ExecutiveBiz ExecutiveBiz covers emerging companies in Washington's government contracting sector.

Accenture's federal services business has been awarded a five-year, $50 million blanket purchase agreement by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to operate, maintain and modernize the agency’s financial management systems (FMS) for the Office of the Chief Financial Officer (OCFO). “We are proud to support USPTO," said Rasha Nahas, managing director and the U.S. Department of Commerce lead for Accenture Federal Services.

Northrop Grumman has secured a $325 million contract from the U.S. Air Force to continue its support of the Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System (Joint STARS). “The overall modification and sustainment work will ensure continuous safety and system readiness for the E-8C fleet against evolving threat environments,” said Janice Zilch, vice president of manned airborne surveillance programs at Northrop Grumman.

Paul Almeida, former director of public sector sales at GitLab, has joined Anchore to serve as vice president, responsible for driving the company's sales in the public sector, G2Xchange FedCiv reported Tuesday. He will contribute experience in product sales and account management gained from his nearly 30-year career that also includes work with Oracle and VMWare.

The Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program has approved Code42's cloud-based platform for use in the federal government to help agencies and other customers protect data and assets from insider threats. Code42's FedRAMP "Moderate Impact" authorization, supported by the Department of Energy, adds the platform to the FedRAMP Marketplace and validates its compliance with security assessment, authorization and continuous monitoring standards for cloud products and services, the company said Tuesday.

Kratos Defense and Security Solutions has received a $12.7M task order under the Advanced Turbine Technologies for Affordable Mission contract from the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory to wrap up the development of a turbojet engine designed for cruise missiles and attritable unmanned aerial vehicles.

Charles Woodburn, CEO of BAE Systems, has said defense companies support the global economy through export activities and technology investments that help create high skilled jobs. “I strongly believe we can have a key role to play in restoring the economies of the countries in which we operate,” Woodburn wrote in a guest piece for Defense News published Monday.

Mike Stein, formerly senior director at Xentris Wireless' military and government services segment, has been elevated to the role of vice president at the business unit.

Planet has secured a deal with NASA to continue the provision of satellite imagery technologies to the agency until September as part of the Commercial SmallSat Data Acquisition program.

Aerojet Rocketdyne has wrapped up the construction of an oxygen-rich staged combustion kerosene engine funded by the U.S. Air Force, and is now looking to test its first rocket motor, SpaceNews reported Tuesday.

Deloitte and Dcode have renewed their partnership to help companies bring their technology platforms to federal agencies. "The emerging tech ecosystem can be a powerful source of innovation for government agencies,” said Mike Isman, managing director at Deloitte Consulting. 

Audrey Allison, vice president for global spectrum management at Boeing, has been appointed to chair the Satellite Industry Association's board of directors. Ross Vincenti, associate general counsel at Intelsat, will support Allison as SIA's vice chair while Spire Global General Counsel Ananda Martin will manage the trade association's financial assets as treasurer, SIA said Tuesday.

Cyberbit has launched an international competition that will subject participating teams to attacks simulated through a company-built platform to determine the best defensive group of cyber professionals.

Messaging applications Telegram and Signal saw an increase in downloads worldwide between Jan. 6 and Jan. 10 after Facebook-owned WhatsApp issued an update to its privacy policy on Jan. 4, CNBC reported Tuesday.

BAE Systems has signed a nine-year agreement with Vertex Aerospace to increase the availability of the U.S. Marine Corps’ AV-8B Harrier II fleet. "This new contract with Vertex Aerospace ensures we can continue to apply our expertise to support the U.S. Marine Corps in their crucial operations,” said Tom Fillingham, senior vice president of US Programs at BAE Systems Air.

Northrop Grumman has been awarded a contract from Lockheed Martin to enable new functionality that supports the 5th Generation F-35 Lightning II multi-role fighter. BAE Systems is also part of the collaborative agreement. Northrop, Lockheed and BAE will equip the fighter jet with Northrop’s AN/ASQ-242 Integrated Communications, Navigation and Identification (ICNI) and BAE’s AN/ASQ-239 Electronic Warfare/Countermeasures (EW/CM) system to deliver optimal operational utility.