Nouvelles

By: Valerie Insinna WASHINGTON — As the U.S. Space Force looks to expand the military's communications capabilities in the far north, it is facing a problem. The global pandemic has hit space startups exponentially hard, and OneWeb, one of the companies aiming to provide internet to Arctic locations, filed for bankruptcy in March. The Defense Department is considering taking action to help fortify OneWeb and other vulnerable space startups, said Lt. Gen. David Thompson, vice commander of Headquarters Space Force. “I will say with respect to OneWeb specifically and others, we continue to work,” he said during a May 12 event held by the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies. “We work with the White House and we'll be working with Congress, not just focused on OneWeb but all of the commercial space companies that face bankruptcy and face those concerns.” Thompson did not lay out options under consideration by the Pentagon to aid OneWeb, but he did say the department's Space Acquisition Council devised a list of proposed investments for space companies that need rapid, aggressive action. That capital is needed to ensure emerging space technologies remain available to the U.S. military but also so “that potential adversaries don't have the opportunity to acquire those capabilities,” he said. OneWeb is pursuing a sale of the business as part of bankruptcy proceedings, saying that “while the company was close to obtaining financing” through its own negotiations with investors, “the process did not progress because of the financial impact and market turbulence related to the spread of COVID-19.” So far, the company has launched 74 satellites, secured global spectrum and has half of its 44 ground terminals in development or complete — making it attractive to potential bidders such as Amazon or European satellite company Eutelsat. However, two unnamed Chinese firms have also submitted proposals, according to The Telegraph. That could raise major concerns among Defense Department officials, who have warned that adversary nations — particularly China — could use the financial instability caused by the coronavirus pandemic as an opportunity to increase investments in technology companies with national security applications. “The [defense-industrial base] is vulnerable to adversarial capital, so we need to ensure that companies can stay in business without losing their technology,” Ellen Lord, the Pentagon's top acquisition official, said in March. If OneWeb is sold to a Chinese owner, the Defense Department could lose access to one of the few suppliers of commercial broadband internet servicing the Arctic. While the Space Force operates two Enhanced Polar System satellites to provide secure, jam-resistant military communications, few commercial satellite providers extend their coverage to the far north. As a result, troops have limited communication options in the Arctic, and the Pentagon has long been concerned about a lack of resiliency. Companies like OneWeb and SpaceX, which intend to create a network of hundreds of small satellites in low-Earth orbit, could change that paradigm by providing low-cost commercial internet services that span the globe. In September, OneWeb announced it would begin to provide low-latency broadband service to the Arctic by the end of 2020, with full, 24-hour coverage expected in 2021. For its part, SpaceX stated that its Starlink constellation would begin providing broadband service this year. The military has expressed interest in working with both companies. U.S. Northern Command sought $130 million to explore OneWeb's and SpaceX's capabilities in order to provide reliable and potentially cost-effective internet in the Arctic, listing the effort on top of the unfunded priority list sent to Congress this spring. Nathan Strout in Washington contributed to this story. https://www.defensenews.com/smr/2020/05/12/a-bankrupt-oneweb-could-get-some-help-from-the-defense-department/

By: Valerie Insinna WASHINGTON — The COVID-19 pandemic could make it more difficult for the U.S. Air Force's newest F-35 squadron to organize its personnel and jets on schedule. On April 21, the 356th Fighter Squadron at Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska, became the service's northernmost fighter squadron after receiving its first two F-35s. Pilots began flying those jets for training three days later, and another four F-35s on loan from Hill Air Force Base in Utah flew to Alaska on April 27. But a couple key challenges could hamper the assemblage of the new squadron, said Col. Benjamin Bishop, commander of the base's 354th Fighter Wing. “We're actually on timeline,” he told Defense News in an exclusive interview on April 28. “We have the pilots and maintainers already here to support operations throughout the summer. However, as you know, the Department of Defense has put a stop-movement order through [June 30], and that is something we're working through on a case-by-case basis.” Under the current order, pilots and maintainers who are moving through the training pipeline have been granted a blanket exception to transfer to Eielson. But more experienced pilots, maintainers and support personnel coming from an operational base like Hill Air Force Base will need to receive an exception. Getting additional F-35s to Eielson could also be an obstacle, as Lockheed Martin assesses whether it must slow down deliveries of the F-35 due to disruptions to its supply chain. In a statement to Defense News, Lockheed spokesman Brett Ashworth could not say whether the company was on track to deliver F-35s to Eielson on schedule. “Lockheed Martin continues to work with our suppliers daily to determine the impacts of COVID-19 on F-35 production,” he said. “We are analyzing impacts at this time and should have more detail in the coming weeks.” If the coronavirus pandemic delays the pace of F-35 deliveries to Eielson, the squadron will have to mitigate the shortfall in jets, Bishop said. “Currently, we're at a good pace on the road to readiness for our F-35 program here, and we'll continue to adapt and adjust to bring this mission capability to its full potential in the Indo-Pacific theater,” he noted. Despite COVID-19 and the potential logistical challenges involved in sending people and F-35s to Eielson, day-to-day training operations have continued as normal, said Col. James Christensen, 356th Fighter Squadron commander. Having six F-35s on base allows maintainers to use the jets for training while also maximizing flight hours for the eight pilots currently in the 356th. “We still do the mission the way we always have. We have the masks and the wipe procedures and social distancing,” Christensen said. “So [we're] being creative but still being able to get the mission done.” There are strategic benefits to being the U.S. Air Force's northernmost fighter squadron, starting with access. With support from an aerial refueling tanker, the F-35s at Eielson can reach and target any location in Europe or the Asia-Pacific, Bishop said. And even the harsh climate of Eielson has its perks. It's a short flight away from the Joint Pacific Alaska Range Complex, the Defense Department's largest instrumented training range, with 77,000 square miles of airspace, according to the 354th Fighter Wing. “The F-35 is going to be able to fly in that airspace, but they're not going to be alone,” Bishop said. F-35s training in that area will regularly be joined by F-22s based at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, as well as the F-16s in Eielson's 18th Aggressor Squadron that simulate enemy combat jets. “You're going to see amazing fifth-generation tactics and integration tactics emerge,” he said. Russia is investing in its Arctic infrastructure, and the U.S. military must make its own improvements to how it operates from and trains in the region, said Gen. Terrence O'Shaughnessy, who leads U.S. Northern Command and the North American Aerospace Defense Command. “It's great to see some of the additional forces that are going in, whether it's the F-35s going to Eielson, whether it's the work of the Coast Guard to develop icebreakers,” he said during a May 4 event. “These are all relevant things for us to be able to operate in the Arctic. And that is absolutely, to me, key to our ability to defend ourselves.” As the 356th stands up and becomes combat-ready, it will participate in the next Red Flag-Alaska, a multinational air-to-air combat training exercise slated to be held this August. The squadron is also looking for opportunities to deploy around the Asia-Pacific so that pilots can acclimate themselves to the long geographical distances that characterize the region, Christensen said. “Everyone is excited just to have F-35s here because of the awesome training we can do, but we're also thinking about at some point we have to project this air power out into the Indo-Pacific theater as a combat force. And transitioning everyone, including the wing and including [Pacific Air Forces] — they all have to adjust the mission of Eielson,” he said. Unlike other fighter bases, which usually swap out existing aircraft of existing squadrons with new jets, the two F-35 squadrons coming to Eielson aren't replacing anything, and infrastructure needs to be built to accommodate the anticipated growth in both people and aircraft. When the first members of the 356th Fighter Squadron arrived on base in July 2019, Eielson was home to about 1,750 active-duty personnel, Bishop said. By December 2021, that number is expected to double, with the addition of about 1,500 airmen. In that time, 54 F-35s will be delivered to the base for a total of two squadrons — a notable increase from the 30 F-16s and KC-135s previously at Eielson. An estimated $500 million will be spent on military construction to support the buildup at Eielson, including new operations buildings, a simulator building, heated hangars and other maintenance facilities, and a new cafeteria. A total of 41 facilities will be either built or refurbished with that funding, with 29 of those projects finished and others still under construction to support a second F-35 squadron, Bishop said. And everything — from constructing new facilities to maintaining runways — is tougher in the subzero temperatures of the Arctic. “Early on in this job, I learned that there are two seasons in Alaska,” Bishop said. “There's winter and construction season, with the former a lot longer than the latter. From a beddown perspective, how you put your construction plan together, you have to maneuver around that season.” “In order to maintain efficiency of fighter operations up here, one of the things we did is we built walled weather shelters for our aircraft, so all of our aircraft are actually housed in weather shelters," he added. "That's not necessarily for the aircraft. That's more for the maintainers because having that insulated and heating facility, now you can do maintenance around the clock.” Corrected at 5/12/20 at 2:53 p.m. with the correct size of the JPARC, which was recently expanded to 77,000 square miles of airspace. https://www.defensenews.com/smr/frozen-pathways/2020/05/11/how-the-us-air-force-is-assembling-its-northernmost-f-35-squadron-amid-a-pandemic/

BRUSSELS — The European Union's top diplomat is warning member countries not to slash defense spending as their economies buckle under pressure from the coronavirus, as the disease could spark security challenges. After chairing a video conference of defense ministers on Tuesday, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said it was clear the pandemic is very likely to deteriorate the security environment in the years ahead. Borrell said as the crisis also hits the economy, it's important to secure the necessary funding for security and defense. Talks between the 27 EU member countries over their next long-term budget have been blocked for more than a year, well before the coronavirus hit Europe. Cuts to defense funds in that spending package were already under consideration. Given the impact of the disease, that seems even more likely now. https://www.defensenews.com/global/europe/2020/05/12/eus-top-diplomat-warns-against-defense-cuts/

Andrew Eversden WASHINGTON — Research in the Arctic Ocean is no small feat. The area can prove inaccessible at times, and sensors can fail to communicate data from under the ice or get crushed by slabs of ice. But with the Arctic getting warmer and ice melting at an accelerated rate, the U.S. Navy is preparing to operate in newly available waterways. To do that effectively, the service knows it will take intense research to create durable, innovative solutions that can withstand harsh conditions, while also relaying data to researchers. “If the Navy's thinking about having to run operations up there with submarines, surface vessels and aircraft, you really need to understand that operational environment,” Scott Harper, the Office of Naval Research's program manager for Arctic and global prediction, told Defense News in a May 4 interview. “Where is that sea ice and how quickly is it retreating? And what is it doing to the upper water column in the ocean? "To really understand all that, you need to have a lot of observations.” Navy and academic researchers are working together to improve the service's forecasting models in the Arctic. The Navy currently has research buoys, sensors and other technology floating in the water to track a variety of metrics: waves, atmospheric and water circulation, sea ice thickness and cover, speed at which the ice moves, and several other factors. All those metrics factor into Arctic forecasting. In order to improve its forecasting capabilities, the Navy needs to improve its numerical models, or complex equations used in predictions. But to do that, the service needs more up-to-date data. “These numerical models are kind of like balancing your checkbook,” Harper said. “You need to start with what your current checking account balances [to[ if you're going to predict what it's going to be at the end of the month. And so even if you had a perfect numerical model that you could use to make a forecast, if you don't know what the conditions are right now, you're not going to be able to forecast what the future state is going to be.” To do this, the Navy wants to more quickly collect data through an effort called the Arctic Mobile Observing System, or AMOS. The program aims to create near-real-time data transmission of the sea condition under the ice, and communicate that information to the Navy via satellite. “You have satellites that can look down at the surface of the Arctic Ocean and the sea ice conditions,” Harper said. “But what we don't have [is] the ability to look under the ice and understand what the ocean conditions are, and that's what we're really trying to enable with Arctic Mobile Observing System prototype.” The AMOS program has deployed gliders underneath the sea that are collecting and storing data about the oceanic conditions under the ice, and tracking the location of frozen water using acoustics. In a few months, Harper said, researchers will send an icebreaker to the Arctic and gather the data collected by the gliders. The Office of Naval Resarch, however, would like to bypass the multi-month delay involved in collected the data. To do so, the office plans to enable two-way communication so underwater sensors can communicate data via floating buoys in the ice that, in turn, communicate the data via satellites back to the Naval Oceanographic Office. The project is currently two years into the five-year project. According to the project website, it's slated to end in fiscal 2023 with the recovery and evaluation of the initial prototype in the late summer of 2023. Harper said the project's biggest success has been the navigation system that's currently working underneath the ocean surface. “The fact that we can put sensors out that will know where they are without having to come to the surface to get a GPS fix — because they can't come to the surface because there's sea ice there for nine months out of the year," he said. "That's a big win.” Another critical component to the real-time data collection are the buoys that ultimately must be able to survive the cruel nature of Arctic ice. The AMOS team has deployed prototypes of “ice-hardened” buoys that survived “multiple months” in the Arctic environment, Harper said, paving the way for a fully equipped communications buoy that can talk with underwater sensors. “You can go out there and you can put your sensors in the ice, but a lot of times they'll fail,” Harper said. “And they'll fail because they'll get crushed in the ice or tipped over or toppled by changing ice conditions. And so the ability to deploy a buoy that is robust enough to survive the sea ice is one of the technological hurdles to doing this.” https://www.c4isrnet.com/smr/frozen-pathways/2020/05/11/failure-to-communicate-us-navy-seeks-faster-data-transfers-amid-arctic-ice/

Nathan Strout The U.S. Defense Department relies on a mixture of military and commercial satellites to connect its war fighters all over the world. And while users can complain that terminals are too bulky or that they should have the roaming capability exhibited in commercial cellphone technology, the system largely works. But that's not the case in the Arctic. “Very simple things become hard when you're in the Arctic, not the least of which is communication. When you are above about 65 degrees north, satellite communication starts to diminish, and above about 70 degrees north it becomes extremely limited except for some of our more exquisite capability — submarines, for example,” said U.S. Northern Command spokesman Maj. Mark Lazane. The U.S. Space Force's primary communications satellite system, Wideband Global SATCOM, is designed to provide connectivity between 70 degrees north and 65 degrees south — basically to the edge of the polar region. The Space Force also operates two Enhanced Polar System satellites — the Arctic complement to the Advanced Extremely High Frequency constellation. EPS satellites provide highly secure, anti-jamming signals, and like its counterpart, EPS is built for high-priority military communications, like that used with submarines. And while elsewhere in the world the military supplements its purpose-built systems with commercial communications satellites, that option is limited in the Arctic. After all, commercial satellites providing coverage of other areas aren't solely serving the military, and the services rely on commercial consumers to offset the costs of designing, building, launching and maintaining a satellite. But there's far less commercial demand for satellite communications in the Arctic than in more populated areas, and commercial satellite coverage reflects that. That leaves U.S. Northern Command with a significant gap in the connections available to its war fighters and platforms. “Connection capabilities [in the Arctic] are limited and lack resiliency. We're challenged in areas from basic point-to-point connections to communication with our distributed sensors,” Lazane said. “Having a reliable broadband communications capability for Arctic operations is the top unfunded priority of USNORTHCOM. With the increase of great power competition in the Arctic, there is a need for additional communications capability and capacity.” But the command thinks it's found a solution in the form of new, proliferated commercial constellations. Private companies OneWeb and SpaceX have launched hundreds of satellites into low-Earth orbit in an effort to provide competitive broadband to users all around the world. USNORTHCOM is asking Congress for $130 million to explore OneWeb's and SpaceX's capabilities in order to provide reliable and potentially cost-effective connectivity to Arctic platforms, installations and war fighters. “Leveraging emerging proliferated low-Earth orbit commercial SATCOM providers in the Arctic enables the United States (and our allies) the opportunity to scale communications capability and capacity quickly in a cost-effective manner,” Lazane said. “The unique capabilities provided by PLEO [proliferated low-Earth orbit] commercial SATCOM providers in the Arctic enables access to high-bandwidth, low-latency communications capability and capacity.” In a Feb.11 letter to Congress, USNORTHCOM Commander Gen. Terrence O'Shaughnessy said that funding for this effort was his No. 1 unfunded priority. If approved, the $130 million in funding will be used for polar communications experiments as well as the fielding of prototype terminals that can connect to commercial PLEO constellations. If those experiments prove successful, USNORTHCOM would need another $110 million in fiscal 2022 for full coverage. SpaceX has stated that its Starlink constellation will begin offering broadband services this year, and USNORTHCOM is hopeful that could enable early Arctic capability by the end of the year. https://www.c4isrnet.com/smr/frozen-pathways/2020/05/11/spacex-could-fill-the-us-militarys-arctic-communications-gap-by-the-end-of-this-year/

ARMY Raytheon/Lockheed Martin Javelin JV, Tucson, Arizona, was awarded a $121,764,089 modification (P00018) to contract W31P4Q-19-C-0076 for the Javelin weapon system. Work will be performed in Tucson, Arizona, with an estimated completion date of Aug. 31, 2023. Fiscal 2019 and 2020 missile procurement (Army) funds in the amount of $121,764,089 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, is the contracting activity. Construcciones Jose Carro SE, Coto Laurel, Puerto Rico, was awarded a $9,469,023 firm-fixed-price contract to construct channel scour protection and toe key revetment. Bids were solicited via the internet with one received. Work will be performed in Dorado, Puerto Rico, with an estimated completion date of Feb. 28, 2021. Fiscal 2020 civil construction funds in the amount of $9,469,023 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Jacksonville, Florida, is the contracting activity (W912EP-20-C-0005). NAVY Airborne Tactical Advantage Co. LLC, Newport News, Virginia, is awarded a $34,553,773 modification (P00023) to previously awarded firm-fixed-price, cost-reimbursable, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract N00019-15-D-0026. This modification extends the period of performance for contractor-owned and operated Type III high subsonic and Type IV supersonic aircraft. Work will be performed in Newport News, Virginia (44%); Point Mugu, California (37%); and various locations outside the continental U.S. (19%). Work will provide airborne threat simulation capabilities and updates to the government furnished property list in support of the Contracted Air Services Program. Work is expected to be complete by November 2020. Funds will be obligated on individual delivery orders as they are issued. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity. Sikorsky Aircraft Corp., Lockheed Martin Co., Stratford, Connecticut, is awarded a $29,940,372 modification (P00039) to previously awarded cost-plus-fixed-fee, fixed-price-incentive-firm-target and firm-fixed-price contract N00019-16-C-0048. This modification provides for rate tooling, physical configuration audits, associated systems engineering and program management in support of CH-53K aircraft production. Work will be performed in Stratford, Connecticut (28.7%); Salt Lake City, Utah (21.88%); Macomb, Michigan (11.01%); Wichita, Kansas (6.04%); Redmond, Washington (5.89%); Rome, New York (5.16%); North Haven, Connecticut (4.42%); Quebec, Connecticut (3.4%); Shelby Township, Michigan (3.36%); Newington, Connecticut (2.07%); Fort Plain, New York (1.44%); Minden, Nebraska (1.2%); Lenexa, Kansas (1.1%); various locations within the continental U.S. (3.71%); and various location outside the continental U.S. (0.62%). Work is expected to be complete by December 2023. Fiscal 2019 aircraft procurement (Navy) funds for $29,940,372 will be obligated at the time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity. United Technologies Corp., Pratt and Whitney Engines, East Hartford, Connecticut, is awarded a $10,648,976 modification (P00022) to previously awarded fixed-price-incentive-firm contract N00019-17-C-0020. This modification procures one low rate initial production Lot 11 afloat spares package kit for the Marine Corps in support of the F-35 Lightning II combat aircraft program. Work will be performed in East Hartford, Connecticut (20%); Indianapolis, Indiana (17%); Windsor Lock, Connecticut (16%); North Berwick, Maine (14%); Midland, Georgia (7%); Middleton, Connecticut (7%); Rockford, Illinois (7%); Phoenix, Arizona (6%); Bristol, United Kingdom (5%); and Santa Isabel, Israel (1%). Work is expected to be complete by September 2021. Fiscal 2020 aircraft procurement (Navy) funds for $10,648,976 will be obligated at time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity. DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY Serco Inc., Herndon, Virginia, has been awarded a maximum $29,002,941 modification (P00021) exercising the third one-year option period of a one-year base contract (SP3300-17-C-5003) with four one-year option periods for chemical management services. This is a firm-fixed-price with cost-reimbursement and cost-plus-fixed-fee contract. Locations of performance are Virginia, North Carolina, Florida and California, with a May 15, 2021, performance completion date. Using customer is the Defense Logistics Agency Aviation. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2020 through 2021 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is Defense Logistics Agency Distribution, New Cumberland, Pennsylvania. AIR FORCE The Boeing Co., St. Louis, Missouri, has been awarded a $25,439,155 firm-fixed-price delivery order to contract FA8621-15-D-6266 to provide C-17 training devices and spares for the NATO Airlift Management Program located at Papa Air Base, Hungary. The training system will consist of one C-17 Weapon System Trainer (composed of an air vehicle station with an instructor operator station (IOS) and a loadmaster station with an IOS, a learning center complete with computer-based training systems, core integrated processor task trainer, courseware and initial spares to support these items for two years. Work will be performed at Papa AB, Hungary, and is expected to be completed June 1, 2022. This award is a sole-source acquisition. Foreign Military Sales funds to NATO in the full amount will be obligated at the time of award. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity. (Awarded May 8, 2020) DEFENSE HEALTH AGENCY American Systems, Chantilly, Virginia, was awarded a cost-plus-fixed-fee task order with a value of $11,636,887. HT0038-20-F-0006 provides transformation planning of the Theater Medical Information Program-Joint into a modular and portable software suite with a unified architecture. This task order has a period of performance from May 13, 2020, to Sept. 30, 2020. The estimated completion date is Sept. 30, 2020. Work will primarily occur in Chantilly, Virginia. This award will be funded by fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance funds; and research and development funds. This task order is a Small Business Innovation Research Phase III award. The contracting activity is the Defense Health Agency, Falls Church, Virginia. DEFENSE COUNTERINTELLIGENCE AND SECURITY AGENCY Verato Inc., McLean, Virginia, was awarded a firm-fixed-price delivery order (HS0021-20-F-0010) under HS0021-19-A-0005, for an estimated $8,735,669 for the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency (DCSA). The delivery order provides for tri-merge credit reports and credit monitoring in support of the background investigation process. Work will be performed in McLean, Virginia. This delivery order is funded with fiscal 2020 DCSA working capital funds, with $2,183,917 obligated at time of award. The anticipated delivery period is from May 17, 2020, through May 16, 2021. DCSA Acquisition and Contracting, Quantico, Virginia, is the contracting activity. *Small business

Andrew Eversden The Defense Innovation Unit awarded a $45 million to a Silicon Valley-based tech startup to perform cybersecurity testing on Defense Department weapon systems' applications, the company announced May 11. The company, ForAllSecure, has been prototyping its cybersecurity testing platform, known as Mayhem, with DoD components for more than three years. DIU made the award on the five-year contract April 23, a ForAllSecure spokesperson said. ForAllSecure is working with the Air Force 96th Cyberspace Test Group, the Air Force 90th Cyberspace Operations Squadron, the Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) and the U.S. Army Command, Control, Communication, Computers, Cyber, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Center (C5ISR). The same DoD users have worked with ForAllSecure throughout the prototyping process for the company's platform, which finds bugs in applications and shows the user how they can be triggered. The platform will allow for a continuous testing for vulnerabilities in weapons systems. “One of the problems that [the department] run[s] into is this idea that there's a point in time when you're done" with cybersecurity," said David Brumley, chief executive officer of ForAllSecure. "It all comes down to how quickly can you test and retest.” In the last few years of prototyping, the company went through 10 iterations of Mayhem. One significant piece the company added to those iterations were cybersecurity tutorials for users. ForAllSecure's work on Mayhem started before a troubling report from the Government Accountability Office that highlighted several cybersecurity challenges and shortfalls that the Defense Department's weapons systems faced in light of potential advanced cyberattacks. “If you look at the GAO report, they simply weren't embedding cybersecurity testing in the process at all," Brumley said. “So this is adding this common sense measure and it's automating it.” In 2016, the company's Mayhem platform won the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's Cyber Grand Challenge, an automated defensive cybersecurity competition. That victory came with a $2 million prize. Since that victory, Brumley said that the company has run into a few unique challenges working with other DoD components, particularly around installing the platform. “When DARPA has their contest, it really only has to work for the developers,” Brumley said. “When you go to a product, you have to go to an unknown site, you have to install. You have to repeatedly do that.” https://www.fifthdomain.com/dod/2020/05/12/diu-awards-45m-contract-for-weapon-systems-cybersecurity/

Graham Warwick For a defense program with relatively little funding behind it, Agility Prime comes freighted with expectations. The U.S. Air Force program to help build a domestic electric vertical-takeoff-and-landing (eVTOL) industrial base is a lifeline for a nascent market as private capital dries up because of COVID-19. For the Air Force, if successful, Agility Prime could be a model of how to bring defense procurement together with commercial markets to compete with China's national drive for technology supremacy. U.S. Air Force's Agility Prime aims to boost investor confidence in eVTOL market Prototype agreements will produce vehicle test reports “For me, it's a template for how to take the military market—our entire value proposition, not just our funding—and bring it to bear on an emerging commercial market in a way that accelerates it for all of us, and not just for the military,” says Air Force acquisition chief Will Roper. Agility Prime aims to tap into existing commercial investment in eVTOL development and, through in-kind support in the form of access to test resources and technical expertise, help U.S. manufacturers along the way to FAA certification. At the same time, the program will seek out opportunities within the Air Force and other government agencies for early purchases of eVTOLs to help ramp up production. The program has been conceived to avoid what happened in the small drone market, where the Pentagon failed to engage the emerging U.S. industry and the supply chain migrated overseas. Drones made in China by market leader DJI are now regarded as a security risk in the U.S. “Because we were not proactive, the market went in a way that was not to the benefit of our national security or industry,” says Roper. The value Agility Prime brings to the nascent eVTOL market is more than just funding, he says. It includes access to resources to help manufacturers move quickly through military certification so that the Air Force and other agencies can begin buying vehicles for missions including logistics, base defense and disaster relief, “removing the risk that the market will move overseas,” he says. “This looks like a model that could counteract the benefits a country like China gets with a nationalized industry base where you're able to pick winners and losers,” says Roper. “What I like about this is it brings together our national assets—our vibrant commercial ecosystem, private capital, government—but it maintains those markets that have been so amazing at keeping innovation fresh and vibrant.” Joby has used military airspace to test-fly its eVTOL under a Defense Innovation Unit contract won in 2017. Credit: Joby Aviation “The Air Force's Agility Prime initiative comes at a critical time when many innovative eVTOL developers are beginning to fly demonstrators but need support to move forward,” says Mike Hirschberg, executive director of the Vertical Flight Society. As private investment in startups and corporate spending in R&D have been hit by the novel coronavirus crisis, Agility Prime “is an endorsement of the potential of eVTOL technology that should also bolster investor confidence,” he says. The Air Force has established three “areas of interest” (AOI) under the Agility Prime “innovative capabilities opening” released in late February. The first AOI is for eVTOL air taxis carrying three to eight people, the second for one- or two-person vehicles and the third for unmanned cargo aircraft able to carry payloads of more than 500 lb. Each AOI has three phases: submission of a proposal or “solution brief,” a site visit to determine funding and testing needs and, if successful, an invitation to submit a prototype proposal. To qualify, bidders must be able to fly a full-scale prototype by Dec. 17. The program plans to award no-cost “other transaction authority for prototype” contracts to produce test reports on the vehicles. In return for providing access to Defense Department test resources and certification expertise, the Air Force, Marine Corps and other government agencies will get to assess the performance and capabilities of commercial eVTOLs with an eye to procuring aircraft off the shelf for military and public-use missions that have yet to be identified. The Air Force plans to field a small quantity of eVTOLs by 2023, says Lynda Rutledge, Air Force mobility and training aircraft program executive officer. The Air Force is particularly interested in the promise of eVTOL to provide lower acquisition and support costs, reduced acoustic and infrared signatures, and simplified flight control requiring less pilot training, says Agility Prime team lead Col. Nathan Diller. The missions being studied include transporting ballistic-missile operators to remote launch control centers, perimeter security at large bases, “lateral logistics” by moving packages and personnel between squads, disaster support to civilian agencies and distributed personnel recovery by locating rescue assets closer to combat. The $25 million provided by Congress for Agility Prime in fiscal 2020 is small compared with the cost of certifying an eVTOL. “When you look across our [vehicle] partners, just to develop an experimental aircraft is $100-150 million. To certify that aircraft is $750 million-1 billion,” Mark Moore, Uber Elevate director of strategy, told the Agility Prime virtual kickoff event on April 28. But the Air Force hopes that putting these vehicles through its trusted airworthiness program, and the data collected operating them, will accelerate FAA certification while early procurements will help scale up the supply chain. The Air Force goal is to operate 30 vehicles by 2030, says Roper, and the Marine Corps and Special Operations Command are also involved. By fielding eVTOLs “in some substantive way” by 2023, when Uber plans to begin limited commercial service in its pilot cities, the Air Force aims to “stress-test this new capability in a way that brings acceptance by the public, as well as delivers better capability for the Defense Department, [and] ultimately for the commercial market,” says Col. Scott McKeever, global mobility lead for the Air Force Warfighter Integration Capability office. A key consideration for Agility Prime is how private investors react to the Air Force working with eVTOL startups. Investors previously devalued companies if they were engaged with the Defense Department, Roper says. But since the Air Force revamped how it interacts with technology startups, the ratio of private to government investment has risen to 3:1 from 0.75:1, bringing more than $1 billion in private money into its programs, he says. “They now raise the value of a company if it is engaged with the Air Force,” he adds. By providing a boost to emerging eVTOL manufacturers at a time when access to private capital is limited, the Air Force hopes Agility Prime will help avoid a repeat of “the cautionary tale” of the drone industry. The virtual kickoff event, which ran from April 27-May 1, “really came out strong about the need for the U.S. to invest in American eVTOL developers and discouraged U.S. companies from accepting ‘adversarial capital' from countries like China,” says Hirschberg. “There are so many challenges with developing commercially compelling eVTOL systems; Agility Prime helps build momentum to overcome them,” says Hirschberg. “If we get Agility Prime right, I hope that it becomes the standard for how the Pentagon engages in all areas of commercial tech,” Roper says. Register for our latest free webinar on Friday May 15 where Agility Prime Team Leader Col. Nate Diller and Vertical Flight Society Executive Director Mike Hirschberg join Aviation Week editors to discuss this glimmer of hopeful news in hard times.

Arlington, Va. - (BUSINESS WIRE) - May 12, 2020 - CACI International Inc (NYSE: CACI) announced today that it has been awarded a five-year single-award task order, with a ceiling value of more than $465 million, by the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command's (CCDC) Command, Control, Computers, Communications, Cyber, Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (C5ISR) center to provide research and development on cryptographic modernization, information security, and tactical network protection. Under the task order, which the Army's Cyber Security and Information Division (CSIA) awarded under the GSA Alliant II contract vehicle, CACI will provide mission expertise to enhance cyber defense capabilities for C5ISR systems. CSIA leads the Army in cryptographic modernization, information security, and tactical network protection as a division of the Army Space and Terrestrial Communications Directorate, C5ISR Center, CCDC, U.S. Army Futures Command (AFC). CACI will provide the Army with new software-defined capabilities across the service's many modernization initiatives and research areas. For example, CACI communications and cyber experts will assist the service in protecting next-generation 5G networks, as well as enhancing the security of wireless, near-field, satellite, and other communications. CACI will also support urgent requirements for AFC's cross-functional teams, provide techniques and technologies to reduce risks for Army networks, and move innovative technologies such as artificial intelligence from the laboratory to the field. John Mengucci, CACI President and Chief Executive Officer, said, “With this new work, CACI's mission experts will support the Army's C5ISR capabilities from the desktop to outer space, and enable the service to advance critical technologies from the lab to the field.” CACI Executive Chairman and Chairman of the Board Dr. J.P. (Jack) London, said, “CACI is proud to support Army modernization to ensure it dominates any and all future battlefields.” CACI's 23,000 talented employees are vigilant in providing the unique expertise and distinctive technology that address our customers' greatest enterprise and mission challenges. Our culture of good character, innovation, and excellence drives our success and earns us recognition as a Fortune World's Most Admired Company. As a member of the Fortune 1000 Largest Companies, the Russell 1000 Index, and the S&P MidCap 400 Index, we consistently deliver strong shareholder value. Visit us at www.caci.com There are statements made herein which do not address historical facts, and therefore could be interpreted to be forward-looking statements as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements are subject to factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from anticipated results. The factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated include, but are not limited to, the risk factors set forth in CACI's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2019, and other such filings that CACI makes with the Securities and Exchange Commission from time to time. Any forward-looking statements should not be unduly relied upon and only speak as of the date hereof. CACI-Contract Award View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200512005083/en/ Corporate Communications and Media: Jody Brown, Executive Vice President, Public Relations (703) 841-7801, jbrown@caci.com Investor Relations: Daniel Leckburg, Senior Vice President, Investor Relations (703) 841-7666, dleckburg@caci.com Source: CACI International Inc View source version on CACI: http://investor.caci.com/file/Index?KeyFile=403962930