Weekly GEOINT Community News

BAE Systems to Deliver and Manage Secure Networks Across Essential Government Agencies, CACI Acquires Ascent Vision Technologies, Northrop Grumman Awarded DARPA Gamebreaker Contract, and More

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BAE Systems to Deliver and Manage Secure Networks Across Essential Government Agencies

The U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory awarded BAE Systems a five-year $85 million contract to continue to develop, deploy, modernize, and maintain cross-domain solutions that allow for secure transfer of sensitive information between government networks. The work on the contract will enable the secure exchange of data—including streaming video, images, and audio—to enhance mission collaboration. BAE Systems will also provide research, development, and evaluation of new technologies, including the integration of innovative artificial intelligence and machine learning capabilities.

CACI Acquires Ascent Vision Technologies

CACI acquired Ascent Vision Technologies (AVT), a leading provider of technology and solutions that support multi-domain intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR), unmanned aircraft system (UAS), air defense, and counter-unmanned aircraft system (c-UAS) operations. AVT provides low size, weight, power and cost (SWAP-C) electro-optical, infrared (EO/IR) imaging systems designed for airborne, ground, and maritime platforms, delivering effective ISR and target acquisition capabilities for day and night operations. This proprietary imaging technology is utilized in AVT’s X-MADIS system, an on-the-move, mobile and fixed site, c-UAS solution that detects, locates, tracks, identifies, and defeats UAS threats. The combining of AVT’s EO/IR and X-MADIS technologies with CACI’s signals intelligence, electronic warfare, and CORIAN capabilities will deliver continued differentiation to customers. This open-source, system-of-systems architecture provides interoperability and speeds new capabilities to customers in the defense and security markets. AVT adds to CACI’s U.S. Army and Navy presence with the U.S. Air Force and Marine Corps, as well as international customers.

Northrop Grumman Awarded DARPA Gamebreaker Contract

Northrop Grumman was awarded a contract from the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Strategic Technology Office (STO) for the Gamebreaker program. This innovative program seeks to develop and apply artificial intelligence (AI) to existing real-time strategy games to break a complex model or create an imbalance. Northrop Grumman will use this opportunity to evaluate and develop technology to improve flexible planning, optimization, and discovery in products that operate in dynamic environments. Northrop Grumman’s Gamebreaker team includes Hazardous Software and Slitherine Software’s Matrix Games. Working closely together, this partnership will use advanced AI techniques to model and break balance within a highly complex simulator environment called “Command: Modern Operations.”

Leidos Awarded SOCOM Tactical Airborne Multi-Sensor Platforms

Leidos was awarded a task order by Army Contracting Command–Aberdeen Proving Ground (ACC-APG) under the Responsive Strategic Sourcing for Services (RS3) indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contract. It has a total value of $649 million and includes a one-year base period of performance followed by four one-year option periods. Work will be performed in various locations both within the Contiguous United States (CONUS) and Outside the Contiguous United States (OCONUS). Through this contract, Leidos will provide pilot services, airborne sensor operators, hub and spoke operations/excursion support, staffing for the Intelligence Coordination Center, system training, logistics, aircraft and primary mission equipment maintenance and integration, configuration management and engineering support services in support of the program’s DHC-8 and King Air 300 aircraft. 

Peer Intel

Ball Aerospace recognized 23 team members for outstanding contributions to the business and its customers—and for their commitment, dedication, collaboration, and execution in 2019. The Ball Aerospace Go Beyond Excellence Awards are presented annually to employees who are nominated by their peers. This year’s award winners comprise the following recipients:

Scott Potter, principal engineer, Systems;  Mario Montano, supervisor; John Langfield, engineering manager; Beth Kelsic, senior staff consultant; Michael Adkins, staff consultant, Electrical; Lynn Dick, principal technical specialist, Optical; John Wallace, senior engineer, Systems; Eric Coppock, staff consultant, Embedded Software; John Glennon, staff consultant, Systems; Patrick Wessels, engineering manager; Jason Forsyth, principal optical engineer; Tyler Saunders, engineering manager; Ryan Glenn, program manager; Luke Wotruba, program manager; Shawn Conley, senior engineering manager; Andrew Kaptchen, material specialist; Ian Linn, engineering manager; Becky Emerle, senior program manager; Lisa Schreiber, senior multimedia designer; Nathan Jessen, senior manager; Chelsea Waddill, project engineer. In addition to honoring their team members with Excellence Awards, two prestigious awards were given: the Gabe Award, which recognizes the professional efforts of an individual who has enhanced the company’s competitiveness while producing an exemplary body of work; and the Follett award, which recognizes continuous outstanding contributions in a technical engineering field. Gabe Awardee: Jeff Osterkamp, vice president, Security & Mission Assurance; Follett Awardee: David Walling, senior staff consultant.

Leidos appointed Al Potter as managing director of the National Security and Defence Business for Leidos UK. In this role, he will be responsible for engaging the defence, intelligence, and national security markets.

Featured Image: Northrop Grumman is applying artificial intelligence to real-time wargames to break complex models and enhance military strategy. | Credit: Northrop Grumman & Slitherine Software

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