CIO Says Navy IT Networks “Leaking” to Adversaries
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Navy leaders acknowledge networks are a problem, reports C4ISRNET. Aaron Weis, the Navy’s CIO, speaking at one of the largest IT conferences for government contractors, called the service’s networks overly complex, thus difficult to defend. The Navy is losing “information every day to our adversaries. We’re leaking our information out whether it’s from direct exfiltration or through the defense industrial base.”
An Amazon employee in Seattle has tested positive for COVID-19, the illness caused by the novel coronavirus, reports The Seattle Times. The employee went home sick Feb. 25 and has not returned. Employees working within six-feet of him for prolonged periods of time have been notified.
The Qatari government cancels the Doha International Maritime Defence Exhibition and Conference as the region combats the spread of the new coronavirus known as COVID-19, reports Defense News. DIMDEX is among the first major defense trade shows canceled as the virus show signs of spreading in the Arabian Gulf region, though several high-profile companies pulled out of the Singapore Airshow due to virus fears.
The Air Force will not relinquish control of the airwaves telecom firms seek in a race with China to build 5-G, the next-generation mobile networks, reports C4ISRNET. The Pentagon remains open to a parceling or sharing package, but cannot leave the spectrum.
Chinese cybersecurity firm Qihoo 360 accused CIA hackers of a decade of breaking into the Chinese airline industry and other targets, reports Reuters. It is known both countries hack their opponents. Last month, the US indicted four Chinese military hackers over a massive breach at the US credit reporting agency Equifax.
US conducted a drone airstrike on Taliban fighters accused of attacking an Afghan checkpoint, reports CNN. The resumption of violence in Afghanistan comes days after the US and the Taliban signed a reduction-of-violence agreement.
House Republicans sound the alarm on Taliban deal, reports Politico, cautioning the insurgents won’t live up to their end of the bargain and arguing the agreement puts the country’s national security at risk. The backroom scramble comes as President Donald Trump spoke with a top-ranking Taliban official by phone on Tuesday — a first for a US president and a sign of the extraordinary political risks he’s been willing to endure to engineer a campaign-season exit from America’s longest war.
Iran gains sufficient fuel for a bomb, reports The New York Times. Evidence suggests Iran’s actions are incremental and calculated to pressure European governments and the Trump administration, rather than rushing for a bomb.
A federal appeals court heard arguments this week regarding the constitutionality of excluding women from the draft, reports Military Times, challenging the constitutionality of male-only registration in the Selective Service System. The proceedings come three weeks before a federal commission plans to release its final report on public service in the United States, The interim report addressed inclusion of women in the draft rolls and a number of proposals to expand the scope of national service opportunities for all Americans.
The new US Space Force may become the most female-friendly military service, reports Military.com. The sixth service is actively seeking policies allowing career flexibility and generous family and caregiver leave with the stated goal of a culture of equality and inclusion.
Military.com has the list of the 16 military job specialties the new US Space Force will own. The force has a staff of about 110 in its headquarters element, of about 200 that it needs. Space Force will build to a strength of roughly 15,000.
Taller and heavier female Army trainees and soldiers outperform their leaner counterparts in tasks such as in weight carrying capacity, reports Stars and Stripes. A study suggests the Army should consider amending its physical standards for women.
The Army is now screening new recruits for coronavirus, reports Military Times, right off the bus at the four basic training posts before officially entering training. This time of year the Army processes about 1,000 recruits a week.
A fix for the KC-46 is already a year late, reports Defense News. The Air Force is now targeting a 2023-2024 timeframe to begin fielding a fix for the Remote Vision System, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Dave Goldfein said during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing. The RVS, manufactured by Rockwell Collins, is a series of cameras that allows users to steer a refueling boom into the aircraft receiving gas.
High training casualties in 2019 stemmed from large-scale combat focus, reports Army Times. In fiscal 2019, the Army suffered a total of 55 Class A mishaps and 61 Class B mishaps, 28 soldier casualties and $362 million in damaged or lost equipment not related to losses in combat. Those mishaps were caused by a combination of increased training with heavy equipment, and the need to inculcate among young troops fundamental skills that have lapsed in recent years, said Army Chief of Staff Gen. James McConville.
Military Times reports three key protections for military families will soon be added into the tenant bill of rights. Five of the largest privatized housing companies said they agree to those protections.
Contracts:
Perspecta Enterprise Solutions LLC, Herndon, Virginia, is awarded $62,143,412 as part of receiving a modification (N00039-13-D-0013_P00205) to the previously awarded indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract with a maximum potential value for the existing Next Generation Enterprise Network contract. Current and future work for the affected end user hardware seat services will be performed throughout the US. No additional funding will be placed on contract or obligated at the time of modification award. This modification will extend various end user hardware services from a six month (October 2019 to March 2020) to a 10 month ordering period (October 2019 to July 2020) during the contract’s Option Year Six. This contract modification was not competitively procured because it is a sole-source acquisition pursuant to the authority of 10 US Code 2304(c)(1) and one source or limited sources (Federal Acquisition Regulations, subpart 6.302-1). This action is the result of a justification and approval that authorizes extending the ordering period by up to four months for end user hardware seat services through July 31, 2020. The Naval Information Warfare Systems Command, San Diego, California, is the contracting activity (N00039-13-D-0013).
Serco Inc., Reston, Virginia, is awarded $60,747,812 which provides for exercise of the fourth option period under a fixed-price contract for lifecycle sustainment of physical security/access control and command, communications, computers and intelligence systems in support of the Naval Facilities Engineering Command anti-terrorism/force protection ashore program at various Navy installations worldwide. Work will be performed in California (12.47%); District of Columbia (11.70%); Florida (7.98%); Italy (7.61%); Virginia (7.23%); Washington (6.59%); Hawaii (5.65%); Japan (5%); Maryland (4.52%); Guam (4.31%); Texas (2.67%); Rhode Island (2.57%); Bahrain (2.21%); Spain (2.06%); Mississippi (2.02%); Illinois (2%); Georgia (1.53%); Connecticut (1.23%); Tennessee (1.22%); Indiana (1.21%); Greece (1.10%); New Jersey (1.08%); Pennsylvania (0.98%); United Kingdom (0.86%); New Hampshire (0.81%); Cuba (0.72%); Nevada (0.63%); Louisiana (0.63%); Republic of Korea (0.54%); New York (0.52%); Singapore (0.26%); and Maine (0.09%). The work to be performed provides for preventive maintenance of hardware, associated firmware and software; response and resolution of service calls for corrective maintenance to include equipment repair, overhaul, or replacement; information assurance vulnerability alert to include version control, patch management and vulnerability scanning; asset management to track, maintain, upgrade and dispose of systems; configuration management to establish and maintain consistency of the system attributes with operational requirements and evolving technical baseline; technical refreshments, upgrades and installation of new systems; and programmatic trend analysis to identify systemic sustainment issues such as technology obsolescence. After award of this option, the total cumulative contract value will be $245,745,412. This option period is from March 2020 to March 2021. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance (Navy) funds in the amount of $55,365,560 are obligated on this award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Naval Facilities Engineering and Expeditionary Warfare Center, Port Hueneme, California, is the contracting activity (N39430-16-C-1811).
Progeny Systems Corp., Manassas, Virginia, is awarded a $9,304,227 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for the “Automation Entity Classification in Video Using Soft Biometrics.” The contractor, with support from the Office of Naval Research (ONR) and other stakeholders, has developed a suite of machine learning, image processing and computer vision capabilities that collectively serve as building blocks for intelligent solutions to real-world data analytics problems. Work will be performed in Manassas, Virginia. The work to be performed is aimed at maturing these capabilities through further research and development, integrating them into operational systems, supporting testing and evaluation and transitioning into programs of record. The proposed research extends prior Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and is in scope of decision support, artificial intelligence, machine learning and graph analysis. Work is expected to be completed by March 2024. The total cumulative value of this contract is $9,304,227. The base period is $9,304,227 with no options. The action will be incrementally funded with an initial obligation of $1,566,206 utilizing fiscal 2020 research, development, test and evaluation (Navy) funds and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured under Navy SBIR Solicitation 2008.1 (SBIR Phase III; Topic Number N08-077). One proposal was received in response to the solicitation. ONR, Arlington, Virginia, is the contracting activity (N00014-20-C-2014).
Huntington Ingalls Industries, Newport News Shipbuilding Division, Newport News, Virginia, is awarded a $7,532,422 cost-plus-fixed-fee option exercise modification to previously-awarded contract (N00024-18-C-2102) for engineering and technical design effort to support research and development concept formulation for current and future submarine platforms. Work will be performed in Newport News, Virginia (80%); Modesto, California (13%); East Aurora, New York (3%); Bayview, Idaho (2%); and Westerly, Rhode Island (2%), and is expected to be completed by September 2020. This contract procures advanced submarine research and development, including studies to support the future development, production and sustainment phases of submarine platforms. Fiscal 2020 research, development, test and evaluation (Navy) funding in the amount of $795,000 will be obligated at time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, District of Columbia, is the contracting activity.
Heckler & Koch Defense Inc., Ashburn, Virginia, was awarded a $33,500,000 modification (P00028) to contract W15QKN-16-D-0051 for the Compact Semi-Automatic Sniper Systems and the Squad Designated Marksman Rifle. Bids were solicited via the internet with one received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of March 16, 2022. US Army Contracting Command, New Jersey, is the contracting activity.
