Tag Archives: Defense Department

The Department of Defense (DoD) has issued a five-year, $100 million award to Texas A&M University for the creation and management of an applied hypersonics consortium. The University Consortium for Applied Hypersonics will serve as an avenue for hypersonics research, development and transition in support of DoD, NASA and other government agencies, DoD said Monday.

Mark Esper, secretary of the Department of Defense and a 2020 Wash100 Award winner, met with Rajnath Singh, India’s defense minister, to discuss the basic exchange and cooperation agreement to facilitate sharing of sensitive satellite intelligence data between the two countries. The agreement would provide India access to aeronautical, topographical and nautical intelligence data. 

The full-rate production phase for the F-35 fighter jet program faces another delay after the Department of Defense (DoD) pushed back testing in the Joint Simulation Environment from December 2020 of this year to sometime in 2021. The F-35 program was expected to receive Milestone C decision in December 2019, but that timeline was pushed back to March 2021. 

The Joint Artificial Intelligence Center (JAIC) and Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) are collaborating on efforts to use AI algorithms to establish new medical diagnostic techniques and improve the management of health data. DIU and JAIC expect to continue work on the Predictive Health initiative as the Warfighter Health team prepares to transition to JAIC’s Joint Common Foundation (JCF) development platform.

Russ Goemaere, a spokesperson for the Department of Defense (DoD), said a request for information released in September 2020 that seeks to help DoD understand how dynamic spectrum sharing can back lethality, training and readiness. Goemaere said in a statement that the department “does not intend to own and operate a national 5G network.”

Katie Arrington, chief information security officer at the office of assistant secretary of defense for acquisition and a 2020 Wash100 Award winner, said the Department of Defense (DoD) should step up efforts to change the workforce culture around DevSecOps. She noted that DoD should educate its personnel about DevSecOps and cited how the department’s Adaptive Acquisition Framework could help advance DevSecOps adoption.

The U.S. Army plans to release a final request for proposals for the service’s optionally manned fighting vehicle (OMFV) by the end of 2020 before selecting five awardees that will move forward in the program. Brig. Gen. Richard Coffman expects interested parties to prioritize AI-based sensor data collection concepts for the OMFV.

The Department of Defense (DoD) has announced that the total budget allocated for the Military Intelligence Program reached $23.1 billion in fiscal year 2020. DoD said Wednesday that the topline MIP budget for FY 2020 included base appropriations and overseas contingency operations funds in support of the National Defense Strategy.

The Department of Defense (DoD) will provide $87 million in funds over seven years to establish the BioIndustrial Manufacturing and Design Ecosystem as a new manufacturing innovation institute. BioMADE, which was formed by the Engineering Biology Research Consortium, will be based at the University of Minnesota in St. Paul and will work with public and private organizations to develop bioindustrial manufacturing tech platforms.

Mark Esper, the defense secretary and a 2020 Wash100 Award recipient, has said the Pentagon needs a 3 to 5 percent increase in budget to keep up with near-peer adversaries and boost military readiness. He noted that the DoD is looking to realign program funds and reform 2018 National Defense Strategy goals to ensure spending efficiency.