EXCLUSIVE: Derek Tournear reinstated as Space Development Agency director
Tournear was placed on administrative leave from his role on Jan. 16.
Tournear was placed on administrative leave from his role on Jan. 16.
The court filings do not provide a proposed schedule for the new bid process, but do reveal that it will be managed by officials who were not involved in overseeing the original contract awards.
According to several sources involved, Tournear allegedly stepped afoul of DoD contracting procedures when awarding two prototype agreements worth approximately $424 million.
Meanwhile, the company said it has no intentions of dropping its lawsuit against the federal government over L-band spectrum use.
“We are seeing the strength of the joint teams that assemble to collaborate on the challenges of deploying autonomous systems including policy, software architecture, experimentation, and more,” said Pentagon AI chief Radha Plumb.
The report from the Secure World Foundation also notes the "dismal" state of cybersecurity for space systems infrastructure.
The sale could help L3Harris pay down debt and focus as a defense supplier.
Among "gray zone" threats in space are cyberattacks against space services, attacking commercial space capabilities during conflict, and conducting proximity operations to potentially coerce others, writes Dr. John J. Klein in this analysis.
Commercial SATCOM providers have long urged DoD and the services to move from buying bandwidth in fits and starts using short-term contracts to service-style contracts that resemble a civilian’s average mobile phone or cable TV/Internet plan.
New UK defense takeovers "are a real and present danger, especially for mid-tier suppliers, who appear to be particularly vulnerable,” said Andrew Kinniburgh, director general at Make UK Defense, a manufacturing advisory body.
"I think everyone agrees that if there's a reasonable cost-based argument that paying for use does make sense," industry analyst Tim Farrar said. But "I think Elon has made that more difficult rather than less difficult because you don't normally negotiate your weapons contracts on Twitter."
The annual "State of Military Communications Technology" poll finds that only about a third of repondents believed that the Pentagon was moving quickly enough to adopt commercial technology and streamlined acquisition rules to be able to make necessary upgrades quickly.
"Viasat has been undergoing an existential crisis as it competes with SpaceX for the satcom market," one industry source said.
As the US and its partners try to exploit the benefits of 5G networks for future national security uses, the focus has largely been on security terrestrial networks. But in this analysis, Melissa K. Griffith of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars argues that those worried about 5G security need to aim higher. What […]