June 3, 2024

Cerberus buys a Calspan biz, NASA $1B MACC-III RFI, FBI Operation Endgame, Austal USA USN ocean surveillance win, CJADC2 to rapidly adapt, DOD partnerships in Pacific

Author

GovBrew
June 03, 2024

QUICK HITS

  • Russia, China using American AI for disinformation: OpenAI says foreign threat actors use generative AI for their campaigns.

  • Agencies are on the clock to improve digital accessibility: Here’s how they’re doing to meet new standards and benchmarks.

  • The definition of a federal whistleblower may soon change: The agency that enforces civil service laws is set to rule on the case. (See also: Could AI one day be a whistleblower itself?)

  • The enduring myth of “just one per year” SAM updates: You better make sure it’s up to date as of the date of your fed proposal!

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DEFENSE & AEROSPACE

Pentagon wants CJADC2 to become a rapidly adaptive ecosystem.

Rather than function as a single megaprogram that a sole contractor is responsible for running, the Pentagon wants the nascent CJADC2 to become an ecosystem in which different applications regularly bloom and die in response to rapidly changing military needs. Now, CDAO has created Open DAGIR to open the doors to software developers. Read more

RFP: AFRL seeks ‘advanced’ ISR sensors, including for moving targets in “STARS” solicitation.

The STARS program is a new initiative to develop new radars for a variety of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) missions, including tracking moving targets for use by the Air Force, Space Force, Army and Navy. Under the Science and Technology Applied RF Systems (STARS) program, estimated to cost a total of nearly $95 million over six years, AFRL is looking to award up to three indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contracts — with funding based on individual task orders, according to the lab’s solicitation. Interested vendors have until June 12 to respond. Read more | Go to SAM

SECDEF: The US is building ‘a new and stronger network of partnerships’ in the Pacific.

SecDef Austin is promoting a 'unique' Pacific 'network of partnerships, the outlines of which have become more focused as Japan, Korea, and the US have agreed to intelligence sharing of real-time targeting and warning data on missiles. Read more

ICYMI:

  • Acting CIO wants the Navy to crowdsource innovation.

  • Army makes major change to how soldiers and civilians access data through email.

  • DOD announces new approach to scale its data and analytics

  • Joint Staff J-6 hosts its annual Command, Control, Communications & Computers summit.

  • Lawmakers inquire about DOD’s increasing reliance on Microsoft.

Defense Contract Awards

  • Palantir secures a $153 CDAO contract to make licenses of their AI-enabled operating system available across the DOD.

  • Austal USA books $516M contract mod for USN ocean surveillance ship construction.

  • Chugach subsidiary wins $188M USAF contract for base operations.

  • Northrop snags $147M Army order to produce IR countermeasure systems.

  • MetTel secures spot on $2.7B Navy wireless mobility contract.

Follow the Defense Leaders

  • Former vice chief of naval operations arrested on bribery, conspiracy charges on a scheme involving a gov’t contract.

  • Frontgrade Technologies appoints its microelectronics VP to CTO.

  • Second Front Systems welcomes new chief information security officer.

Defense Job Openings

INSPIRED

INTEL COMMUNITY

FBI announces 'Operation Endgame' to dismantle criminal infrastructure.

The FBI has announced a multinational coordinated cyber operation—dubbed Operation Endgame—to dismantle criminal infrastructure responsible for hundreds of millions of dollars in damages worldwide. Read more

ODNI releases its inaugural vision for the IC information environment.

ODNI has released its inaugural vision for the IC Information Environment as an IC IT roadmap. The roadmap provides technological foresight to guide the IC in making transformative decisions about the cloud environment, cybersecurity, advanced computing, data analysis, and AI. Read more | Get the Roadmap

ICYMI:

CIVILIAN

VA considers AI to help with employee burnout.

The VA last week concluded a 90-day AI Tech Sprint. The department recognized six finalist teams for projects focused on reducing administrative burdens for employees. The projects include “ambient dictation,” or AI-powered note-taking that would take place during and after a veteran’s appointment with a VA clinician. Read more

Experts want cybersecurity teams in the quantum conversation.

Federal experts say cybersecurity teams must be involved in the quantum computing conversation from the start. They believe that otherwise, quantum computing - which can break many common forms of encryption - will be a “disservice” to everyone. Read more

ICYMI:

Civilian Contracts Awards

  • FEMA awards $112M information system security officer services BPA to SynergisT JV

  • DOE awards $7.2M Microsoft enterprise license task to Minburn Technology.

  • Dept of Ed awards $1.2M open text licenses task to RedHawk IT.

Follow Civilian Leaders

Civilian Job Openings

M&A CORNER

Cerberus Capital Management buys Calspan’s defense test systems business units.

Cerberus Capital Management has purchased Calspan’s hypersonic and defense test systems business units from TransDigm Group; it has also formed an independent entity that will focus on delivering hypersonic test infrastructure and services to U.S. government and commercial clients. Read more

SHOWER THOUGHTS 🚿

Remember when the FBI ran a cell phone company for criminals?

We almost forgot about it, too. But, back in 2018, and in a story that seems ripped from a Bond novel, the FBI was using a fake cell phone company to put real criminals behind bars with surprising success. Read more

Does the FITARA scorecard need a reset to stay relevant?

In this op-ed, a MITRE executive director and 40-year author argue that it's past time to modernize the FITARA scorecard and that another reset is needed to keep it relevant to driving IT management best practices across federal agencies. Read more

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