October 29, 2021 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security
December 17, 2019 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security
DARPA head resigns, moving on to industry
By: Jill Aitoro
WASHINGTON — Steven Walker, the 21st director of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), today announced his resignation, effective Jan.10, 2020, Defense News has learned.
Walker will move on to a position in industry, though a DARPA spokesman did not reveal where. DARPA deputy director Peter Highnam, a former director of research at the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, will assume the role of acting director until a permanent director is appointed. Highnam is also a former director of the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA).
DARPA is responsible for driving development of emerging technologies for use by the military. Walker and Vint Cerf, inventor of the Internet, spoke to Defense News about that role in March, and how DARPA can support engagement with the tech community.
Among the key efforts launched under Walker's tenure at DARPA was development and fielding of the Long-Range Anti-Ship Missile, which was accomplished in half the time of a normal development program, DARPA noted in an email. Walker also reinvigorated the agency's hypersonic weapons and space efforts, with major programs in boost-glide and air-breathing missile development and distributed low Earth orbit satellite constellations.
Also noted by the agency: Under Walker's leadership, DARPA launched the three-year, $1.5 billion Electronics Resurgence Initiative (ERI) as well the five-year $2 billion AI Next program. Walker also “made pivotal investments in the realm of engineered biology, resulting in several breakthroughs, chief among them a program that has helped reduce Ebola fatality rates by more than 70 percent,” the email stated.
Walker succeeded Arati Prabhakar, who left the Agency in January 2017.
https://www.defensenews.com/breaking-news/2019/12/17/darpa-head-resigns-moving-on-to-industry
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To update key databases, NGA looks at $1.5B in contracts
By: Maddy Longwell   The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) has awarded contracts worth as much as $1.5 billion for companies for work on a comprehensive content database that would accelerate decision-making for analysts throughout the next decade. The indefinite-delivery/indefinite quantity contracts, awarded to 14 companies, are the JANUS program, an NGA initiative that provides geography, aeronautical and elevation information. JANUS is an unclassified cloud environment that updates and maintains geospatial databases, which can then be accessed by NGA's data partners including the intelligence community and military. JANUS includes: - a geography portion, with contracts worth as much as $920 million, - an elevation program, worth about $250 million, and - a program that features aeronautical data, worth about $320 million., “Janus, will enable near-real time access to commercially-created and enriched content (including crowd- and community-sourced data) in a cost-effective manner that improves decision-making timelines,” NGA Director Robert Cardillo said at a hearing of the Senate Committee on Intelligence in September 2016. For the geography program, Altamira Technologies Corporation, Hexagon US Federal, Inc., Centra Technology, Inc., MDA Information Systems, LLC, CACI, Inc. - Federal, Harris Corp., BAE Systems Information and Electronic Systems Integration, Inc., Boeing Intelligence & Analytics, Vencore, Inc., and Leidos, Inc. will be eligible for task orders. Those companies will compete to manage and disseminate geospatial intelligence information. They will also use predictive analytic technology to evaluate NGA databases, correct data and improve data acquisition and creation. For the elevation program, Raytheon, Hexagon, Continental Mapping Consultants, BAE, Leidos, Boeing and Harris will compete for task orders. Continental Mapping Consultants, T-Kartor USA, and Lowe Engineers could win task orders related to aeronautical feature data, according to a posting on the Federal Business Opportunities web site. “Our analytics technology provides NGA with fit-for-purpose data, reduced production costs and cloud-based access to geospatial products and content,” Bill Gattle, president of Harris Space and Intelligence Systems, said in a July 11 press release. https://www.c4isrnet.com/intel-geoint/2018/07/10/to-update-key-databases-nga-looks-at-15b-in-contracts/