No GovBrew Monday! In honor of Labor Day, we’ll be practicing a rare federal tradition: not working. GovBrew is taking Monday off, but we’ll be back Wednesday with all the contracts, chaos, acronyms, and acquisition drama you’ve come to expect.
—The GovBrew Crew
QUICK HITS
DOE's third battery grants round: $500M for direct lithium extraction, cobalt, next-gen anodes, and recycling.
Federal EHR modernization: 14 organizations line up to join the cloud-based health data exchange program, Oracle Health Millennium.
No SCIF? No Problem: DOD wants more contractors in classified work.
SBA releases 8(a) social disadvantage guidance: What contractors need to know about the new rules.
GOVBREW INSIDER
Check out this week’s 100+ opportunities from defense, civilian, and intel agencies.
Our team uncovered 45+ upcoming IT services opportunities at (CMS) in this week's recompete report.
DEFENSE & AEROSPACE
Rethinking CCAs for China: The next loyal wingman needs a fundamentally different mission set.
CCAs capable of defending high-value airborne assets in long-range air-to-air engagements would break the firepower-versus-protection paradox and help establish air superiority against China. The USAF's CCA program has been built around offense, but a fight with China requires drones that can also play defense.
DARPA wants hypersonics at scale.
DARPA’s Next Generation Hypersonic Cruise Missile (NGHCM) program is aiming beyond speed and range, challenging industry to design a scramjet-powered missile that can also be produced at scale. The move addresses a growing concern that current hypersonic programs are too expensive and slow to manufacture.
Shipyard crisis: Navy looks abroad to Japan, South Korea, and Turkey as domestic delays pile up.
The W.H. and USN are reviewing frigate designs from Japan, South Korea, and Turkey under a memorandum that would allow up to two initial ships to be built in foreign shipyards before transitioning to domestic production. The three designs under consideration are Japan's Mogami-class, South Korea's Chungnam-class, and Turkey's Istanbul-class guided-missile frigates.
ICYMI:
DOD RFP: Next-Gen Ammunition & Munitions Equipment (NGAME).
DOD RFI: Enterprise Messaging Modernization & Engineering Support.
Army releases directive requiring modular system interfaces.
USAF is accelerating its Reaper replacement program following a series of concerning losses.
Here’s what each F-35 variant really costs right now.
Defense Contract Awards
Follow the Defense Leaders
Defense Job Openings
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INTEL COMMUNITY
NRO, NGA, and USSF resolve commercial ISR turf battle.
After years of jurisdictional jockeying, the NRO, NGA, NSA, and USSF have clarified how they’ll acquire and deliver commercial intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) data. The agreement gives the USSF’s TacSRT program a clearer lane while reducing overlap across agencies.
Defense automation push: DIA, USAF, and Army advance data pipelines to accelerate actionable intelligence.
The DOD's data collection is growing faster than its ability to act on it, and officials from DIA, the USAF, and the Army are all racing to close that gap with automation and AI. DIA's deputy director said adversaries are fielding more advanced collection tools of their own, compressing the time available to deliver usable intelligence.
ICYMI:
WHS RFI: Software Defined Encryption.
USN RFP: Intelligence Exploitation and Targeting Systems (IETS).
Information warfare isn't just about data: Ideas and perception matter just as much as intelligence.
Boeing won a $55M USSOCOM MH-47G special ops. helicopter deal.
MTSI lands a spot on the $14B DIA COMET Missile and Space Intel contract.
ODNI is looking for a Senior Procurement Executive.
TRIVIA 🤔
When GSA was created in 1949, which unusual operation was among the activities it inherited or managed?
Just click the choice you think is right & the correct answer will be shown. Scroll down to the bottom of this email for more information about the correct answer.
CIVILIAN
Congress demands answers on VA’s $27B Oracle deal.
A bipartisan House committee voted 19-0 to subpoena Oracle executives after the company declined to testify about the VA’s electronic health record modernization contract, which has ballooned from $10 billion to nearly $27 billion. Lawmakers want answers on rising costs, oversight, and delivery progress.
DOE’s data center power play.
DOE sees AI-driven data center growth as a major driver of rising electricity demand and is steering industry toward clean energy solutions. Data centers could consume up to 9% of U.S. electricity by 2030, nearly double their 2023 share, making solar, storage, nuclear, and grid upgrades the stars of the show.
GSA pushes Congress to speed building repairs.
GSA says red tape is turning routine building maintenance into a very expensive waiting game. The agency sent Congress 103 project proposals totaling roughly $10 billion and is urging lawmakers to raise the repair approval threshold from $3.96 million to $75 million. Some projects have been stuck for over a decade, with costs ballooning by as much as 436%.
ICYMI:
The National AI Research Resource is getting its own dedicated operations center, courtesy of NSF.
FAA doubles BEYOND program: Phase 2 adds up to eight new participants to expand BVLOS drone integration.
It’s not only AI—it’s the data. NIH says a unified ecosystem will determine how fast the Bio Genesis Mission advances.
Free ride is over: GSA shifts USAi to a platform fee plus usage cost model.
Civilian Contracts Awards
GE won a $2.87B support contract for F414 engine components powering F/A-18 fighter jets.
NASA tapped Blue Origin to build the communications infrastructure for future Mars missions.
Software Consultants secured a NIH NLM OCCS Software Development, Operations, and Cloud Computing contract.
DOE selected Brookhaven to develop an advanced AI model for the US power grid.
C² has been awarded the STARCOM Civilian Guardian contract.
Follow Civilian Leaders
Federal Management Systems has chosen a CSO.
Civilian Job Openings
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M&A CORNER
Everbridge acquires Open Measures.
Everbridge acquired Open Measures, an OSINT firm that monitors more than 45 digital sources including mainstream and alternative social media platforms, to give its 6,500 enterprise and government customers earlier warning on threats.
Xpect Solutions buys Amivero to strengthen its national security portfolio and technical capabilities
Xpect Solutions acquired Amivero, a firm specializing in AI, fraud operations, digital identity, and agile software development for homeland security agencies. The combined company now has more than 450 employees and a broader footprint across national security, law enforcement, and DHS customers.
ICYMI:
Israeli defense tech XTEND to begin trading on NYSE following $1.5B merger.
SHOWER THOUGHTS 🚿
[Watch] Gold under pressure: Rising dollar strength and US Treasury yields drag the price of gold to a three-week low despite global tensions. SOURCE↗︎
Pentagon eyes vast private UFO records collection: AARO races to meet Congress' mandate to review UAP involvement since 1945. SOURCE↗︎
POTUS commemorative coin: US Mint began circulating a $1 coin bearing the president's face—the first time in nearly 100 years that a living person has been featured on the country’s currency. SOURCE↗︎
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TRIVIA ANSWER ⭐️
A) Hemp Plantations in South America — GSA was created to consolidate a grab bag of federal administrative functions after WWII—including procurement, property, records, strategic stockpiles and surplus disposal. Its early responsibilities even included managing hemp plantations in South America. (Source)
