fcs.army.mil

The Army will ask for permission to fly unmanned aircraft in civilian airspace near Army bases for training, according to a recent Army memo.

As part of the process, the Army will apply for a certificate of authorization from the Federal Aviation Administration to operate drones near Fort Stewart, Ga., AOL Defense reports.

“The Army’s unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) represent emerging technology that requires access to the National Airspace System,” Army Secretary John McHugh wrote. ”The Army intends to use UAS for warfighter training and directed mission support.”

The Army’s memo also outlines processes to determine what areas are authorized, landing and takeoff clearance criteria and air traffic control procedures. According to AOL Defense, the Army believes it needs FAA approval to fly UAS in civilian airspace because the Army frequently sends crews with unmanned aircraft.

The FAA frequently requires a chase plane and observers on the ground to watch for other aircraft when a UAS enters civilian airspace. During an exercise at El Mirage, Calif., the Army was required to fly UAS at an altitude less than 10,000 feet and land when civilian aircraft were close buy, according to AOL Defense.

dhs.gov

DLT Solutions was awarded an Enterprise Software Initiative blanket purchase agreement from the Defense Department for Autodesk software products, DLT announced Friday.

Autodesk is a leader in 3d software and technology.

Per the agreement, the Pentagon will attain access to Autodesk’s computer aided design, 3d software solutions and building information modeling at a discounted rate.

The contract has three base years and two one-year options.

The U.S. Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology program helps federal, state and local officials determine whether travelers can legally enter or remain in the U.S., the company said. 

The company will work to increase the number and types of biometrics used in identification.

US-VISIT currently uses digital fingerprints and photographs. Accenture will participate in a pilot program to include voluntary facial and iris identification and matching.

The contract also calls for system upgrades that enable biometric information to be shared in real time with the Justice and Defense departments.

The system provides information to the State Department, the Transportation Security Administration, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services, and the U.S. Coast Guard.

Accenture will complete the work on a 13-month contract with a value of $71 million.

“Border management, immigration and customs organizations are challenged with facilitating the movement of people and cargo across borders while enhancing the security of citizens and visitors,” said Tom Greiner, leader of Accenture’s US-VISIT program work. “We are working with Homeland Security to create border management solutions that deliver results.”

Edward Bush, Northop Grumman

Northrop Grumman recently demonstrated an upgrade to the Defense Department‘s standard image processor at the company’s Linthicum, Md. facilities.

Northrop’s upgrade provides new virtualization capabilities to the common image processor and lowers costs, the company said in a release. Northrop originally designed and built the CIP, which supports the military’s tactical imagery platforms.

The upgrade repackages processor software into a virtual machine environment and includes templates for all CIP-supported sensors.

“Introducing vCIP allows the CIP program office to field more efficient, less costly solutions for imagery analysts,” said Edward J. Bush, vice president of Northrop Grumman’s C4ISR network systems business unit. “VCIP expands the warfighter’s ability to receive actionable intelligence.”

Northrop ran two different missions simultaneously on standard commercial-off-the-shelf hardware for the demonstration. VCIP sent imagery, wireframes and tracks to several workstations and output the information on a Google Earth display.

VCIP allows the intelligence community to utilize both DoDIIS- and JITC-certified solutions for a variety of ISR sensors.

“We must balance all three,” said Robert J. Carey, who is also the deputy assistant secretary of defense for information management, integration and technology. “We have to serve the information needs of our warfighters, as well as the people back here in the ivory towers.”

The Federal CIO Council has charged the government with leveraging cloud computing services to reduce costs and provide greater efficiencies, according to the U.S. Chief Information Office. Cloud computing allows customers to scale capacity on demand and greatly reduces energy consumption, the U.S. CIO website says.

According to the DoD release, the challenge is how to operate securely in a commercial rather than a government setting. The department has many cloud-computer pilot programs, but according to Carey, less than 15 percent of the data centers capacity is used.

Carey also indicates that the department plans to release initial guidance this fall on a strategy to maximize data centers at 75 percent capacity. The military services have typically led the consolidation effort and the department will follow.

The acquisition expands the cyberspace solutions CACI offers. Major Paradigm clients include the Federal Aviation Administration, Defense Information Systems Agency and the Departments of State, Energy and Treasury. Paradigm’s revenue for calendar year 2011 is projected to be $55 million. CACI paid $61.5 million for Paradigm. The acquisition is expected to be accretive to CACI’s earnings per share during its first 12 months.

“We welcome the talented Paradigm employees to CACI. With their dedication to employee opportunity, business growth, and the security of our nation, the people of Paradigm are a great match for CACI,” said Bill Fairl, president of U.S. Operations, CACI. “They bring new clients, more ways to innovate and serve our current clients, and strong competitive capabilities as we go forward.”

Paul Cofoni, CACI President and CEO, said, “the acquisition of Paradigm expands CACI’s capability to provide cyberspace solutions that our government needs to counter persistent threats to national security. It demonstrates the successful execution of our strategy to create differentiating value for our clients and reflects our strategic focus on solutions that, even in a challenging budgetary environment, are in high demand to support critical national needs.”

The release of this report coincided with reports that the Chinese military may have acknowledged enabling cyber attacks in a documentary broadcast on state television. An official broadcast on China Central Television included six seconds of footage showing custom built Chinese software.

The report indicates that in 2010, numerous computer systems around the world were the target of intrusions, some of which appear to have originated in China. Cyberwarfare could serve China in data collection through exfiltration, slow response time by targeting network based logistics and communication.

The Chinese Communist Party has consistently denied that it is involved in cyber-attacks, but experts have long suspected that the Chinese military engages in them. While nothing has been proven, the possibility is suspect and under scrutiny.

The DoD’s report also indicates that China has increased diplomatic engagement in forums where cyber issues are discussed. However, they do not yet see eye-to-eye with the U.S. that existing mechanisms such as the Law of Armed Conflict and International Humanitarian Law apply in cyberspace. 

Photo: Stephen VanHorn

The General Services Administration recently released a new smartphone app that allows federal employees traveling on business to look up per diem reimbursement rates for expenses such as lodging and meals while on the road.

According to GSA, the app allows travelers to look up federal government per diem rates by city or state and ZIP code in locations throughout the United States and its territories. The rates are established by GSA for destinations in the lower 48 contiguous United States, and by the U.S. Defense Department for locations in Alaska, Hawaii and the U.S. territories. The State Department sets rates for foreign travel locations.

The app has been made available for free download on iPhone and BlackBerry devices. Travelers can look up rates for fiscal years 2010 and 2011, with 2012 rates coming online later this summer.

According to DoD, the new site is designed to help users explore the five pillars of DoD’s cyber strategy: treating cyberspace as an operational domain; employing new defense operating concepts; partnering with the public and private sector; building international partnerships; and leveraging talent and innovation.

It also provides links to cybersecurity employment opportunities within the government, news and press releases and video of cyber debates and discussions.

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.)

Sens. Carl Levin and John McCain of the Senate Armed Services Committee urged the Defense Department to clarify the military’s cyber role in a letter sent yesterday to Defense Secretary Leon Panetta.

The letter states the DoD has failed to fully define DoD’s plan-of-action should a threat to national security arise, leaving the nation’s cyberspace vulnerable.

“The continued failure to address and define the policies and legal authorities necessary for the Pentagon to operate in the cyberspace domain remains a significant gap in our national security that must be addressed,” they wrote.

The letter was sent following the recent release of DoD’s “Strategy for Operating in Cyberspace,” which McCain believes left some fundamental questions unanswered, such as the relationship between military operations in cyberspace and kinetic operations, the development of a declaratory deterrence posture for cyberspace and the definition of what would constitute an act of war in cyberspace, among others.

The letter to Panetta is part of McCain’s continued efforts to urge Congress to establish a bipartisan panel to draft legislation to combat security threats and breaches aimed at U.S. companies and defense networks.

McCain last week sent a letter to Majority Leader Harry Reid and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell calling for the creation of a Select Committee on Cyber Security and Electronic Intelligence Leaks in the Senate. According to McCain, the temporary panel would allow for the drafting of comprehensive cybersecurity legislation quickly without needing to work through numerous and in some cases competing committees of jurisdiction.