Aug 21 2023

QUICK HITS

• Army Futures Command chief urges a cautious approach to replacing soldiers with machines: 200 AI projects underway in service.

• Ka-blooey! Luna 25 crashes into the moon after orbit maneuver: Russian mission in lunar South Artic ends in failure.

• Listen: Poppyseed problems & staying in the know in GovCon: Check out GovBrew’s very own Shane Prosser on the ClearanceJobs podcast!

DEFENSE & AEROSPACE

Army hopes big-data techniques can help secure its clouds.

As the Army adopts more large cloud services, one senior officer warns that some of the tricks and easy solutions for fast software development that work in the private sector, such as open code libraries, won’t work for the military without extra security. Read more

Army's ‘120-day study’ looking at resourcing for cyber information capabilities, authorities, and forces.

The Army is conducting a study examining its cyber arsenal and funding along with resourcing for other information capabilities. The 120-day study is about halfway done. It’s precipitated by U.S. Cyber Command’s enhanced budget authority that it’s poised to realize in October, which will provide it budgetary control over cyber forces and capabilities — a key maturation for the command since being created a little over 10 years ago. Read more

How innovation cells in Army combat units are harnessing soldiers' ideas.

Heads turned at Fort Irwin’s training ranges earlier this year when the 3rd Infantry Division arrived with quadcopters tethered to their Bradley Fighting Vehicles, providing extra eyes in the sky. The Hoverfly drones were obtained through the 3rd ID’s Marne Innovations program, one of four cells established in various divisions to gather troops’ ideas and generate low-cost solutions. Read more

ICYMI Snippets

• RFI: AFRL posts Battle Management for AI RFI.

• RFI: Navy posts TOEE 24.1 RFI.

• Plasma breakthroughs could enable better hypersonic weapons, spacecraft.

• Army validated its tactical data fabric concept at recent exercise.

• Would U.S. Marines on merchant ships deter Iran in the gulf?

• How a drill is preparing admirals, naval forces for simultaneous wars.

• DOD must adopt data-centric model for MPEs.

Defense Contract Awards.

• Lockheed awarded $622M Navy FMS contract for F-35 program management support.

• J&J Worldwide Services to help DHA maintain military treatment facilities in Hawaii.

• Space Force extends Wallaroos contract for on orbit AI applications.

• Amentum wins $223M Air Force contract to transport senior leaders.

Follow the Defense Leaders

• Andrew Campbell promoted to Business Development VP at Leidos Australia.

• Former IronNet exec joins MAG Aerospace as chief HR officer.

• HII Mission Technologies names new chief growth officer.

Defense Job Openings

• National Guard Bureau is hiring a vice director of manpower and personnel.

• Naval Sea Systems Command is seeking a Director, Subsea and Seabed Warfare.

• The Air Force is hiring a Program Analyst.

DAILY FUNNY

INTEL COMMUNITY

U.S. government warns of foreign intelligence threats to the space industry.

U.S. space industry companies are being increasingly targeted by foreign intelligence operations. “Foreign intelligence entities recognize the importance of the commercial space industry to the U.S. economy and national security, including the growing dependence of critical infrastructure on space-based assets,” said an Aug. 18 bulletin from the National Counterintelligence and Security Center, the FBI and the Air Force Office of Special Investigations. Read more

ICYMI Snippets

• Energy Department is hiring a deputy director of counterintelligence.

• The Navy is hiring a deputy director of Naval intelligence.

CIVILIAN

Top White House tech priorities stymied by misalignment between federal IT teams.

A significant lack of prioritization and strategic vision from key technology leaders at the White House’s U.S. Digital Service, OMB, and GSA has caused massive delays in critical improvements to government websites that millions of Americans use every day, according to multiple current and former government IT officials. Read more

GSA undertaking study to examine racial bias in facial recognition technology.

GSA is carrying out a study to test and validate potential racial bias in facial recognition technology systems. As part of the inquiry, the agency will study the equity of certain remote identity-proofing technologies that the American public may use when accessing federal benefits. GSA plans to release a report with the results from the study in a peer-reviewed publication in 2024. Read more

CISA conducts largest annual election security drills amid threats targeting voting systems.

The CISA led the nation’s largest annual election security exercise, working with the DOJ, the FBI and other federal participants to fortify voting systems across the country as the election season begins to heat up. The cyber defense agency hosted state and local election officials — as well as federal entities like the NSA and U.S. Cyber Command — for a three-day exercise and involving hypothetical scenarios that could potentially disrupt election operations. Read more

ICYMI Snippets

• Blame the lawyers if your agency is paying 10%-25% more for certain cloud services.

• Commentary: CISA directives are more than just compliance exercises.

• The NTSB is struggling to keep up with growing responsibilities.

• GAO: USDA violated the Anti-Deficiency Act while planning its relocation of science agencies.

• What factors can help salvage eroding trust in federal government?

Civilian Contracts Awards

• Caduceus, a SDVOSB, won a $7.5B DHS temporary facilities and support services BPA.

• Makpar Corp wins $46M IRS Ea3 Program Management and Testing Support Services task.

• HHS ASA awards Zolon PCS a $5M OASH IT Enterprise Services task.

• FDA awards CDER REMS Pilot Project task to The Mitre Corp.

Follow Civilian Leaders

• Zolon Tech appoints a new VP, general manager.

Civilian Job Openings

• USDA Farm Production and Conservation Business Center is seeking an assistant CIO.

• DOJ Federal Programs Branch, Civil Division is hiring a deputy director.

• Energy Department is seeking an Associate Director of Project Management - Carbon Capture and Removal.

M&A CORNER

Not Quite M&A Today, But Some Interesting Corporate News…

• Satellite startup True Anomaly opens Colorado factory.

• Where Amentum leans in on hypersonics, unmanned tech.

SHOWER THOUGHTS 🚿

Grand Theft Auto! To steal today’s computerized cars, thieves go high-tech.

These days, cars are computer centers on wheels. Today’s vehicles can contain 100 computers and millions of lines of software code. These computers are all networked together and can operate all aspects of your vehicle. It’s not surprising, then, that car theft has also become high-tech. Read more

Opinion: Here are three ways to end the war in Ukraine. One may actually work.

“Ukraine will never be a victory for Russia — never,” President Joe Biden said in a speech in Poland this year, and rightly so. For the war in Ukraine to end on terms consistent with American interests and ideals, Ukraine must be seen to have won, and Russia’s invasion must go down in history as a decisive failure, enough to deter other authoritarian powers from launching similar wars of aggression in the future. So what’s an achievable definition of victory? Read more

Opinion: There’s only one way to control AI: Nationalization.

Nine years ago, in a commercial AI lab affiliated with Caltech, [this article’s author] witnessed something extraordinary. My colleague Andrej Szenasy was wrapping up a long day’s work training NeuralEye, an AI initially developed for the Mars Rover program, and I was a few cubicles away, plowing through NeuralEye’s test data. “Hey, check this out!” he shouted. Read more

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