September 13, 2023

QUICK HITS

• Draft SEWP VI GWAC: NASA releases its 6th version of the IT contract. An industry day will be held October 19; final RFP release Feb 2024.

• White House Situation Room gets cutting-edge tech in $50M upgrade: 5,500 square foot facility on ground floor of the West Wing.

• Get GovCon industry-wide best practices from the GAUGE Report: You may just find a few insights to help your company along.

• Congressional Hackathon: Scheduled for Sept 14, the 5th annual Hackathon gets new institutional support .

DEFENSE & AEROSPACE

Space Force prototypes new “integrated” Deltas for readiness boost.

“The Space Force has started two proofs of concept we call Integrated Mission Deltas, or IMDs, for both operations and sustainment for mission areas that are under a single commander. One IMD prototype is supporting the electromagnetic warfare mission. The other IMD prototype is a new organization to support precision navigation and timing,” Chief of Space Operations Gen. Chance Saltzman said told the annual Air Force Association Air, Space & Cyber Conference. Read more

When it comes to leveraging commercial space tech, the old adage holds – "Show me your budget and I'll show you your priorities."

As the DOD readies its new set of commercial space strategies, industry members are fretting over the current funding gap and have a simple answer to the conundrum: Show me your money. What's more is that tracking spending by DOD, USSF, US Space Command, and more isn't enough according to industry reps and government officials. Read more

Space Force needs more cyber operators for weapons systems.

Protecting weapons systems is a top concern for the U.S. Space Operations Command, but there aren’t enough cyber operators to monitor the myriad interconnected platforms. “I need to make sure my cyber systems are ready to go at a moment’s notice and that they’re not going to keep me from doing the mission that I need to do.” Read more

ICYMI Snippets

• Overseas firms on a journey to establish themselves as U.S. entities.

• Gen. Minihan envisions major expansion of AF's Rapid Dragon system.

• Secretary Kendall initiates review of AF to ‘re-optimize’ for future conflict.

• The Pentagon's got a new cyber strategy to expand allied info-sharing.

• As the near-peer threat emerges, the threat to Africa and Central Asia remains.

• Take a glimpse into the future of aerial refueling.

Defense Contract Awards

• General Dynamics subsidiary books $226M Air Force contract for Global Network Terminal Tech Production.

• Lite Coms to supply Marine Corps Wideband Satcom Equipment under $500M Navy contract.

• Boeing wins $70M contract award for Glide Breaker counter-hypersonic weapons tech.

• AWS secures $50M BPA with Space Force for launch cloud services.

• Picogrid secures $950M AF IDIQ contract to foster an open defense ecosystem.

Follow the Defense Leaders

• New CFO starts within Raytheon's Air Power unit.

• Leidos taps new VP of Multi-Domain Solutions Division.

• Former Airbus executive named chairman of All.Space.

• Former GE Aerospace VP appointed general counsel at Maximus.

Defense Job Openings

• DOD is seeking an Assistant IG for Program Combatant Command and Oversees Contingency Operations.

• Army Criminal Investigation Command seeks Assistant Director, Operations.

• Air Force is seeking a Director, Office of Scientific Research.

DAILY FUNNY

INTEL COMMUNITY

Treat AI as your ‘crazy drunk friend: CIA tech chief.

How much of its trust can the IC place in AI? Whether it’s ChatGPT's often erroneous response to questions rooted in facts or Stable Diffusion's photorealistic human hands with one too many fingers, the answer is looking like a hard "hell no." But that doesn’t mean the government shouldn’t use it, as long as officials take its insights and outputs with a healthy grain of salt. Read more

ICYMI Snippets

• Federal cyber contractor IronNet, founded by former NSA official Keith Alexander, considering bankruptcy, will furlough workers.

• Intelligence veteran named chief strategy officer at Integral Federal.

• Telos secures $6.7M, two-year CIA contract extension.

• New VP of Special Projects, National Security Programs named at Constellis.

• Senior CIA officer reflects on defending Washington, D.C. on 9/11.

CIVILIAN

USPS says “hard nope” to regulator’s budget request.

Leadership at the USPS has rejected its regulator’s budget request, instead granting the oversight body a funding boost that will provide a 10% cut to its initial ask. The Postal Regulatory Commission initially requested $23.4 million for FY24. That plan would have allowed the commission to add staff and contract support. But the USPS wasn’t having it. Read more

VA unveils V1 of $2.7B user experience tech recompete: SPRUCE.

The VA has given industry a first glimpse at the upcoming five-year, $2.7 billion recompete of a contract for acquiring digital products in support of user experience initiatives. Known by the acronym SPRUCE, the Secure Performant Reliable and User Centered Experiences vehicle is a primary mechanism for VA to access more modern commercial-like software development services that are available to internal and external users. Responses are due Sept. 21. Read more

DOE unveils $39M for electric grid cybersecurity for nine projects.

DOE announced the disbursement of $39 million in new funding for nine National Laboratory projects that are focused on fortifying the cybersecurity protecting the nation’s energy grid. Projects based out of Argonne, Brookhaven, Lawrence Berkeley, Oak Ridge, Pacific Northwest and Sandia National Laboratories will share the total funding amount for research that supports innovation in distributed energy resources’ digital security. Read more

ICYMI Snippets

• HHS' new cybersecurity coordination center to ramp up key partner interactions.

• RFI: GSA seeks Threat Intelligence Enterprise Services (TIES) support.

• AI is part of a 'new era' at IRS, commissioner says.

• VA may have overpaid millions in Gulf War Syndrome benefits.

• Taxpayer information is potentially at risk due to IRS oversight weaknesses.

Civilian Contract Awards

• Ball Aerospace secures work on $487M NASA sounder instrument development contract.

• ESRI awarded $34M DOJ FBI geospatial BPA.

• Rivernorth, a WOSB, wins $3M HHS OCIO Vendor Management Office Support contract.

• Veterans Engineering, Inc., a SDVOSB, wins $52M VA Cloud Infrastructure Advisory services contract win.

• Inquist Ltd. wins $35M US Export-Import Bank (EXIM) IT support contract.

Follow Civilian Leaders

• Donovan Capital Group adds a new Strategic Partner.

• General counsel support added at Maximus.

• Enlightenment Capital adds a new member to its Advisory Board.

• Resolution Think appoints its new chief operating officer.

Civilian Job Openings

• USDA's Agricultural Research Service needs a Center Director.

• NASA seeks Deputy Manager, Flight Development & Operations, Commercial Crew Program.

M&A CORNER

First Advantage seeks to expand digital identity portfolio with Infinite ID acquisition.

First Advantage Corporation, a provider of employment background screening and verification solutions, announced the acquisition of Infinite ID, a U.S.-based digital identity authentication solutions company and portfolio company of Enlightenment Capital. The $41 million all-cash transaction was funded with cash from the balance sheet and expands First Advantage’s network and portfolio of U.S. identity solutions. Infinite ID is profitable and is expected to generate annual revenues of over $10 million. Read more

SHOWER THOUGHTS 🚿

VIDEO: Why is China the 'most pervasive' cyber threat to the US today?

The deputy director of the CIA for digital innovation is focusing on two key factors within the IC, one of which is "the rise of the People’s Republic of China as, let’s just say, a pacing challenge for us.” Watch 

How much money has the US spent in natural disasters this year?

It’s only September, but natural disasters have caused about $60 billion in damage this year alone. That doesn’t even include the pending hurricane season that just kicked off. The Red Cross is trying to adjust to these increased events and higher costs. Read more

Is the answer to Starlink…more Starlinks?

The U.S. government faces a dilemma. Starlink, a private satellite venture devised and controlled by Elon Musk, offers capabilities that no government or other company can match. Its innovations are the fruit of Musk’s drive and ambitions. But they have become enmeshed with American foreign and national-security policy, and Musk is widely seen as an erratic leader who can’t be trusted with the country’s security needs. In other words, the United States has urgent uses for Starlink’s technology—but not for the freewheeling foreign-policy impulses of its creator. Read more

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