Weekly GEOINT Community News

A New Director at NGA; Altamira Wins HIFLD Task Order; Northrop Grumman to Support Coast Guard C4ISR; DARPA Releases RFP for Autonomous Satellite Constellation; More

NGA

A New Director at NGA

Navy Vice Admiral Robert Sharp assumed command as the seventh director of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) Feb. 7 in a ceremony at the agency’s headquarters in Springfield, Va. Sharp, who succeeds Robert Cardillo, previously served as commander of the Office of Naval Intelligence and director of the National Maritime Intelligence-Integration Office.

Altamira Wins HIFLD Task Order

Altamira Technologies was awarded the Homeland Infrastructure Foundation Level Data (HIFLD) Transportation Data task order under NGA’s Janus ID/IQ contract vehicle. HIFLD enables NGA to provide GEOINT analytical services to federal agencies in support of U.S. homeland security. Altamira has already completed an initial delivery of geospatial data on the NORTHCOM area of interest to support security crisis management and planning. The company will build a single HIFLD database to enhance NGA’s situational awareness.

Northrop Grumman to Support Coast Guard C4ISR

Northrop Grumman was awarded production contracts by Eastern Shipbuilding Group to support C4ISR and control systems for the U.S. Coast Guard’s (USCG) lead Offshore Patrol Cutter (OPC), USCGC Argus. Northrop Grumman’s contributions to the OPC platform will include an integrated bridge, navigation, command and control, computing network, data distribution, machinery control, and propulsion control systems. The company will also procure long lead time materials for USCG’s second OPC, USCGC Chase.

DARPA Releases RFP for Autonomous Satellite Constellation

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is seeking proposals from vendors that could help build an autonomous constellation of satellites for the U.S. military. The program, called “Blackjack Pit Boss,” will center on the development of a low earth orbit constellation designed to provide persistent global coverage without human operators and ground-based payload data processing. DARPA plans to award a potential $38.5 million contract to one or more contractors capable of developing the overall autonomy architecture, integration schema, and hardware and software components of the satellites. The agency will accept proposals for the project through March 29 and aims to launch 20 satellites between 2021 and 2022 to demonstrate the program concept.

Trident to Develop Payload for DARPA

Trident Systems was awarded a contract by DARPA’s Tactical Technology Office to develop a payload for the agency’s Blackjack Program, a project that launches DoD payloads on affordable commercial small satellite busses. Trident will combine a digital RF transceiver with a high-performance GPU card and a wideband antenna for a multi-function payload. Trident’s small business team includes Blue Ridge Envisioneering, which will support mission firmware and software design.

Perspecta Receives DARPA Contract Modification

Perspecta Labs received a $2.7 million contract modification to continue work on DARPA’s Extreme DDoS Defense (XD3) program. Under the contract, Perspecta researched cyber defense techniques to combat distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks. Under the option, Perspecta Labs will integrate stealthy, low-volume methods into one multi-modal DDoS defense solution.

Peer Intel

President Trump nominated Christopher Scolese to be the next director of the National Reconnaissance Office. Scolese is currently the center director of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. Current NRO director Betty Sapp has held the post since 2012.

SAIC announced Nathan Rogers will assume the role of chief information officer effective Feb. 2, reporting to CEO Tony Moraco. Rogers succeeds Bob Fecteau, who will retire from the company in April.

Dewberry announced the promotion of more than 65 employees nationwide, including three staff members in its Atlanta, Ga., office. Duncan Hastie, PE, was promoted to senior vice president and regional water resources branch manager. Shannon Brewer, CFM, PMP, was promoted to associate vice president. Jarrett Mattli, a senior project manager, took an associate post.

Headline Image: Navy Vice Admiral Robert Sharp assumes command of NGA from Robert Cardillo in a ceremony Feb. 7. Photo courtesy of NGA.

Weekly GEOINT Community News

Pentagon to Amp Up UAV Program; Dewberry to Evaluate New LiDAR Forms for USGS; Google Launches Project Sunroof