino noted.

Serco's aforementioned U.S. contract win in April 2020 allowed the company to operate and maintain the Space Force’s Ground-Based Electro-Optical Deep Space Surveillance system. 

The new contract continues Serco’s work with the Space Force to advance the nation’s space intelligence capabilities and improve Space Domain Awareness.

The Space Fence is a second-generation ground-based S-band radar space surveillance system designed to establish U.S. space superiority through tracking and cataloging orbital objects. The mission is the U.S. Department of Defense’s first to be operated from a net-centric location.

Additionally, Serco’s contracted work will include operations, cybersecurity, training and knowledge management for the Space Fence S-band radar and its supporting systems.

Serco will perform work in Huntsville, Alabama and Kwajalein Atoll, the Marshall Islands with support from the company’s Colorado Springs facility. 

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CBO Presents Analysis of 3 Options for National Defense Under Reduced DOD Budget
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CBO Presents Analysis of 3 Options for National Defense Under Reduced DOD Budget

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) examined three options for national defense if funding for the Pentagon would be reduced by 14 percent, or approximately $1 trillion, from 2022 through 2031.

Under the first option, the Department of Defense would maintain the “deterrence by denial” as its national security strategy and reduce the size of its U.S. forces by approximately 20 percent while keeping the “same balance of capabilities,” CBO said in a report published Thursday.

For the second option, the U.S. would transition its strategy to “deterrence through punishment” and would heavily rely on allied forces in combat operations while bolstering its long-range strike capabilities, including air defense missiles and cruise missiles.

Under the third option, the U.S. government would focus on keeping the freedom of space, air and maritime navigation, which is also known as the global commons; increase investment in intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities for the Air Force and Space Force; and keep a larger naval force than the first option to help the U.S. facilitate control of sea lanes.

“Although the second and third options would require the same amount of funding as the first option, they would result in different force structures and different budget allocations among the military services,” the CBO report reads.

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