April 15, 2024 | International, Naval
Get the US Navy’s frigate program back on schedule
Opinion: Failure to return the FFG-62 to the expected cost and schedule will further erode confidence in Navy acquisition management.
May 27, 2020 | International, C4ISR
Five burn-in’ questions on ‘the real robotic revolution’
A future where artificial intelligence controls Washington D.C. may not be far off, according to a new book from Peter Singer and August Cole: “Burn-In, a Novel of the Real Robotic Revolution.”
Like the authors' previous book, “Ghost Fleet: A Novel of the Next World War,” “Burn-In” is a blend of fiction and facts that explore how technology will shape the future. The science fiction thriller showcases over 300 technological trends that the authors believe will push the United States into a new industrial revolution. The story revolves around an FBI agent and its robot partner working to stop a cyber-terrorist who has taken control over the nation's capital.
Singer, a strategist and senior fellow at the non-partisan think tank New America, spoke with Chiara Vercellone about what inspired the book, the response from officials how the duo researched it.
This interview has been edited for brevity.
C4ISRNET: This novel blends fictional characters with extensive research on what technology might be like in the future. You show how AI might have an effect on everything, from politics and economy to our society. Why is this realistic in such a short amount of time?
SINGER: We conducted research on everything from compiling the reports on which jobs will be automated, to Amazon patent applications, to interviews with AI scientists, but also people who worked on the water system of Washington D.C. We even did site visits to inside the White House.
We used that to essentially project forward not just how AI and robotics are going to be used in your city, your business and your home, but also some of the, frankly, scary new vulnerabilities and trends that they are going to introduce. What are some of the security threats that we're going to be wrestling with, whether it's in your home or how you think about it for an entire city?
C4ISRNET: The book is set 20 years from now. Is that the right time frame for the development of all encompassing AI ?
SINGER: We had a “no vaporware” rule. Every single technology, every single trend, every single scene in the book had to be pulled from a technology project that is already in motion right now: A technology that already exists or a research project that is already happening, a cyberattack that may not have happened in the U.S. but has happened somewhere else, or has been something that researchers have proved is possible. And, honestly, that kind of grounding, frankly, makes it even more compelling and scarier.
C4ISRNET: As artificial intelligence can be used for good to help defend against cyberattacks, it can also be used to carry out these attacks. As the book shows, the FBI uses AI to solve cases more efficiently but D.C. has been taken hostage by a cyberterrorist using the same technology. Are there any risks that officials are taking today in funding the development of this technology?
SINGER: I think of when we got computers and they've move to a point where we don't even kind of notice them around us anymore. When you go into your kitchen, there are tons of little red lights of different things that are computerized, but we don't think of them as computers anymore.
Relative to AI, so much of the attention has been on this revolt of the robots. But one of the things that we play with in the book is that we're seeing all these applications, but we're also not preparing our economy and our society for these changes that will come. Industrial revolutions are really traumatic: We're going to see everything from job displacement to new political ideologies, even extremist ones, and we're not preparing for that. Even more directly related to the development of AI, we're recreating almost all the mistakes that we made with the regular Internet a generation ago. Even if the internet brought a lot of incredible things, we didn't think about security and the development of it, and that created a lot of consequences. And we're doing the very same thing right now, as we wire up our cities, our homes, into what is now an Internet of Things and an increasingly AI-fueled Internet of Things.
C4ISRNET: You and August Cole have been invited to brief the book's lessons to officials at the White House, Congress, CIA and at the Pentagon. What were those conversations like?
SINGER: For our past book, “Ghost Fleet,” we got to do everything from White House briefings to go to the Joint Chiefs conference room inside the Pentagon, and the Navy now has a $3 billion shipbuilding program that's called Ghost Fleet. And the same thing has happened with “Burn-In.” Even before it was published, we were able to brief some of its lessons to groups like the Joint Special Operations Command to the NSA and Cyber Command and as you and I are speaking right now, there's a new government report called the Cyber Solarium Commission. It's a bipartisan commission, and they issued a major report of ways to reset U.S. cybersecurity strategy for the future. And it actually begins with a scene written by August Cole and I. So, in many ways, Congress has taken the world of “Burn-In” and moved it into official government reports. They wanted a way to share real cyberthreats, and what they didn't want to happen is what happened to the various reports before 9/11 that warned about the attack but that nobody listened to until after the fact. So, they asked us to help with visualizing that world with the idea that it might emotionally compel them to not make the same mistake.
C4ISRNET: What was the process of deciding which technology was developed enough to think it could become a threat in the future?
SINGER: We would first build up a baseline of understanding and try and draw upon the wisdom of the crowd. For example, when we were looking at the question of which jobs are likely to be automated, we actually built, as far as I'm aware, the first data set that brought together every job prediction report, around 13 different predictions in total. It included everything from what the World Bank says to what consulting companies say. That gives you that factual grounding, and then you have to put your fiction hat on and you say, “okay, of all of these, which ones are not just the most important to talk about, but are the most interesting and compelling to talk about.” So the husband of the main character is a way that we use to illustrate that many people when they think about automation, they think about a factory worker or losing their job or maybe a truck driver, something blue collar but the data shows that it cuts across not just blue collar, but also white collar. So, we chose to make the character, a contract lawyer who's been automated, and that's not just to show that white collar jobs are at risk here, but it allows you to have that character hit some more compelling human themes.
t's really interesting what happens when you read the reports and plans but also talk to not just the Silicon Valley engineers, but all the way up to the billionaires, is there's this incredible and rightful excitement at the world that they're creating. But there's also sometimes a failure to appreciate that their Utopian visions can sometimes seem very dystopian to other parts of society. And you can see this for example, with facial recognition, where they'll talk excitingly about how you're going to use it in a restaurant and use it in a train station, and all the money that's going to be made. And then you pull back and think through everything, from how will the government use this? How do people with a different point of view that the police think about mass scale of face recognition? How does this change on our personal relationships? You think it's great that the greeter to the store will have automated face recognition, and that they'll be able to call me by name as I enter. But how am I going to think about that person? Am I going to think of them as friendlier or is it just the fact that I know the computer gave them my name? The visions of the future can be Utopian, but it can also feel really creepy in other ways.
C4ISRNET: How long has this book been in the works?
SINGER: The timeline from when you provide the final version of the book to the publisher, and then when it actually comes out in the stores is about nine months. So, we turned in “Burn-In” in fall of 2019 and it's coming out in summer 2020, and that's just the way the book business works.
The challenge of this blend is that there are so many things that that were happening, that are actually a scene or a moment from the book. We would start tweeting them out, calling him a #BurnInbookmoment. And sometimes they were something that was cool and exciting maybe a robot that we write about in the book actually being deployed. But sometimes it was something rather scary, a certain kind of attack that had been researched now actually starting to happen.
In the longer term, there might be a problem with the technology in the book. I'll give you a an example: In one of the scenes, there is a drone, and it's pretty clear it's an Amazon drone that flies overhead but we don't name if by company, but we describe it and it has a footnote it's Amazon's patent for the drone. We didn't dream up that it had this number of rotors, but this is Amazon's literal plan for it. Now, five to ten years from now, Amazon might change that plan, and they may plan for it to be a six-rotor trial and it turns out it's a four-rotor trial or something. That's where the technology could be thrown off in time, but we were pretty careful.
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May 6, 2020 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security
Contract Awards by US Department of Defense - May 05, 2020
NAVY Raytheon Space and Airborne Systems, McKinney, Texas, is awarded $325,000,000 for a firm-fixed-price contract for the repair of the Advanced Targeting Forward Looking Infrared System used in support of the F/A-18 aircraft. Work will be performed in McKinney, Texas (59%); and Jacksonville, Florida (41%). Work is expected to be complete by May 2025. This is a five-year base period with no option periods. Annual working capital (Navy) funds in the amount of $54,507,477 will be obligated at time of award, and funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. One company was solicited for this sole-sourced requirement under authority 10 U.S. Code 2304 (c)(1), and one offer was received. The Naval Supply Systems Command, Weapon Systems Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is the contracting activity (N00383-20-D-WC01). Flightline Electronics Inc., Victor, New York, is awarded an $18,588,079 firm-fixed-price indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for the manufacture and delivery of 543 TTU-597/E engineering change proposal kits to address parts obsolescence and availability issues on the fuel control test set for Navy and Foreign Military Sales customers. Additionally, this contract provides logistics support documents to include technical manual updates, provisioning data and the interim support items list. Work will be performed in Victor, New York (60%); and Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, United Kingdom (40%), and is expected to be complete by May 2024. No funds will be obligated at the time of award. Funds will be obligated on individual orders as they are issued. This contract was not competitively procured pursuant to 10 U.S. Code 2304 (c)(1). The Naval Air Warfare Center, Aircraft Division, Lakehurst, New Jersey, is the contracting activity (N68335-20-D-0008). Bell Boeing Joint Project Office, Amarillo, Texas, is awarded a $10,178,059 modification (P00029) to a previously awarded, fixed-price-incentive-firm-target, cost-plus-fixed-fee contract (N00019-17-C-0015). This modification provides for additional repairs in support of the V-22 Common Configuration Readiness and Modernization program. Additionally, this modification provides non-recurring engineering for a drive tube engineering change proposal in support of V-22 (Osprey multirole combat aircraft) production. Work will be performed in Fort Worth, Texas (30%); Ridley Park, Pennsylvania (15%); Amarillo, Texas (13%); Red Oak, Texas (3%); East Aurora, New York (3%); Park City, Utah (2%); McKinney, Texas (1%); Endicott, New York (1%); various locations within the continental U.S. (28%); and various locations outside the continental U.S. (4%). Work is expected to be complete by September 2022. Fiscal 2018 aircraft procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $4,804,019; fiscal 2019 aircraft procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $5,119,758; fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance (Navy) funds in the amount of $240,500; and fiscal 2020 aircraft procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $5,108 will be obligated at time of award, $5,044,519 of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity. AIR FORCE StandardAero Inc., San Antonio, Texas, has been awarded a $237,395,588 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract action for the J85 engine repair. The contractor will provide maintenance, repair and overhaul repairs of the J85 engine. Work will be performed in San Antonio, Texas, and is expected to be completed by May 2028. This award is the result of a competitive acquisition in which one bid was received. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $10,135,844 is being obligated at the time of award. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma, is the contracting activity (FA8124-20-D-0005). L-3 Communications Integrated Systems, Greenville, Texas, has been awarded a not-to-exceed $76,000,028 cost-plus-fixed-fee, undefinitized contract modification (P00008) to contract FA8620-19-F-4872 for procurement of Group B materials, ground systems integration lab and subcontracts. Work will be performed in Greenville, Texas, and is expected to be completed by March 31, 2024. This contract involves 100% Foreign Military Sales and is the result of a sole-source acquisition. Foreign Military Sales funds in the amount of $37,240,021 are being obligated at the time of award. The 645th Aeronautical Systems Group, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity. DMS Contracting Inc., Mascoutah, Illinois (FA4407-20-D-0001); C. Rallo Contracting Co. Inc., St. Louis, Missouri (FA4407-20-D-0002); Davinroy Mechanical Contractor Inc., Belleville, Illinois (FA4407-20-D-0003); Hank's Excavating & Landscaping Inc., Belleville, Illinois (FA4407-20-D-0004); J&B Builders Inc., St. Charles, Illinois (FA4407-20-D-0005); Mantle-Plocher JV, Worden, Illinois (FA4407-20-D-0006); Surmeier & Surmeier, Mascoutah, Illinois (FA4407-20-D-0007); and Pugsley Byrne JV LLC, Brighton, Illinois (FA4407-20-D-0008), have been awarded indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contracts with a maximum estimated aggregate value of $45,000,000 under a multiple award task order contract. The awards are in support of the multiple award paving contract program to support the Scott Air Force Base construction program, including paving and civil categories. Work will be performed on Scott AFB, Illinois, and is expected to be completed May 4, 2021. These awards are the result of a competitive acquisition and nine offers were received. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $500 are being obligated to each contractor at the time of award. The 375th Contracting Squadron, Scott Air Force Base, Illinois, is the contracting activity. DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY SupplyCore Inc.,* Rockford, Illinois, has been awarded a maximum $60,000,000 firm-fixed-price contract for facilities maintenance, repair and operations items. This was a sole-source acquisition using justification 10 U.S. Code 2304(c)(1), as stated in Federal Acquisition Regulation 6.302-1. This is an 18-month bridge contract with no option periods. Locations of performance are Illinois and Alaska, with a Nov. 5, 2021, performance completion date. Using military services are Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and Coast Guard. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2020 through 2022 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (SPE8E3-20-D-0011). Raytheon Co., Andover, Massachusetts, has been awarded a maximum $36,688,190 firm-fixed-price delivery order (SPRRA2-20-F-0077) against a seven-year basic ordering agreement (SPRRA2-19-R-0046) for radio frequency exciters. This was a sole-source acquisition using justification 10 U.S. Code 2304 (c)(1), as stated in Federal Acquisition Regulation 6.302-1. This is a three-year, 11-month contract with no option periods. Location of performance is Massachusetts, with a March 31, 2024, performance completion date. Using military service is Army. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2020 through 2024 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is Defense Logistics Agency Aviation, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama. Leading Technology Composites Inc., doing business as LTC Inc., Wichita, Kansas, has been awarded a maximum $26,752,704 modification (P00010) exercising the second one-year option period of a one-year base contract (SPE1C1-18-D-1073) with three one-year option periods for enhanced side ballistic inserts. This is a firm-fixed-price, indefinite-quantity contract. Location of performance is Kansas, with a May 4, 2021, performance completion date. Using military services are Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and Coast Guard. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2020 through 2021 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. American Water Enterprises LLC, Camden, New Jersey, has been awarded a $21,810,972 modification (P00251) to a 50‐year contract (SP0600‐03‐C‐8268), with no option periods for the ownership, operation and maintenance of the water and wastewater utility systems at Fort Rucker, Alabama. This is a fixed-price with prospective-price-redetermination contract. Locations of performance are New Jersey and Alabama with an April 15, 2054, performance completion date. Using military service is Army. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2020 through 2054 Army operations and maintenance funds. The contracting activity is Defense Logistics Agency Energy, Fort Belvoir, Virginia. Raytheon Co., Andover, Massachusetts, has been awarded a maximum $8,362,088 firm-fixed-price delivery order (SPRRA2-20-F-0079) against a seven-year basic ordering agreement (SPRRA2-19-R-0046) for radio frequency exciters. This was a sole-source acquisition using justification 10 U.S. Code 2304 (c)(1), as stated in Federal Acquisition Regulation 6.302-1. This is a two-year, nine-month contract with no option periods. Location of performance is Massachusetts, with a Jan. 31, 2023, performance completion date. Using military service is Army. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2020 through 2023 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is Defense Logistics Agency Aviation, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama. ARMY ASM Research LLC, Fairfax, Virginia, was awarded a $40,284,199 firm-fixed-price contract to provide comprehensive credentialing and privileging program support for the Army National Guard or Air National Guard. Bids were solicited via the internet with four received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of May 4, 2025. The National Guard Bureau Operational Contracting Division, Arlington, Virginia, is the contracting activity (W9133L-20-D-1000). Miller Electric Co. Inc., Reno, Nevada, was awarded a $12,000,000 modification (P00004) to contract W911SA-17-D-2006 for sustainment, modernization and improvement projects for the 88th Army Reserve Centers throughout the states of Kansas and Nebraska. Bids were solicited via the internet with six received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of May 31, 2021. The 419th Contract Support Brigade, Fort McCoy, Wisconsin, is the contracting activity. CAE USA Inc., Tampa, Florida, was awarded an $11,157,134 firm-fixed-price contract for advanced helicopter flight training support services. Bids were solicited via the internet with seven received. Work will be performed at Fort Rucker, Alabama, with an estimated completion date of May 15, 2027. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance, Army funds in the amount of $11,157,134 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Mission and Installation Contracting Command, Fort Eustis, Virginia, is the contracting activity (W9124G-20-C-0008). Manhattan Construction Co., Tulsa, Oklahoma, was awarded an $8,300,000 modification (PZ0001) to contract W912BV-20-C-0008 for alternate care facilities in Oklahoma. Work will be performed in Tulsa and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, with an estimated completion date of May 10, 2020. Fiscal 2020 civil construction funds in the amount of $8,300,000 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Tulsa, Oklahoma, is the contracting activity. DEFENSE ADVANCED RESEARCH PROJECTS AGENCY Perspecta Labs Inc., Basking Ridge, New Jersey, was awarded a $29,917,092 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for a research project under the Fast Network Interface Cards (FastNICs) program. The FastNICs program will speed up applications such as the distributed training of machine learning classifiers by 100x through the development, implementation, integration and validation of novel, clean-slate network subsystems. Work will be performed in Basking Ridge, New Jersey, with an expected completion date of May 2024. Fiscal 2019 research, development, test and evaluation (RDT&E) funding in the amount of $1,110,000; and fiscal 2020 RDT&E funding in the amount of $2,925,000 are being obligated at time of award. This contract was a competitive acquisition under an open broad agency announcement and eight offers were received. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, Arlington, Virginia, is the contracting activity (HR0011-20-C-0090). *Small business https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Contracts/Contract/Article/2177362/source/GovDelivery/
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March 4, 2021 | International, Aerospace
Top USAF general urges support for Next-Gen fighter - Skies Mag
Air Combat Command chief talks NGAD, Tacair study, and acknowledges current F-35 problems.