Countermeasures
A $117 million contract for the simultaneous evaluation of three novel therapeutics to treat hospitalized adult patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) went to PPD Development, LP, care of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) last week.
BARDA, as... Read More »
Following acceptance testing earlier this month, Boeing delivered the first of its new autonomous Orcas – extra large unscrewed undersea vehicles (XLUUV) – to the United States Navy this week, potentially pushing the boundaries of long duration missions.
The vehicles are capable of... Read More »
With funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law in-hand, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) announced a second funding opportunity for its Safeguarding Tomorrow Revolving Loan Fund (RLF) to provide capitalization grants to disaster-vulnerable communities.
Meant to help... Read More »
With the introduction of the Improving Law Enforcement Officer Safety and Wellness Through Data Act this week, five senators sought to increase the information that can be supplied about anti-police attacks and explore their impacts on officers’ mental health.
According to the group, it would... Read More »
A new report released by U.S. Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI), chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, called out cumbersome traveler screening among federal agencies and insufficient oversight of discrimination.
The report was looking into the terrorist watchlist... Read More »
It has been a busy year for the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), which announced this week its 85th Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulatory approval for supported products – and brought its total approvals and clearances for the year to 20.
“BARDA has... Read More »
A report on the 2022 United States midterm election was declassified and released jointly by the U.S. Departments of Justice (DOJ) and Homeland Security (DHS) this week, prominently stating that no foreign government-affiliated actor was found to have compromised the integrity of that... Read More »
In a first for the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), the agency joined an exercise in Canada with Amtrak and Transport Canada last week to address surface and critical infrastructure threats to cross border systems.
They held an exercise scenario developed by TSA’s Surface... Read More »
After significant lobbying by the Newsom administration, Congress last week authorized and hastened the transfer of seven United States Coast Guard-owned C-130 aircraft to CAL FIRE, for California’s use in fighting wildfires.
“These are aircraft that can mobilize quickly and attack... Read More »
In response to a report by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned the Malas Mañas transnational criminal organization (TCO) over its human smuggling and drug trafficking at the southwest border.
The action... Read More »
Despite a rocky approval process this year, last week both the U.S. House and Senate passed the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2024, teeing it up for signature by President Joe Biden.
It was a rebuke of last minute efforts by the far right to scuttle the bill, as Democrats... Read More »
With a looming sunset date for the Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Office (CWMD) at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), U.S. Sens. Gary Peters (D-MI) and John Cornyn (R-TX) introduced a bill this week to keep the agency open for another two years.
At stake, according to Peters, is... Read More »
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) this week published two models for states to consider in terms of legislation to address gun violence and improve gun safety.
The first model would lock in requirements for securing firearms in residences and vehicles to prevent their acquisition by... Read More »
Through the Defense University Research Instrumentation Program (DURIP), the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) announced awards of $161 million will support 281 university researchers from 39 states next year, to help purchase major equipment for defense-relevant research.
"DURIP awards build... Read More »
A group of 49 federal lawmakers – both bipartisan and bicameral – wrote to U.S. Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall this week calling for the use of fleet leveling to balance fighters across active duty squadrons and allow for production capacity to catch up to demand.
This attempt to... Read More »
Through its SAFER grant program, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) awarded more than $22.4 million this week to the city of Philadelphia, to reopen three city fire stations and staff them with firefighters for three years.
As a result, the city will hire and provide benefits to 72... Read More »
An early concept release intercept test of the Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) system brought success this week, as members of the U.S. Missile Defense Agency and a Boeing-led industry team intercepted an intermediate-range ballistic missile in space.
For the test, a GMD interceptor... Read More »
With the introduction of the Safeguarding American Genetic Data Act of 2023 last week, U.S. Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI) sought to prevent biotechnology companies with ties to foreign adversaries from accessing American genetic data and personal health information.
“Every day, Americans get blood... Read More »
The Biden administration, through the U.S. Department of Commerce, reached a non-binding preliminary agreement with BAE Systems Electronic Systems to provide approximately $35 million in federal incentives for its new Microelectronics Center in Nashua, N.H.
By the end of the project, the... Read More »
An ongoing contract between BAE Systems and the U.S. Marine Corps was modified this week to include an additional $211 million of Amphibious Combat Vehicles (ACVs).
As a result, 40 full-rate production ACV Personnel (ACV-P) variants will be procured, and the extra funding will cover both... Read More »
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), a part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), this week released a new set of physical security performance goals for faith-based organizations.
Partially in response to the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestinians,... Read More »
Opioids have remained a major focus for Congress in recent years, given the scope of their spread across the United States, and this came to a head once more this week with the House’s passage of the TRANQ Research Act (H.R.1734), which now heads to President Joe Biden.
If approved, the bill... Read More »
Climate change is causing increased frequency and severity of disasters across the country, leading to rising costs that represent a collective challenge for all levels of government, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) latest National Preparedness Report.
“As the... Read More »
Over the years, federal agencies worked to improve their abilities to detect, analyze and handle cybersecurity incidents, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), but some have failed to meet requirements surrounding the tracking of incidents.
Responses to ransomware... Read More »
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) awarded an $8 million contract to address systemic risk surrounding procurement and delivery of supplies to aerospace and defense company RTX and its Raytheon BBN Technologies unit this week.
"DARPA has emphasized that supply demand... Read More »
In letters to Congressional leadership last week, groups including the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP), National Association of Police Officers (NAPO), and Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association (FLEOA) called for U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH)’s FEND Off Fentanyl Act (S. 1271) to be... Read More »
Last week, a new bill introduced in both chambers of Congress – the Federal Cybersecurity Workforce Expansion Act – proposed improving U.S. cyber defenses and its cybersecurity workforce through two new federal training programs.
“There is a crippling shortage of cybersecurity workers that... Read More »
The Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) awarded $3.15 million to the Critical Infrastructure Resilience Institute at the University of Illinois to develop Next Generation 911 interoperability testing.
NG911 systems allow for interconnection among... Read More »
Under legislation recently proposed by a collection of six senators – the Traveler Privacy Protection Act – the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) would be banned from using facial recognition technology and collecting facial biometric data at airports in the United States.... Read More »
In a letter to the chairman and ranking members of the Senate and House Armed Services Committees, a group of federal lawmakers this week urged strong language be added to the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) to keep sensitive technologies from American adversaries.
“There is... Read More »
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) earned a U.S. patent this week for its Homeland Explosive Consequence Assessment Tool (HExCAT), which offers a unique modeling system for emergency managers.
“With the HExCAT, response planners are now... Read More »
While the Fentanyl Eradication and Narcotics Deterrence (FEND) Off Fentanyl Act has made it into the National Defense bill, U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) this week publicly pressed for its enactment and called on the Biden administration for more resources to counter illicit drugs.
FEND Off... Read More »
As a means to protect the U.S. supply chain, the inaugural meeting of the White House Council on Supply Chain Resilience recently saw the announcement of a new Supply Chain Resilience Center (SCRC) to analyze vulnerabilities and collaborate with the private sector.
Primarily, the new... Read More »
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and the U.K. National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) recently released joint guidelines for secure AI system development.
These guidelines were targeted at developers of any systems that use... Read More »
After 73 days on patrol, the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Legare returned to Virginia last week, concluding a mission that took it from oil discharge response to interdictions of unlawful migrant vessels.
In ranging from the Windward Passage to the South Florida Straits, the vessel covered more than... Read More »
