Drone networks can cut cost of Middle East security, AF general says

Sur le même sujet

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  30 avril 2020 | International, C4ISR, Sécurité

  Interior Department inks $95M dollar deal to modernize IT system from 1990s

  Andrew Eversden The Department of the Interior awarded a $95 million contract to NTT DATA Federal Services to modernize one of its critical information systems, the company announced April 28. The five-year contract will modernize Interior's Technical Information Management System, or TIMS, which automates business and regulatory functions for the department's Bureau of Ocean Energy Management as well as its Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement. The latter, BSEE, maintains the system. Under the contract, NTT DATA will “provide operations support, infrastructure and application maintenance, security, cloud transformation and other IT services.” TIMS was established in the 1990s, according to an Interior privacy impact assessment from 2018. The system supports the core mission of the two bureaus and enables the four regional offices and the Virginia headquarters to share and combine data, print maps, and standardize forms and other documents. The system is also used by the Office of Natural Resource Revenue, oil and gas stakeholders, and state and local governments. "NTT DATA is honored to help the Department of the Interior take full advantage of new and emerging technologies to promote safety, protect the environment and conserve resources offshore,” said Tim Conway, NTT DATA's president of public sector work. “Our team is committed to working with BSEE to deliver on their important mission of oversight and enforcement in these areas by leveraging automation, agile development and innovation to streamline operations.” In the long term, the Interior Department wants to merge TIMS' daily operations with the system's maintenance cycle, while adding new developments, the NTT DATA news release said. According to USAspending.gov, NTT DATA is a subprime contractor on several multimillion contracts with the departments of Justice and Homeland Security as well as the U.S. Agency for International Development. https://www.federaltimes.com/home/2020/04/29/interior-department-inks-95m-dollar-deal-to-modernize-it-system-from-1990s

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  3 août 2020 | International, Terrestre

  Boeing wins $265 million to build more special ops Chinook helos

  By: Jen Judson WASHINGTON — The Army has awarded Boeing a $265 million contract to build nine more MH-47G Block II Chinook helicopters for the service's Special Operations Aviation Command, according to a July 31 Defense Department contract announcement. The company is now under contract to build 24 of the G-model Chinooks. The service is expected to buy 69 special operations variants. The original plan was to procure 473 F-model Block II helicopters for the active force as well, but the Army decided in its fiscal 2020 budget request not to buy them for the conventional force and only field the latest variant to special operations, which was much in need of a replacement for the variant in its fleet. The service's decision to cut the aircraft from the active force was based on the need to free up future cash to cover the cost of an ambitious plan to buy two new future vertical lift aircraft for long-range assault and attack reconnaissance missions. Congress has since opposed the move, injecting $28 million in FY20 funding into the program to purchase long-lead items to manufacture F-model Block II Chinooks for the active Army. The Army's FY21 budget again provided no funding for the program. A similar plus-up in the congressional FY21 spending bill could continue to push the service back in the direction of buying more Block II variants. The contract award is the third in a series of awards to buy G-model Chinooks. Boeing received contracts in 2018 and 2019 as well. The Army approved the Block II effort to move into the engineering and manufacturing development phase in April 2017, and the program officially began in July 2017. The aircraft began flying in tests in mid-2019. The upgrades in the Block II version include newly designed rotorblades, major changes to the drive system and other improvements like non-segmented fuel cells. The aircraft is expected to buy back roughly 4,000 pounds of additional load capacity and adds range capability. https://www.defensenews.com/land/2020/07/31/boeing-wins-265-million-to-build-more-special-ops-chinook-helos

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  17 décembre 2019 | International, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Sécurité

  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