News
Raytheon to design, maintain air traffic management system for New York UAS testing corridor
The Raytheon Company has been selected to help design, build and support a next-generation air traffic management system for an unmanned aircraft system (UAS) testing airspace corridor in New York State, the Northeast UAS Airspace Integration Research (NUAIR) Alliance announced on Thursday.... Read More »
Prioritize transnational biothreats now, experts warn
America’s response to potential worldwide biological threats — either naturally occurring or imposed by terrorists — must evolve, experts told the Blue Ribbon Study Panel on Biodefense during its April 25 public meeting addressing current transnational biothreats and the global security... Read More »
Aurora Flight Services first for Lockheed’s new multi-vehicle remote control software
Lockheed Martin announced Tuesday its first U.S. customer, Aurora Flight, for a new vehicle control software -- the Vehicle Control Station software VCSi -- that boasts the ability to control dozens of unmanned vehicles at the same time. The decision was made by Aurora Flight and Lockheed... Read More »
TSA PreCheck initiative adds six international carriers
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) had added six international airlines to its PreCheck program, the administration announced on Wednesday. The six new partnering airlines include Air Serbia, Condor Airlines, Porter Airlines, Scandinavian Airlines, Thomas Cook Airlines (UK), and... Read More »
Air Force selects locations for three B-21 Raider aircraft
The Air Force announced Wednesday that it will host the new B-21 Raider aircraft at three existing bomber bases beginning in the mid-2020s. The B-21 Raider will replace B-1 Lancer and B-2 Spirit aircraft at Dyess Air Force Base (AFB), Texas; Ellsworth AFB, South Dakota; and Whiteman AFB,... Read More »
FEMA National Level Exercise aims to improve preparedness, readiness for catastrophic events
Government agencies, private organizations, and individuals have been invited to take part in the biannual the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) National Level Exercise being held through May 11 to vet lessons learned during the 2017 hurricane season. The 2018 National Level... Read More »
DHS S&T, TSA seeks small business solicitations to enhance security screening technology
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) invited small businesses to submit ideas to enhance security screening to the Silicon Valley Innovation Program (SVIP) on Wednesday for a chance to receive up... Read More »
Monthly terror threat assessment reports three ISIS leaders killed in April
A U.S. airstrike killed ISIS leaders in the Faryab province of Afghanistan and eastern Syria, and the Egyptian military killed an ISIS leader in the Sinai Peninsula last month, according to a monthly terror threat assessment released by the U.S. House Homeland Security Committee on Wednesday.... Read More »
Mosquito, tick and flea-based illness cases triple in U.S.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there has been a troubling rise in cases of illness associated with mosquito, tick and flea bites in the United States over the last 13 years; in fact, cases have tripled. More than 640,000 cases of illness were reported during... Read More »
Grant award targets malaria drug research
Wellcome Trust has earmarked a $3.6 million grant award as a means of aiding the malaria drug research process. Officials said the funding allotment would benefit the work of researchers from Australia's Walter and Eliza Hall Institute and Merck & Co., Inc., which is known as MSD in Australia,... Read More »
U.S. Navy awards Engility $90 million enterprise services support task order
Engility Holdings, Inc. recently announced that it was awarded a five-year, $90 million task order to provide software engineering and production support to the U.S. Navy's tactical afloat and submarine local area networks. Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center Atlantic awarded the Tactical... Read More »
CBP announces expansion of ROAM pilot program for small boaters in boundary waters
In an effort to enhance security in the boundary waters between the United States and Canada, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced on Tuesday that it has expanded pilot locations for its Reporting Offsite Arrival-Mobile (ROAM) application for operators of small boats. The ROAM... Read More »
NTI cites verifiable, irreversible denuclearization as critical challenge in North Korea talks
Ahead of an anticipated meeting between President Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un later this month, the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) noted on Tuesday that the “critical question” is whether North Korea is willing to relinquish nuclear facilities, materials, and bombs in a “verifiable,... Read More »
DHS S&T takes part in weeks-long assessment of National Security Cutters’ capabilities
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) recently collaborated with the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Coast Guard (USGC) to assess critical mission capabilities of two National Security Cutters (NSC) through weeks of at-sea testing. The cutters, the USCGC... Read More »
Lehigh University engineers awarded NIH grant to track ebola spread via bat migration
Engineers from Lehigh University have earned themselves a 3-year grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to support an unusual means of Ebola outbreak prediction by tracking the ecological factors of bat migration patterns. The effort follows A New England Journal of Medicine study... Read More »
NATO team wins Locked Shields live-fire cyber exercise
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) announced Monday that the NATO “Blue team,” made up of 30 cyber defenders, won Locked Shields 2018, the world’s largest live-fire cyber exercise. The exercise required participants to counter high-intensity attacks on a fictitious country’s... Read More »
Rep. Donovan hosts security officials for school safety roundtable
Rep. Dan Donovan (R-NY) hosted on Monday senior officials from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), New York City Police Department (NYPD), and the New York City Department of Education (DOE) for a roundtable discussion on school... Read More »
New Florida Lockheed Martin manufacturing facility set to begin production this month
Lockheed Martin plans to bring a new manufacturing facility online later this month in Pinellas Park, Florida, that will assemble canopies and bulkheads for the F-35 Lightning II program, the company announced at a formal opening on Monday. The new facility boasts 65,000 square feet of... Read More »
White House cites “new” information on Iranian nuclear ambitions following presentation by Israeli prime minister
Amid conflicting reports about a presentation by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Iran’s alleged nuclear ambitions, the White House said on Monday it is consistent with what the United States has long known in that Iran currently has a clandestine nuclear weapons... Read More »
Democratic senators call on appropriators to rein in Trump administration immigration enforcement
Citing “indiscriminate enforcement” of immigration laws, a Democratic coalition of senators called on U.S. Senate appropriators on Friday to reject the Trump administration’s request for border wall funding, additional border patrol agents and additional Immigration and Customs Enforcement... Read More »
German Society for Disaster Medicine to hold first DGKM-CBRN Forum on May 5
Relief units and firefighters, police, rescue services and disaster management emergency physicians are all too familiar with the process of caring for patients who have become ill, or were injured by contact with chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear (CBRN) agents, according to the German... Read More »
Sen. Portman urges committee to continue funding Stryker vehicle modernization
U.S. Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH) recently led a letter to Senate Armed Services Committee Chair John McCain (R-AZ) and Ranking Member Jack Reed (D-RI) urging the continuation of funding for modernizing Stryker A1 Vehicles in the fiscal year 2019 National Defense Authorization Act. The funding would... Read More »
HHS partners with Proniras to develop nerve agent-induced seizure countermeasure
Until now, a deadly effect of certain chemical weapons has been unstoppable seizures that can lead to death or brain damage, but a partnership between the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Proniras Corporation seeks to develop a drug treatment to end those effects. HHS’... Read More »
U.S. House advances Disaster Reform Recovery Act
The U.S. House of Representatives recently advanced the Disaster Recovery Reform Act (DRRA), which proposes broad reforms at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). DRRA, introduced by U.S. Rep. Lou Barletta (R-PA), was included in the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018, H.R. 4. DRRA... Read More »
Researchers pinpoint potential spread of yellow fever
Scientists have determined the yellow fever virus has the potential to spread into cities around the world where it previously hasn't been seen. The study findings of St. Michael's Hospital in Toronto published in the Bulletin of the World Health Organization detailed the mapping of yellow fever... Read More »
Tester calls on Attorney General to back bill extending anti-drug grant programs
After U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions called the opioid epidemic the “deadliest drug crisis in our nation’s history” during an address to members of Montana law enforcers on Friday, U.S. Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT) called for support of legislation he introduced to continue critical anti-drug... Read More »
Bipartisan senators introduce bill to reauthorize COPS hiring program
A bipartisan coalition of senators introduced legislation on Friday that would reauthorize the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) program through fiscal year 2023 to help law enforcement agencies at all levels hire new personnel and provide training and technical assistance. In fiscal... Read More »
New technique allows quickened detection of virus in bodily fluids
Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard researchers have created a new tool that better prepares the CRISPR-based diagnostic tool, SHERLOCK, for rapid response to viral outbreaks. The updates allow clinicians to quickly and cheaply diagnose patient samples and track epidemic spread directly in... Read More »
U.S. Army awards BAE systems contract to develop missile warning system for aircraft
The U.S. Army recently awarded BAE Systems a contract worth up to $97.9 million to develop a Quick Reaction Capability (QRC) next-generation missile warning system for aircraft. Under the Limited Interim Missile Warning System (LIMWS) contract, the company’s 2-Color Advanced Warning System... Read More »
Sens. Collins, King announce support for “red flag” bill
U.S. Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME) and Angus King (I-ME) recently announced their support for the Extreme Risk Protection Order and Violence Prevention Act. The legislation is designed to encourage states to give law enforcement the authority to prevent individuals who pose a threat to themselves... Read More »
Bipartisan legislation to assist law enforcement identify fentanyl, illegal substances
A new federal grant program would help state and local police departments purchase screening equipment that can rapidly identify fentanyl and other dangerous substances in the field under a bill introduced in the U.S. Senate on Thursday. Under the Providing Officers with Electronic Resources... Read More »
House panel probes border security, sanctuary cities, immigration law loopholes
U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen testified before a House panel on Thursday about border security, sanctuary cities, immigration law loopholes exploited by transnational gangs, and deployment of the U.S. National Guard to the southern border. During a U.S. House Homeland... Read More »
Bipartisan effort to improve bioterrorism, pandemic response drafted in Senate HELP Committee
Bipartisan members of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee released a discussion draft on Thursday aimed at improving the nation’s ability to prepare for and respond to deliberate bioterrorist attacks or naturally occurring pandemics in the United States. The draft... Read More »
GAO recommends closer relationship between DHS, Congress to improve spending oversight
The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) made a three-point recommendation regarding the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) this week, after finding that their current budget reporting fails to account for how much it actually spends on its acquisitions. The issue is that DHS... Read More »