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03 Jun 20. DOD Announces New Locations for Additional 5G Testing, Experimentation. The Defense Department already is heavily involved in investigating how 5G technology will best serve the warfighter. Experimentation is ongoing at five installations across the United States, with seven more to come, as part of the department’s second tranche of test beds for 5G communications capability, DOD’s technical director for 5G said.
“DOD recognizes that industry is driving 5G technology with massive investments in the many hundreds of billions of dollars,” Joseph Evans said during a news conference today at the Pentagon. “Because of that, DOD is working closely with industry partners to leverage those investments for military applications. In the coming weeks, the department will issue requests for proposals from industry from those industry partners to prototype and experiment at these Tranche II bases.”
Evans said he expects that by the end of fall, those new test beds will have stood up and that industry partners will be working at those sites.
The seven new locations where DOD will begin testing and evaluating 5G technology include:
- Naval Station Norfolk, Virginia, to evaluate shipwide and pier connectivity;
- Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, to evaluate enhancement of aircraft mission readiness;
- Joint Base San Antonio, Texas, to evaluate augmented reality support of maintenance and training;
- The National Training Center at Fort Irwin, California, and Fort Hood, Texas, to look at wireless connectivity for forward operating bases and tactical operations centers;
- Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California, to evaluate wireless connectivity for forward operating bases and tactical operations centers;
- Joint Base San Antonio and multiple remote locations to evaluate DOD’s 5G core security experimentation network; and
- Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma, to evaluate bidirectional spectrum sharing, both in DOD and the commercial sector.
“5G technology is vital to maintaining America’s military and economic advantages. 5G will be the advent of ubiquitous connectivity, that is the conductivity of everything and everyone, everywhere, through wireless communications,” Evans said. “It is a transformational technology. With this latest tranche of bases and experiments, DOD is ensuring that our military can make use of 5G capabilities based on the innovations from U.S. industries.”
Already, the department is conducting similar evaluations at five other locations, including Marine Corps Logistics Base Albany, Georgia, where evaluations are underway for using 5G technology to enhance the warehousing of vehicles such as the Humvee.
At Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington, and its associated Yakima Training Center, 5G evaluations are underway for how to enhance augmented reality and virtual reality training.
Other locations doing work with 5G include Naval Base San Diego, California; Hill Air Force Base, Utah; and Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada.
During an earlier event today, sponsored by the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association, Evans said interest from industry to participate in those first five bases has been enthusiastic.
For Nellis, he said, the department is days away from releasing the first request for proposals for the test bed there, and within a few weeks, the department will release RFPs involved in disaggregating command and control capabilities and conducting network experiments.
“I’m actually very excited about this one, where we’re looking at basically disaggregating command and control,” Evans said. “Take an air operation center, think of the command center, and break it into its constituent pieces — connected by 5G technology. Start by just breaking it apart. Secondly, make it transportable so you can move around easily. Third part, make it mobile. We’re really excited about that. We’re thinking it could have a big impact on operations.”
(Source: US DoD)
02 Jun 20. US Army Uses Metaferrites for Low-Profile Antenna. US Army scientists developed a first-of-its kind antenna that could change how ground vehicles and airborne systems communicate, transmit and receive radio frequency communications.
The Army matured a manufacturing process using a special class of engineered materials known as metaferrites to make an ultra-thin wideband antenna. The antenna conforms to curved surfaces, making it ideal to integrate in unmanned aircraft systems, rotary wing aircraft and ground vehicles.
“Recognizing the potential of metaferrites in antenna design and making a decision to invest in this technology were key to where we are today,” said Dr. Philip Perconti, deputy assistant Secretary of the Army for Research and Technology and chief scientist for the Army, as well as former CCDC Army Research Laboratory director. “Our technical experts used their knowledge in material properties, modeling and test and evaluation to further advance these materials. In addition, the Army also invested in the development of the manufacturing processes in collaboration with coalition and industrial partners to advance from a prototype material to one that could be mass produced. This would not have been possible without the foresight of experts who understood the value of the technology and a commitment of persistent investment in advanced manufacturing processes over several years.”
Scientists at the Lab started the research into potential metaferrite application for the Army.
“More than 10 years ago, we recognized these metaferrites have special properties, which could potentially be used to create RF antennas performing to standards impossible at that time,” said Dr. Steven Weiss, researcher at CCDC ARL. “When we sandwich metaferrites in pancake-thin antenna structures, good performance is achieved over a wide frequency range with the antenna having a broad hemispherical antenna pattern.”
MetaFerrite antenna prototypes have been integrated into land platforms, as well as onto a Black Hawk helicopter. Data from lab and field testing verified the antenna is a suitable replacement for antennas with higher profiles, including X-wing and egg beater antennas.
The metaferrite antenna has a wider frequency, which enables it to operate in both legacy satellite systems and with the Mobile User Objective System. The MUOS provides a beyond-line-of-sight capability, which allows Soldiers to maintain connectivity anywhere in battle.
“The metaferrite antenna’s wide, hemispherical reach enables more reliable contact with satellites,” Weiss said. “What’s more, it is self-contained and does not need to be grounded to a metal surface like commercial antennas.”
The project supports the Army’s Network/C3I, Future Vertical Lift and Next Generation Combat vehicle modernization priorities by providing a low-profile antenna for satellite-on-the-move communications. The antenna also eliminates drag for rotary-wing and other aircraft.
“The Unmanned Aircraft Systems program office fights Size, Weight and Power issues on every enduring and new-start program,” said Casey Still, technical chief of Tactical Unmanned Aircraft Systems. “With their reduced drag, metaferrite antenna solutions could provide a path forward to integrate [satellite communications] capabilities previously too SWAP heavy for our smaller UAS.”
ARL worked with its defense, industry and international partners to mature the technology before establishing the ManTech RF MetaFerrite Devices Program in 2017. The ManTech program advanced the project and transitioned manufacturing from a foreign source to a domestic supplier, while also increasing manufacturing from 500 antennas per year to more than 1,000. ManTech also improved performance of the antenna using 50 percent less material.
“The ManTech program’s impact was transformational to this effort because it enabled us to understand the unique characteristics of the technology in order to develop a consistent manufacturing process to create the metaferrites,” Weiss said. “As a result, antenna developers have a new capability to design low-profile conforming antennas for warfighter applications.”
CCDC Army Research Laboratory is an element of the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command. As the Army’s corporate research laboratory, ARL discovers, innovates and transitions science and technology to ensure dominant strategic land power. Through collaboration across the command’s core technical competencies, CCDC leads in the discovery, development and delivery of the technology-based capabilities required to make Soldiers more lethal to win the nation’s wars and come home safely. CCDC is a major subordinate command of the U.S. Army Futures Command. (Source: UAS VISION/divds)
02 Jun 20. US Air Force to dole out nearly $1bn for ABMS development. The Air Force will dole out up to $950m over the next five years to develop and enable its Joint All Domain Command and Control concept, according to a May 29 contract announcement.
JADC2 is a new data architecture being pushed primarily by the Air Force for multidomain operations across the service branches. Under JADC2, the Department of Defense wants to connect any sensor to any shooters, regardless of domain. For instance, one aspect of JADC2 is ensuring that data collected by space-based sensors can be processed, transferred to a command-and-control node where it can be fused with other sensor data, and distributed to the appropriate shooter in near-real time.
The Air Force has pursued this JADC2 vision by investing in the Advanced Battle Management System family of systems. ABMS seeks to bring the internet of things to the battlefield with an open architecture. The Air Force began testing ABMS last year and is set to conduct its next test in August or September.
The Air Force contracts, with a ceiling of $950m total, will provide maturation, demonstration and proliferation of JADC2-related capabilities across platforms and domains. Contractors will be expected to leverage open-system designs, modern software and algorithm developments to enable the JADC2 vision.
Twenty-eight companies will compete for task orders under the new indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity contracts. Several of the vendors selected are not traditional DoD contractors, highlighting the Air Force’s desire to include novel commercial approaches to ABMS.
“We want a wide variety of companies, and we definitely want fresh blood in the ABMS competition, so there is a lot that can be contributed from companies that are commercially focused, that know a lot about data, that know a lot about machine learning and [artificial intelligence] and know a lot about analytics. Those are going to be the most important parts of the Advanced Battle Management System,” Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics Will Roper told reporters May 14.
While the announcement didn’t delineate what each of the vendors would bring to the table, multiple vendors on the contract have provided technologies that fit into the JADC2 concept as well. For example, Persistent Systems supports the Wave Relay Tactical Assault Kit program, which provides multidomain communications and situational awareness to Air Force convoys.
In a news release, Silvus Technologies announced it would supply its StreamCaster Mobile Ad hoc Networking radio systems for ABMS under the contract. Silvus says its technology can provide a high-bandwidth, tactical-edge network that connects assets across domains. That technology fits into meshONE, a part of ABMS focused on battlefield networks. MeshONE was used in the December 2019 ABMS test, and the new contract will provide more equipment for future tests.
No funds were issued at the time of the award. Work is expected to be completed May 26, 2025. (Source: Defense News)
02 Jun 20. Israel company targets opportunities in Europe and Asia for software-defined radios. Israel defense giant Rafael will target armies in Asia and Europe with its software-defined radios, banking on increasing demand for digitized communications systems.
With programs already underway in Germany and India, the company is pitching its BNET family of radios through partnerships with companies in half a dozen European markets — looking to snag market share from L3Harris, Thales, Leonardo and Israel’s own Elbit Systems.
Yoav Wermuth, head of Rafael’s Communications Division (C3) and former head of research and development, says that BNET can be integrated into a variety of platforms with existing architecture and systems. Integration is achieved through local partnerships, as it has done in India, or working with Spain’s Technobit, which provides the industrial and manufacturing solution with Rafael’s software and radio kit.
The company is now on the hunt for a local partner in the United Kingdom.
“We have several forms of the radio to be compatible with platforms from aircraft to tanks, and the integration is simple as we support standard interfaces,” Wermuth said. With older vehicles some re-wiring may be necessary, along with the addition of computers, which is one of the upgrades Rafael supports in India.
“When integrating into a new tank, the tank provider has a modern architecture we plug into, and there are some standards in industry in last decade that make it simple with interfaces and protocols,” he added.
Rafael’s BNET has a broadband IP radio for aircraft (BNET-AR), a man-packable system (BNET-MPS), a vehicle (BNET-V) and hand-held model (BNET-HH). The system enables multiple radios and networks without tactical bottlenecks in communications, Wermuth said. In short: No more jeeps with dozens of antennas, but rather one radio.
“You connect each force, whether soldier, vehicle or aircraft or drone,” he says. “If you take a current software defined radio, tactical for instance, you receive 1 megabyte per second; on BNET you can do 100 times more.”
Many militaries lag behind the rapid advances in civilian infrastructure for communications, thanks in part to the success of applications like WhatsApp on smartphones, according to Rafael officials. Now they’re playing catchup, with Israel in the midst of a major digitization upgrade with its five year Momentum program, which includes BNET and Rafael’s Fire Weaver technology for reducing sensor to shooter times. The same technology was chosen when Germany hired Rafael and Atos in December 2019 for a “glass battlefield” demonstration.
“Militaries are conservative today and must go through transformative thinking to change how they conduct their mission, as it happens in civilian life,” says Wermuth.
Furthermore, providing a new communications system for militaries requires solving three challenges: lack of infrastructure when deployed in the field, the need to operate in severe conditions, and the need to ensure security amid threats of electronic warfare tactics, according to Rafael. Those challenges have been addressed with the Israel Defense Force, which the company hopes will be a selling point for foreign militaries seeking similar upgrades to communication technology.
In addition to the German demonstration, Rafael also won a $30m contract for the Indian Air Force signed with the company’s local joint venture Astra Rafael Comsys Pvt Ltd, which could eventually approach $200m according to the company. The potential is far greater if the program expands to equip the whole Indian Air Force. Rafael works within the framework of India’s demand to make products locally, building a local manufacturing footprint by way of joint ventures and local companies. It plans to compete for the Indian army’s massive 100,000 radio network when that becomes available.
The work with Germany also provides a foot in the door for work with the Tactical Edge Networking plan that envisions Germany and the Netherlands working together on tactical communications. This could combine the Bundeswehr’s D-LBO and Dutch Ministry of Defense FOXTROT systems, and is a multi-billion dollar program. A request for proposal (RFP) is expected for next year.
“In Europe there is now a rush of digitization programs,” says Wermuth, pointing to Spain where the country is seeking a complete renovation of tactical communications. Tenders for the army and air force are expected in the $1bn range. Rafael hopes to team with the Spanish firm Technobit, which they have worked with before to supply remote controlled weapons stations to the Spanish army. The company has demonstrated BNET to Spanish officials from the Ministry of Defense. In the U.K., Rafael hopes to play a role with the Morpheus program for next generation tactical communications for the British Armed Forces.
In Australia the company is eyeing the Land 200 program, which is also estimated at $1bn in digitization. (Source: Defense News)
02 Jun 20. SOCOM Looking To Bake In AI Requirements On Every New Program.
“We need coders,” the Special Operations chief said recently. “We’ve been having discussions internally that the most important person on the mission is no longer the operator kicking down the door, but the cyber operator.”
Special Operations Command is in a “war for influence” with adversaires from non-state groups to state-funded information operations, the command’s top general said recently, and is rushing to fund artificial intelligence and machine learning programs to find an edge.
“We’re going to have to have artificial intelligence and machine learning tools, specifically for information ops that hit a very broad portfolio,” SOCOM commander Gen. Richard Clarke said recently, “because we’re going to have to understand how the adversary is thinking, how the population is thinking, and work in these spaces.”
Special Operations have cultivated an image in popular culture over two decades of constant war in the Middle East as almost superhuman door kickers dropping from the sky to blast their way quickly through an objective, disappearing as quickly as they had arrived. That view has in part led policymakers and the public to look to these troops as a solution to almost any problem, placing an enormous burden on a force of about 70,000 troops.
Clarke said that kinetic mission won’t change any time soon, but other missions the various tribes of SOCOM and SOF have always performed — intelligence gathering, training and advising, and influence operations — need to be reprioritized.
“We need coders,” he told the virtual Special Operations Forces Industry Conference last month. “We’ve been having discussions internally that the most important person on the mission is no longer the operator kicking down the door, but the cyber operator who the team has to actually get to the environment so he or she can work their cyber tools into the fight.”
SOCOM has started using AI in developing information operations in places like Afghanistan, but the command’s interest is hardly limited to that space.
Acquisition chief Jim Smith told the conference his team is looking at a wide range of applications for employing AI, including intel gathering and fusion, surveillance and reconnaissance, precision fires, and health and training efforts. All of these functions are time and manpower-intensive, requiring long hours and entire teams to collect, understand, analyze, and move data, sometimes forcing troops to react as opposed to seizing initiative.
Those tasks are becoming more critical as defense budgets tighten and adversaries catch up and even surpass US capabilities across a wide range of technologies and capabilities.
“So how do we use artificial intelligence and machine learning to get those sensors to interoperate autonomously and provide feedback to a single operator to enable that force to maneuver on the objective?” Smith asked, noting that this is one of the biggest issues his office is coping with/.
“Think of those small UAVs or your small ground vehicles and give them enough artificial intelligence and machine learning to be able to be autonomous, so that they can clear a building or they can clear a tunnel,” which then allows the maneuver force to focus on other tasks.
These technologies could also help operators in the field launch countermeasures to intercept and disrupt enemy communications, which right now can be a slow process.
“Today the way we do that is we have a library of threat radar signatures” Smith said, “and if you see one of those threat radars in our library we counter it.” So SOCOM is looking for ways to use machine learning to identify “anomalies in this space so it wasn’t just the threat radars we had loaded into the library,” that were already known, “but maybe it’s a new radar that we haven’t seen before or a radar that we didn’t realize was operating in that theater that we could identify.”
Smith said his approach is to bake in AI and machine learning requirements with every program that SOCOM develops from here on out.
“What we’re starting to see is our industry partners coming in on proposals and … they’re baking in artificial intelligence and machine learning,” he said. “That’s exactly where we want to be.”
(Source: Breaking Defense.com)
01 Jun 20. Royal Air Force to enhance tactical air command and control capabilities on the ground through Collins Aerospace FasTAK™ Gateway.
The Royal Air Force (RAF) has selected the Collins Aerospace Systems FasTAK™ Gateway to advance its tactical data link capabilities on the ground as part of the RAF’s Air Support Operations Squadron Digital Command and Control experimentation program. The FasTAK Gateway makes it possible to share a tactical view to all connected air, ground and maritime units. Collins Aerospace is a unit of Raytheon Technologies Corp. (NYSE: RTX).
“The FasTAK Gateway provides an affordable, complete Link 16 data link picture to tactical ground users and its modular design and software-driven integration approach enables Collins to reconfigure the system to add new data links in the future,” said Heather Robertson, vice president and general manager, Integrated Solutions for Collins Aerospace.
The FasTAK Gateway features the Collins Aerospace TacNet™ Tactical Radio Link 16 terminal along with data link processor software, running on mainstream laptop hardware, that manages the data links, radio frequencies and data forwarding for the equipment in a lightweight, transportable container. The ruggedized system transitions from transport to operational in 20 minutes. It delivers certified Link 16, Variable Message Format (VMF), Situational Awareness Data-Link (SADL) and Cursor on Target (CoT) communications with growth to integrate with a future all-domain operational environment.
01 Jun 20. USAF awards contract to Silvus for MANET radio systems. The US Air Force (USAF) has awarded a $950m contract to Silvus Technologies to supply its StreamCaster Mobile Ad Hoc Network (MANET) radio systems, or meshONE.
The systems will support the Advanced Battle Management System (ABMS) programme.
Established in 2018, the ABMS programme was formed to create a combat Cloud MANET. It aimed to transfer the use of the Internet of Things (IoT) model from civilian technology to the battlefield.
The open architecture realises the vision of Joint All Domain Command and Control (JADC2) and enables sensors to inform any shooter in multiple domains, including land, sea, air, space, and cyberspace.
Currently, the ABMS system development is undergoing a series of experiments.
In December last year, the first experiment took place at Eglin Air Force Base (AFB) with experiments to be conducted every four months.
During the experiment last year, Silvus provided the meshONE network.
High bandwidth tactical edge network, meshONE provides connectivity between fixed, mobile, airborne, dismounted, and maritime assets that includes connectivity between unmanned air and ground vehicles (UAVs and UGVs).
Under the latest indefinite-quantity, indefinite-delivery (IDIQ) contract, the procurement of additional StreamCaster MANET equipment will support future events.
Silvus DoD Programmes director Andy Narusewicz said: “This announcement comes as Silvus has been recognized for several major US ARMY acquisitions in support of the Next Generation Combat Vehicle (NGCV), Integrated Tactical Network (ITN), and Integrated Virtual Augmentation System (IVAS) programmes.
“We are excited for the opportunity to leverage our cutting edge MANET technology to solve some of the airforce’s toughest communications challenges.
“Silvus is proud to have contributed to the success of the first ABMS experiment and looks forward to stretching the capabilities of our MANET further in future events.” (Source: airforce-technology.com)
30 May 20. Pentagon to open Nellis Air Force Base for 5G testing. Just as the Department of Defense wraps up solicitations for 5G testing at four military bases, the Pentagon announced it will open up a fifth site for 5G development: Nellis Air Force Base.
Together, the U.S. Air Force Warfare Center and the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering will build a 5G cellular network for experimentation.
“The Defense Department recognizes 5G technology is vital to maintaining America’s military and economic advantages,” said Joseph Evans, DOD technical director for 5G and the lead for the department’s 5G development effort. “We expect to start construction on the network at Nellis in July and have it fully operational in January of next year.”
The private network will only be available for testing.
The base will be used for mobile testing, with relocatable cell towers that can be set up and removed in less than an hour. Testing at Nellis will start in January and continue in three 12-month phases. The department is seeking commercial software prototypes for testing on the network through the Information Warfare Research Projects using an Other Transactional Authority.
Prototypes must fall into two areas: applications and services for survivable command and control and wireless network enhancements. For survivable C2, the department wants to build or revise software that supports distributed planning and mission execution functions under 5G architectures. Applications can use audio, gestures, augmented reality devices and haptics for interfacing with the software. For network enhancements, the department is seeking novel 5G applications such as network slicing, which allows operators to dedicate portions of their networks for specific uses, and software-defined networking.
The decisions to open up testing at Nellis comes as the National Spectrum Consortium wraps up its solicitation at four other military bases.
The consortium began issuing solicitations for prototypes in March as DOD pushed to test 5G enabled augmented reality and virtual reality at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, dynamic spectrum sharing at Hill Air Force Base, and smart warehouses at Marine Corps Logistics Base and Naval Base San Diego.
“The responses have been overwhelming,” said Randy Clark, vice chair of the National Spectrum Consortium. “Last year (the consortium) grew about 35 percent on the announcement or report that Congress would be releasing funds for 5G research. So far this year in 2020, our membership continues to grow. I think 25 percent in the first quarter.”
Responses have been evenly spread across all four solicitations so far, with about 40 responses each, Clark said. Contracts could be awarded in 45-60 days, he added, based on prior experience.
“The importance the government is putting on accelerating this research and engineering for national security reasons is paramount to ensuring the U.S. continues its global leadership in the 5G ecosystem,” said Clark. (Source: C4ISR & Networks)
01 Jun 20. US Navy NMCB 3 concludes command sustainment exercise. The US Navy Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 3 has successfully concluded a command sustainment exercise.
The exercise included one construction project in support of Naval Base Ventura County (NBVC) and two Seabee Technical Training (STT) modules.
Evaluated by NMCB-3’s internal quality assurance team, the exercise ensures that the technical construction skills built by Seabees are ready to be deployed in the case of a contingency or humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HA/DR) response.
The crew of Seabees is currently working on rotating shifts to finish the assigned projects.
The crew uses face coverings and maintains social distancing to the maximum extent possible as per the coronavirus (Covid-19) mitigation guidance issued.
NMCB-3 training officer Lieutenant Commander Calvin Warren said: “We had these difficulties.
“But they were overcome through robust communication at all levels of the command, and reliance on small unit leaders, particularly project supervisors and crew leaders, and clear published guidance for required personal protective equipment and social distancing behaviours to keep the teams and evaluators safe.”
The first project provided support to NBVC, Point Mugu by placing a 48ft by 60ft concrete pad with an aluminium perimeter fence. The pad will host an EA-6B Prowler aircraft display in California.
Separately, another team of Seabees has been working on an outdoor facility, STT modules, and underground utilities. The facility will aid the battalions to develop and train their technical constructions skills in multiple areas.
The underground utilities module tested the Seabees’ ability to excavate trenches and install other specific construction requirements. The Seabees built two CMU foundations and one waste enclosure.
The exercise was evaluated by Seabees’ quality assurance staff to make sure the project requirements are met.
Once the battalion is deployed, these personnel will periodically travel to check on the battalion’s construction sites. (Source: naval-technology.com)
01 Jun 20. DOD Signed Memorandum of Understanding With Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification Accreditation Board. On March 23, 2020, Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment, Ms. Ellen Lord, and Mr. Ty Schieber, Chairman of the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification Accreditation Board (CMMC-AB), signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that established the roles, responsibilities, and authorities of each organization to help ensure a cyber-safe, cyber-secure and cyber-resilient defense industrial base.
The MOU states that DoD will only accept certifications from an assessor or a CMMC Third Party Assessment Organization (C3PAO) who has been accredited for assessments by the CMMC-AB.
The CMMC-AB anticipates opening registration for C3PAOs and assessors later this week. Assessments from non-CMMC-AB accredited organizations will not meet the standard for contract award under the CMMC stipulations.
The Department is currently working CMMC pathfinder programs which evaluate how we assess CMMC levels and align with requirements. The Department intends to conduct CMMC Pilots with new contracts this year. The requests for information (RFIs) associated with these pilots will be released this summer. This risk reduction effort, which includes non-punitive and non-attribution CMMC assessments by accredited C3PAOs in coordination with the CMMC-AB, will further inform the phased rollout of CMMC.
The Department is finalizing a zero cost contract with the CMMC-AB to ensure that CMMC is applied equally throughout the Defense Industrial Base with consistency and rigor.
The delay in announcing this MOU is due to the Department’s extensive engagement helping protect the force, supporting the whole of government fight against COVID-19, and the 55K service members who remain on the front lines supporting that fight.
CMMC has, and will remain a priority for the Department, and will safeguard our enterprise against cyber theft losses that cost our Nation $100bn annually, and $600bn worldwide, equating to 1% of global GDP.
Ms. Katie Arrington, Chief Information Security Officer for the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, has continued to work closely and stayed fully engaged with the CMMC-AB and the defense industry.
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