Acquisition

The U.S. Army today announced the selection of 20 small business and technology firms to advance to Phase III of the xTechSearch 4.0 technology prize competition. xTechSearch is an Army-sponsored competition focused on finding technologies with both defense and commercial applications that have been developed by American technology entrepreneurs and small businesses.

“The 20 selected entrepreneurs and companies presented incredible capabilities and systems that we would have not otherwise seen or been able to support had it not been for Army xTechSearch,” Bruce D. Jette, the assistant secretary of the Army for acquisition, logistics and technology, says in the written announcement.

The Defense Security Service (DSS) and Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) have awarded nearly $75 million to Perspecta Enterprise Solutions LLC of Herndon, Virginia, to help reform and modernize the security clearance personnel vetting processes and develop the National Background Investigation Service (NBIS) information technology system.

The response to the Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) Adm. John Richardson’s repeated request to “pick up the pace” of developing and implementing breakthrough technologies for our warfighters has gone, in my opinion, largely unheeded.

This is not the result of a lack of innovative solutions. A myriad of research and development programs exists to support the development of new technologies or to adapt existing commercial technologies to defense applications. Rather, it’s the result of an arcane acquisition process that is burdensome, expensive and lacking vision. Acquisition reform is where we need to pick up the pace!

As part of its effort to modernize, the U.S. Army is developing a new policy regarding intellectual property. The new procedure, to be released in a few months, will resemble rights commonly used by the commercial industry, said Bruce Jetty, Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics and Technology (ASA(ALT)).

McKinsey and Company Inc., Washington, has been awarded an $8,447,163 modification (P00002) to contract FA8807-18-F-0010 for the space acquisition transformation. The contract modification is for the implementation of the Space Acquisition Transformation Plan. Work will be performed at Los Angeles Air Force Base, El Segundo, California, and is expected to be completed by March 29, 2019. Fiscal year 2018 funds are being obligated at the time of award. Total cumulative face value of the contract is $8,447,163. The Space and Missile Systems Center, Global Positioning Systems Directorate Contracting Division, Los Angeles AFB, El Segundo, California, is the contracting activity. 

Despite some challenges, the U.S. Air Force’s culture is changing in favor of small businesses, according to Valerie Muck, the service’s new director of small business programs.

"The main thing we’re trying to do in the Air Force is create that culture where we’re looking to small businesses first to maximize opportunities. Right now, the culture in the Air Force is in a really good place for that,” said Muck, who has been in the position nearly a year. She made the comments while addressing the AFCEA Small Business Committee at AFCEA’s headquarters building in Fairfax, Virginia.

U.S. Army officials are applying a streamlined acquisition process known as an IT box to offensive cyber technologies.

The IT box acquisition concept includes four sides: developing the capabilities requirement, determining development costs, analyzing sustainment and operations costs, and providing oversight and management of the product.

Maj. Gen. John George, USA, force development director, Office of the Army Chief of Staff G-8, told the the AFCEA Army Signal Conference in Springfield, Virginia, that the Army is focusing on the IT box concept pretty heavily.

The U.S. military is exploring ways to make virtually everything—from the uniform on a soldier’s body to the engine contained within a vehicle—connected and mission ready. Troop movements are being monitored, as are soldiers’ health statuses. Aircraft and other assets are providing real-time insight into enemy movements and other potential threats. Decisions are being made based on this information, which has the ability to flow in an unerring stream. Indeed, the Internet of Things (IoT) has further elevated the military’s reputation as a well-oiled machine.   

But, what if the machines that power that machine break down? What if heavy transport machinery stops running, or advanced weapons systems fail?

Defense computing systems need to operate in a highly disparate range of environments. Depending on the program’s requirements, ruggedness is a function of the environment each system will be deployed in. A system that operates just fine in a pressurized aerospace application, such as a wide-bodied aircraft, may have issues in a marine application, and may be completely unacceptable in a vehicle being driven through a hot and sandy desert. Even within airborne applications, the environment might be a wing-mounted pod that is completely unpressurized. Computing systems for each of these environments must be ruggedized to match requirements.

When rugged ... isn’t