A Huntington Ingalls Industries business unit has received a potential five-year, $74.7 million contract to help update payload for the U.S. Navy’s Mk 18 Mod 2 Kingfish unmanned underwater vehicles. HII’s Hydroid subsidiary will provide Increment II hardware for the Mk 18 Mod 2 UUV as part of the indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity award, the Department of Defense said Tuesday.

Renee Wynn, former chief information officer at NASA, has been appointed to serve on the advisory board of information technology and cloud consulting services company Planet Technologies. Wynn, who brings over three decades of federal experience to her new role, previously managed NASA’s $2 billion IT budget in relation to 65,000 contractors and employees and retired from the agency in April 2020, Planet Technologies said Tuesday.

MaryAnn Monroe, senior director of customer engagement solutions and services at Maximus’ federal arm, said agencies must ensure visibility and human elements when implementing self-service technologies driven by artificial intelligence. Monroe wrote in an opinion piece published Monday that live representatives remain essential even as more citizens engage with government agencies through digital platforms.

NVIDIA has launched a cloud-native application framework driven by artificial intelligence that works to rapidly detect cybersecurity threats including malware, phishing attacks and leaks of sensitive data. NVIDIA said Monday that the Morpheus framework is powered by its graphics processing units and designed to identify, capture and execute actions on cyber threats through machine learning.

Four Honeywell-built mobile computers have been certified for use by Department of Defense staff following a multiyear vetting process under the Defense Information Systems Agency’s Security Technical Implementation Guide. Honeywell said Thursday the STIG certification allows Honeywell’s CT40 XP, CT60 XP, CK65 and CN80G mobile computers to operate through DOD networks.

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has awarded General Atomics a $22.1 million contract to support the agency’s efforts to conduct a rocket test launch in cislunar orbit. General Atomics will perform Track A contract services as part of DARPA’s Demonstration Rocket for Agile Cislunar Operations program, the Department of Defense said Friday.

Rocket Lab plans to launch a mission to retrieve its Electron launch vehicle before it executes a splashdown landing in a move to demonstrate rocket reusability. Rocket Lab said Thursday the upcoming “Running Out of Toes” mission will serve as the 20th launch for Electron and is scheduled to take place in May from Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand.

Johns Hopkins University’s Applied Physics Laboratory has conducted a simulated dogfighting exercise with F-16 fighter jets as part of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's Air Combat Evolution program. Johns Hopkins APL said Thursday that the exercise took place in February and serves as a follow-up to DARPA’s AlphaDogfight Trials which saw one-versus-one simulated fights between F-16s.

Microsoft has released templates to help organizations ensure secure cloud transitions that comply with the Department of Defense’s quarterly-updated security implementation guide. Nirali Shah, program manager for Microsoft Azure Government, wrote in a blog post published Thursday that the templates are meant to comply with the Defense Information Systems Agency’s Security Technical Implementation Guide that covers configurations for hardware, software and operating systems.

LMI and the Space Force Association have established the Space Center of Excellence that will house collaborative efforts between industry, academia and the federal government in support of U.S. Space Force missions. LMI said Thursday that the Space COE will host forums that focus on sharing research and ideas for programs involving the space domain.

SparkCognition’s government systems business has received a contract from the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory to help the lab implement artificial intelligence and machine learning concepts for readiness and manpower planning. SGS said Wednesday that it secured the award as part of the first phase of the Department of Defense’s Small Business Innovation Research program.

Tory Bruno, CEO of United Launch Alliance and a previous Wash100 Award recipient, said the company plans to expand the use of next-generation upper stages for the Vulcan Centaur rocket’s long-endurance missions. According to him, the space sector must now focus on reusability and explore the use of vehicles following spacecraft deployment procedures.

A Jacobs-built satellite has concluded payload checkout operations and is now conducting radio frequency survey support as part of its designated activities in sun-synchronous orbit. Jacobs said Tuesday that Mango One launched as a rideshare payload aboard SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket for the Transporter One mission from Cape Canaveral, Florida, in January.

Intel has partnered with Leidos and cloud security technology maker Fortanix to deploy integrated technologies to support real-time data sharing across a distributed network intended to streamline clinical trial procedures. Leidos used Intel’s software guard extension and Fortanix’s Confidential Computing Manager to establish a network of secure computing environments that work to handle key real-world data while complying with industry and patient privacy guidelines.

U.S. Cyber Command is looking for information on small businesses that can provide technical assistance in deploying security technologies to support data transmission between Department of Defense, intelligence community and commercial networks. Cybercom said in a notice posted Tuesday that it seeks support in implementing the WOLFDOOR cross-domain solution for secure network operations in addition to integrating the Joint Cyber Warfighting Architecture’s disparate components.