DefenseScoop

🏆 We are thrilled to announce the winners of the 2024 #DefenseScoop50 Awards! These visionary leaders and innovative programs are at the forefront of revolutionizing defense through advanced technology. Join us in congratulating these pioneers who are not only redefining the future of military strategies but also ensuring our national security. Explore the full list of this year's remarkable recipients: https://lnkd.in/d3ED45ST

Army used pair of concurrent exercises to test distributed command and control nodes https://lnkd.in/ePJ76Dw9

Following the inclusion of language in the annual defense policy bill to study alternate organizational models for military cyber forces — albeit softer than initially proposed — those in the cyber community remain positive regarding an independent assessment of a potential standalone service. https://lnkd.in/eE_6eksZ

Kendall: Space Force must move faster to field counterspace capabilities https://lnkd.in/e-7SnUYW

The Army and Navy’s latest all-up round (AUR) test of the jointly developed Common Hypersonic Glide Body system has been deemed a success, putting the services one step closer to fielding ground- and sea-launched hypersonic weapons. https://lnkd.in/ecgd9zSZ

The Defense Innovation Unit is expanding its energy portfolio to cover a new, third line of effort that’s designed to accelerate commercial battery technologies tailor-made for U.S. military purposes and improve the resilience of the associated domestic supply chain amid heightening competition with China, according to an official steering that work. “For better or worse, the [Defense Department] has never been very good at batteries. We do bespoke, one-off batteries, historically — and we’re trying to change that,” DIU’s energy portfolio director Andrew Higier told a small group of reporters last week. https://lnkd.in/diVFF3A4

The Army’s effort to overhaul how it conducts command and control will begin with a completely clean slate, according to officials. The service is currently undergoing parallel tracks to improve how forces perform command and control on the battlefield in the future. The first, named C2 Fix, is aimed at bolstering soldiers’ so-called “fight tonight” ability. That effort is expected to serve as a bridge to a longer-term solution, dubbed Next Gen C2. https://lnkd.in/d8XBkrnN

The final rule for the Pentagon’s Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification 2.0 (CMMC) initiative went into effect Monday, and the clock is ticking for companies to meet the requirements to be eligible to win Defense Department contracts. The CMMC program is intended to protect DOD data on contractor systems from being exploited by U.S. adversaries by ensuring those firms comply with National Institute of Standards and Technology security controls. https://lnkd.in/dugXB5n7

With his time in the White House drawing to a close, President Joe Biden issued the United States’ first national security memorandum on artificial intelligence. Released less than two weeks before the election, the document offered a final recitation of priorities, concerns and strategies to cement Biden’s legacy on AI policy and set a guidepost for his successor. At a high level, the NSM contained few surprises. Officials reiterated AI’s potentially profound impacts on the geopolitical landscape and underscored the importance of longstanding policy goals, such as strengthening U.S. technological leadership, undercutting the ambitions of competitors like China, and promoting the safe use of AI systems. https://lnkd.in/dUyVNyAb

In her final months as the Pentagon’s second permanent Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Officer, Dr. Radha Plumb and her team have been reshaping some of the hub’s directorates and acceleration cells to more quickly and strategically scale proven and experimental AI-enabled capabilities across the U.S. military at a pace that more closely matches real-world needs. “The good news is it’s just a very natural evolution from what was already there,” Plumb told DefenseScoop Monday during an exclusive interview at the Pentagon. https://lnkd.in/eE3rZ5JV