In the rush to implement national security use cases for artificial intelligence and machine learning, policymakers need to ensure they are properly weighing the risks, say experts in the field.
Like all software, artificial intelligence (AI)/machine learning (ML) is vulnerable to hacking. But because of the way it has to be trained, AI/ML is even more susceptible than most software—it can be successfully attacked even without access to the computer network it runs on.
Peraton Labs Inc., Basking Ridge, New Jersey, has been awarded a $19,278,529 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract to support the Mission-Integrated Network Control program. Work will be performed in Basking Ridge, New Jersey (60%); Cambridge, Massachusetts (18%); Woburn, Massachusetts (15%); Memphis, Tennessee (5%); Miami, Florida (1%); and Sherman Oaks, California (1%), with an expected completion date of June 2025. Fiscal 2021 and 2022 research, development, test, and engineering funds in the amounts of $82,797 and $758,722, respectively, are being obligated at time of award. This contract was a competitive acquisition under broad agency announcement HR001121S0028.
Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., Linthicum, Maryland, has been awarded a $41,178,619 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for the Manta Ray Phase 2 program. This contract provides developing, fabricating, and testing a full-scale demonstration system of a long-endurance unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV). Work will be performed in Linthicum, Maryland (75%); Woods Hole, Massachusetts (15%); Grandview, Missouri (4%); Baltimore, Maryland (3%); North Kingstown, Rhode Island (2%); and Gulfport, Mississippi (1%), with an expected completion date of December 2023. Fiscal 2021 and fiscal 2022 research, development, test, and engineering funds in the amount of $760,166 and $10,000,000, respectively, are being obligated at time of award.
Parsons Government Services Inc., Colorado Springs, Colorado, has been awarded a $10,807,540 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for a Small Business Innovation Research Phase III effort titled Blackjack Prototype Ground Operations Center. Work will be performed in Colorado Springs, Colorado, with an estimated completion date of June 2024. Fiscal 2021 research and development funds in the amount of $1,000,000 are being obligated at the time of award. This contract is the continuation of an acquisition originally competed in accordance with § 9 of the Small Business Act, 15 U.S. Code 638. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, Arlington, Virginia, is the contracting activity (HR001122C0027).
The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory LLC, Laurel, Maryland, was awarded a $225,000,000 ceiling, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract with cost-plus-fixed-fee term and completion task orders contemplated for engineering, development, and research capabilities. This contract provides for establishing and maintaining an essential capability for engineering or developmental work calling for the practical application of investigative findings and theories of a scientific or technical nature. Work will be performed primarily in Laurel, Maryland, with an expected ordering completion date of November 2026.
Radiance Technologies Inc.,* Huntsville, Alabama, was awarded a $13,169,089 modification (P00007) to exercise an option to previously awarded contract HR0011-20-C-0146 for the Secure Advanced Framework for Simulation and Modeling (SAFE-SiM) program. The modification brings the total cumulative face value of the contract to $23,410,995 from $10,241,906. Work will be performed in Huntsville, Alabama; Cambridge, Massachusetts; Albuquerque, New Mexico; Chantilly, Virginia; San Diego, California; and Rome, New York, with an expected completion date of January 2023. Fiscal 2021 research, development, test and evaluation funds in the amount of $1,500,000 are being obligated at the time of award.
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s Subterranean Challenge, an effort to develop robot technologies capable of performing underground, is expected to host its final contest next month, but the program has advanced robotics technology that already are being used.
The program aims to develop technologies to rapidly map, navigate and search complex underground environments such as human-made tunnel systems, urban undergrounds and natural cave networks. The challenge run by the agency commonly known as DARPA might be described as two challenges in one since it focuses both on physical and virtual robot technologies.
Lockheed Martin Corp., Fort Worth, Texas, has been awarded a $12,127,144 modification (P00006) to cost-plus-fixed-fee contract HR001120C0110 to exercise Phase 1 option of the Control of Revolutionary Aircraft with Novel Effectors (CRANE) program. The modification brings the total cumulative face value of the contract to $18,577,721 from $6,450,577. Work will be performed in Fort Worth, Texas (67%); Chicago, Illinois (17%); Niskayuna, New York (9%); Pontiac, Michigan (3%); Columbia, Maryland (2%); Tulsa, Oklahoma (1%); and East Hartford, Connecticut (1%), with an estimated completion date of May 2022. Fiscal 2021 research and development funds in the amount of $10,135,107 are being obligated at the time of award.
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) selected Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Charles River Analytics for a $1.5 million object detection and sensor processing effort. Under the follow-on contract, the company will develop a multi-sensor module that harnesses machine learning to autonomously and accurately detect whales and other marine mammals.
Georgia Tech Research Corp., Atlanta, Georgia, is awarded an $11,510,337 36-month modification to exercise Option One to a previously awarded cost contract to develop a new breed of high performance computer (HPC), dubbed “Real-time HPC,” which balances computational throughput with extreme low latency to create a largescale virtual radiofrequency test range. This modification increases the value of the basic contract by $11,510,337; the new total value is $13,913,213. Work will be performed at contractor facilities in Atlanta, Georgia (50%); New York, New York (30%); and Aurora, Colorado (20%). The period of performance for option is from August 1, 2021, through July 31, 2024.
With social media platforms representing one of the main conduits for adversarial propaganda, researchers are examining how information spreads across the digital environment and how it spills into action outside of the online presence. A recent breakthrough in sentiment analysis—with an algorithm that can detect sarcasm—from the University of Central Florida as part of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s SocialSim project, aids in this understanding and in defense.
Researchers have learned some surprising lessons from the technologies developed under the Defense Department’s Squad X program, which will end this year. For example, artificial intelligence may not help warfighters make faster decisions, but it does provide a planning advantage over adversaries. Furthermore, when it comes to detecting and electronically attacking enemy signals, systems can make smart decisions without artificial intelligence.
General Dynamics Mission Systems Inc., San Antonio, Texas, has been awarded a $15,246,565 modification (P00058) to previously awarded contract HR0011-16-C-0001 for classified information technology services. The modification brings the total cumulative face value of the contract from $172,708,013 to $187,954,578. Work will be performed in Arlington, Virginia, with an expected completion date of July 2021. Fiscal 2021 research and development funds in the amount of $7,691,810 are being obligated at time of award. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, Arlington, Virginia, is the contracting activity.
Agile Defense Inc.,* Reston, Virginia, has been awarded a $15,825,698 modification (P00059) to previously awarded task order HR0011-15-F-0002 for unclassified information technology services. The modification brings the total cumulative face value of the task order from $211,027,983 to $226,853,681. Work will be performed in Arlington, Virginia, with an expected completion date of July 2021. Fiscal 2021 research and development funds in the amount of $7,324,021 are being obligated at time of award. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, Arlington, Virginia, is the contracting activity. *Small Business
SEAKR Engineering Inc.,* Centennial, Colorado, has been awarded a $60,487,495 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for the Blackjack Pit Boss Phase Two and Phase Three program. Work will be performed in Centennial, Colorado, with an estimated completion date of March 2022. Fiscal 2020 and 2021 research and development funds in the amount of $8,063,914 are being obligated at the time of award. This contract is a competitive acquisition in accordance with the original broad agency announcement HR0011-19-S-0012. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, Arlington, Virginia, is the contracting activity (HR0011-21-C-0054). *Small Business
If all goes as planned, a major mobile cellphone carrier will ultimately adopt technology developed under the Defense Advanced Research Project’s Agency’s Open, Programmable, Secure 5G program. Doing so will allow the open-source, secure technology to proliferate as so-called Internet of Things technologies become more ubiquitous.
The U.S. Defense Department already is looking beyond its massive $600 million investment in 5G experiments announced in October. Plans include a second round of experiments and the potential for expanding efforts with other government agencies and with international partners.
Raytheon Co., Tewksbury, Massachusetts, has been awarded a $7,580,414 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for the Airspace TacticaL Automation System (ATLAS) effort supporting the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency Air Space Total Awareness for Rapid Tactical Execution (ASTARTE) program, Phase One. This contract provides for the research, development and demonstration of virtual and live testbed for airspace management systems, a series of algorithms for airspace planning and operations and a sensor network for delivering real-time spatial and temporal tracking of airborne platforms.
Raytheon Co., Tewksbury, Massachusetts, was awarded a $10,448,906 cost-plus-fixed-fee completion contract for a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency research project for the Joint All-Domain Warfighting Software (JAWS) program. JAWS seeks to develop a software suite to maximize the effectiveness of military force through theater scale battle management command and control with automation and predictive analytics. This capability would develop the enabling software for the warfighter to adaptably setup and execute synchronized kill webs encompassing the undersea, sea surface, land, air, space and electromagnetic domains. Work will be performed in Tewksbury, Massachusetts (59%); Cambridge, Massachusetts (11%); Richardson, Texas (3%);
Lockheed Martin Corp., Missiles and Fire Control, Grand Prairie, Texas, is being awarded a $58,905,062 modification (P00006) to previously awarded cost-plus-fixed-fee contract HR0011-20-C-0038 to exercise the contract line item number 0003 option for development of the integrated OpFires system. This includes risk reduction testing to achieve a system-level critical design maturity. Fiscal 2020 and 2021 research and development funds in the amount of $18,505,167 will be obligated at the time of award. Work will be performed in Grand Prairie, Texas (57%); Huntsville, Alabama (11%); and Elkton, Maryland (32%), with an estimated completion date of January 2022.
Victoria Coleman has been appointed as director of the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), Arlington, Virginia.
The fourth and final phase of the Gremlins unmanned aerial system program will include collaborative autonomy software that allows one person to control multiple unmanned air vehicles. The technology extends the capability of unmanned aircraft systems to conduct long-distance engagements of mobile ground and maritime targets in areas with poor communications or limited navigational signals.
Analog Photonics LLC,* Boston, Massachusetts, was awarded a $10,266,430 modification (P00011) to exercise the Phase 3 option to previously awarded HR0011-16-C-0108 for the Modular Optical Aperture Building Blocks (MOABB) research program. This modification brings the total cumulative face value of the contract to $25,579,196. Work will be performed in Boston, Massachusetts, with an expected completion date of May 2022. Fiscal 2020 research, development, test and evaluation funds in the amount of $10,266,430 are being obligated at time of award. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, Arlington, Virginia, is the contracting activity. *Small Business
Applied Physical Sciences Corp., Groton, Connecticut, has been awarded a $13,876,535 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract to support the Sea Train Phase 1 program, which will develop and demonstrate approaches to overcome the range limitations inherent in medium unmanned surface vessels by exploiting wave-making resistance reductions. Fiscal 2020 research and development funds in the amount of $1,317,264 are being obligated at the time of award. Work will be performed in Hunt Valley, Maryland (43%); Groton, Connecticut (26%); Hanover, Maryland (23%); Concord, Massachusetts (5%); Arlington, Virginia (1%); Reading, Massachusetts (less than 1%); Jeanerette, Louisiana (less than 1%); and San Diego, California (less than 1%), with an estimated comple
S2 Corp., Bozeman, Montana, is awarded a $9,003,679 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract (N65236-20-C-8019) for a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) project to prototype and demonstrate a broadband, electro-magnetic spectrum receiver system. The contract includes an 18-month base period and an 18-month option period. The option period, if exercised, would bring the cumulative value of this contract to an estimated $20,964,010. Fiscal 2020 research, development, test and evaluation funds in the amount of $4,501,840 will be obligated at the time of award.
Radiance Technologies Inc,* Huntsville, Alabama, was awarded a $10,110,811 cost-plus-fixed-fee completion contract for a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency research project for the Secure Advanced Framework for Simulation and Modeling (SAFE-SiM) program. SAFE-SiM seeks to build a government-owned and controlled, faster-than-real time modeling and simulation (M&S) capability for theater-wide, mission-level M&S. This capability would enable rapid analysis supporting senior-level decisions for concept of operations development, force structure composition, resource allocation and targeted technology insertion.
DARPA’s Gremlins program is targeting additional tests of the X-61A vehicle later this year after meeting several primary objectives during risk reduction flights at the U.S. Army’s Dugway Proving Ground in Utah in late July. The Gremlins program seeks to develop and demonstrate air launch and air recovery of up to four unmanned aerial systems (UASs), known as Gremlins Air Vehicles, within 30 minutes.
New research areas and greater emphasis on existing sciences define the way ahead for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). Longstanding areas such as artificial intelligence, quantum sciences and directed energy systems now are sharing the spotlight with antiviral research, space systems and operational biotechnology as the agency aims deeper into the new decade.
Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., Baltimore, Maryland, has been awarded a $19,660,934 cost-plus-fixed fee contract for the base period of a research project for hypersonic boost glide systems. Work will be performed in Baltimore, Maryland, with an estimated completion date of March 2023. Fiscal 2019 research and development funds in the amount of $549,419; and fiscal 2020 research and development funds in the amount of $17,449,429 are being obligated at time of award. This contract is a sole-source award. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, Arlington, Virginia, is the contracting activity (HR0011-20-C0-0054).
PAR Government Systems Corp., Rome, New York, was awarded an $11,920,160 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for a research project under the Semantic Forensics (SemaFor) program. The SemaFor program will develop methods that exploit semantic inconsistencies in falsified media to perform tasks across media modalities and at scale. Work will be performed in Rome, New York, with an expected completion date of June 2024. Fiscal 2020 research, development, test and evaluation funding in the amount of $1,500,000 are being obligated at time of award. This contract was a competitive acquisition under a full and open broad agency announcement and 37 proposals were received.
Raytheon Co., El Segundo, California, has been awarded a $37,442,009 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for the Blackjack program, Phase 2. This contract provides for the research, development, and demonstration of an Overhead Persistent Infrared (OPIR) payload for Blackjack. Raytheon will complete design, fabricate, test, and deliver in quantity space-flight ready OPIR payloads capable of integrating with multiple Blackjack buses and Pit Boss subsystem supporting an on-orbit constellation level demonstration. Work will be performed in El Segundo, California, with an estimated completion date of April 2023.
Agile Defense Inc.,* Reston, Virginia, has been awarded a $31,225,244 modification (P00052) to previously awarded task order HR0011-15-F-0002 for unclassified information technology services. The modification brings the total cumulative face value of the task order from $176,513,865 to $207,739,109. Work will be performed in Arlington, Virginia, with an expected completion date of February 2021. Fiscal 2019 and 2020 research and development funds in the amount of $12,224,558 are being obligated at time of award. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, Arlington, Virginia, is the contracting activity. *Small Business
In the future, anyone trying to figure out how to use limited resources may reap the benefits of computers that are a hybrid of quantum and classical systems.
Such hybrid computers might prove especially efficient and effective at solving certain kinds of problems, such as strategic asset deployment, global supply chains, battlefield logistics, package delivery, the best path for electronics on a computer chip and network node placement. Research also could impact machine learning and coding theory.
Leland Stanford Junior University, Stanford, California, was awarded a $30,114,182 cost reimbursement contract for a research project to study the securing of our national internet infrastructure using measurement, control, and verification for closed-loop control of networks, also known as the Pronto project. The Pronto project will research the creation and deployment of a network, to include 5G, under verifiable closed-loop control as an exemplar for others in government, industry, and education to replicate. Work will be performed in Stanford, California (17%); Menlo Park, California (68%); Ithaca, New York (8%); and Princeton, New Jersey (7%), with an expected completion date of May 2023.
Applied Physical Sciences Corp., Groton, Connecticut, has been awarded an $18,822,358 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for the base period of a research and development effort for undersea sensing systems. Work will be performed in Groton, Connecticut (60%); Woburn, Massachusetts (20%); Arlington, Virginia (7%); Pawcatuck, Connecticut (4%); Northridge, California (3%); Waltham, Massachusetts (3%); Orange, California (2%); and Concord, Massachusetts (1%), with an estimated completion date of October 2021. Fiscal year 2020 research and development funds in the amount of $15,062,029 are being obligated at the time of award.
A U.S. Defense Department research program that has not yet even officially begun may contribute advanced testing devices for COVID-19 and other future pandemics.
The program is being run by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and is called the Detect It with Gene Editing Technologies. The acronym, DIGET, is pronounced “dig it.”
Booz Allen Hamilton Inc., McLean, Virginia, has been awarded a $23,361,698 modification (P00039) to previously awarded contract HR0011-16-F-0005 for enterprise support services. The modification brings the total cumulative face value of the contract to $119,076,169 from $95,714,471. Work will be performed in Arlington, Virginia, with an expected completion date of May 2021. Fiscal year 2020 research and development funds in the amount of $20,714,282 are being obligated at time of award. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, Arlington, Virginia, is the contracting activity.
RadiaBeam Technologies LLC,* Santa Monica, California, has been awarded a $10,202,941 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's Gamma Ray Inspection Technology (GRIT) program. In Phase I, RadiaBeam Technologies LLC proposes a Laser-Compton approach for meeting GRIT program objectives and carrying out relevant system demonstrations. Work will be performed in Santa Monica, California (80%); Menlo Park, California (9%); Los Angeles, California (7%); and Paris, France (4%), with an estimated completion date of March 2021. Fiscal year 2019 and 2020 research, development, test and evaluation funds in the amount of $3,718,701 are being obligated at time of award.
Two Six Labs LLC,* Arlington, Virginia, has been awarded a $7,970,711 modification (P00008) to previously awarded contract HR0011-18-C-0134 for additional in-scope work under a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency research project. Work will be performed in Arlington, Virginia, with an expected completion date of September 2022. Fiscal year 2020 research, development, test and evaluation funding in the amount of $850,108 is being obligated at time of award. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, Arlington, Virginia, is the contracting activity. *Small Business
ECS Federal LLC, Fairfax, Virginia, was awarded an $85,422,289 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for research and development of artificial intelligence algorithms. Bids were solicited via the internet with one received. Work will be performed in Fairfax, Virginia, with an estimated completion date of January 26, 2023. Fiscal year 2020 research, development, test and evaluation funds, Army in the amount of $85,422,289 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, is the contracting activity (W911QX-20-C-0019).
Lockheed Martin Corp., Missiles and Fire Control, Grand Prairie, Texas, has been awarded a $31,938,845 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract to support the Operational Fires Integrated Weapon System Phase 3 program, which will enable capabilities for a mobile, ground-launched tactical weapon delivery system capable of carrying a variety of payloads to a variety of ranges. Fiscal 2019 and 2020 research and development funds in the amount of $12,920,000 are being obligated at the time of award. Work will be performed in Grand Prairie, Texas (68%); Huntsville, Alabama (21%); Toledo, Ohio (5%); Elkton, West Virginia (5%); Kirkland, Washington (less than 1%); and Camden, Arkansas (less than 1%) with an estimated completion date of January 2021.
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is experimenting with underground robotic capabilities through its three-year contest—the Subterranean Challenge, also called SubT. This competition aims to spur tactical communications, mapping and search-related robotic technologies for use in subterranean environments.
The U.S. Defense Department could one day place thousands of low-cost, floating sensors into the ocean to collect environmental data, such as water temperature, as well as activity data about commercial vessels, aircraft and even fish or maritime mammals moving through the area. But others also are dropping similar sensors in the world’s oceans, and defense researchers suggest many of those systems could be integrated into an even more comprehensive ocean-based Internet of Things.
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is seeing initial success from its Blackjack program, according to Paul “Rusty” Thomas, program manager. The research agency is developing a subset of a constellation, 20 low Earth orbit (LEO) globe-to-globe satellites, to demonstrate a new way of building out space systems.
“We are looking at how we might do space architecture differently,” said Thomas. “We want to limit the integration time, so we can actually get to the point where a payload might not even know what bus it is going to go on, and you can actually think of the payload as the mission.”
In four years, researchers funded by the U.S. military may develop a working prototype of a system that allows for a nonsurgical interface between the human brain and technology. Such a system could improve brain control of unmanned vehicles, robots, cybersecurity systems and mechanical prosthetics while also improving the interface between humans and artificial intelligence (AI) agents.
Packet Forensics LLC, Virginia Beach, Virginia, was awarded a $10,000,000 modification (P00004) to previously awarded HR0011-18-C-0056 for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency Harnessing Autonomy for Countering Cyberadversary Systems (HACCS) research project. The modification brings the total cumulative face value of the contract to $21,200,000 from $11,200,000. Work will be performed at Virginia Beach, Virginia, with an expected completion date of August 2020. Fiscal year 2019 research and development funds in the amount of $10,000,000 are being obligated at time of award. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, Arlington, Virginia, is the contracting activity.
The University of Southern California, Marina del Rey, California, was awarded a $19,843,137 cost-no-fee contract for a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency research project. Work will be performed in Marina del Rey, California; Arlington, Virginia; and Columbia, Maryland, with an expected completion date of August 2023. Fiscal 2019 research, development, test and evaluation funding in the amount of $2,905,000 are being obligated at time of award. The contract was a competitive acquisition under a broad agency announcement and nine offers were received. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, Arlington, Virginia, is the contracting activity (HR0011-19-C-0084).
In a dark, wet and rocky research coal mine in western Pennsylvania, teams from around the globe put their robotic systems to the test in the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s, or DARPA’s, latest contest. The agency designed the Subterranean Challenge, also known as the SubT Challenge, to spur the advancement of technologies that work well underground, including autonomous and other robotic systems, which could benefit first responders and the military, explained Timothy Chung, program manager, Tactical Technology Office, DARPA, to the media in attendance at the event.
Raytheon Co., Goleta, California, was awarded a modification to exercise an option totaling $8,263,421 to previously awarded contract HR0011-19-C-0010 for a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency research project. The modification brings the total cumulative face value of the contract from $4,334,736 to $12,598,157. Work will be performed in Goleta, California; Waltham, Massachusetts; Irvine, California; Oxnard, California; and Joplin, Missouri, with an expected completion date of November 4, 2020. Fiscal year 2018 and 2019 research, development, test and evaluation funds in the amount of $6,723,915 are being obligated at time of award. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, Arlington, Virginia, is the contracting activity
Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, was awarded a $9,107,025 cost-no-fee contract for the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency-based proposal titled "Diagnostic Epigenetics of Infectious agents and Chemical Toxicity." Bids were solicited via the internet with one received. Work will be performed in Tempe, Arizona, with an estimated completion date of July 21, 2021. Fiscal year 2018 and 2019 Defense Advanced Research Project Agency funds in the amount of $5,222,714 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, is the contracting activity (W911NF-19-C-0039).
