Nexus 23, legislative progress, and news
A save the date announcement for Nexus 23, exciting developments on the legislative front, and news that we are tracking.
The Nexus Newsletter
Welcome to the third edition of The Nexus Newsletter - a bi-weekly email newsletter covering recent announcements from Applied Intuition and important news bridging national security and autonomy.
This edition of the newsletter includes a save the date announcement for Nexus 23, exciting developments on the legislative front, and news that we are tracking.
Save the date for Nexus 23: May 17-18, 2023
We are excited to announce that the second annual Nexus symposium event will take place on May 17th and 18th, 2023 in Washington, D.C.! Following the success of this year’s Nexus 22 symposium, we are excited to bring you a two-day event that will feature an all-star lineup of expert speakers at the intersection of national security and autonomy.
Nexus 23 will feature new panel and discussion formats, additional networking opportunities, and other exciting updates that we are looking forward to sharing with you over the coming months.
We are excited to partner with the Atlantic Council’s Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security to bring you insightful discussions with national security and autonomy experts from government, academia, and industry.
Event details and registration information will be available this fall. Save the date to make sure that Nexus 23 is on your calendar!
Legislative progress on digital engineering, modeling & simulation
Policymakers in Congress, the Department of Transportation, and other agencies are increasingly seeing the value of virtual modeling and simulation tools. As Congress prioritizes investments in modeling and simulation tools for commercial AVs, national security leaders should consider how those tools can be used to accelerate the deployment of safe and effective autonomous systems in a defense context.
$3.5M for NHTSA virtual modeling & simulation included in House FY23 T-HUD appropriations bill
The House Committee on Appropriations included language in the FY23 Transportation-HUD Appropriations bill that highlights how modeling and simulation tools for digital engineering would “significantly enhance [NHTSA’s] ability to independently audit, assess and validate the safety” of advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) and autonomous vehicles (AVs). The Committee directs NHTSA to spend up to $3.5M to support “the virtual review, assessment and validation of AVs.”
Read the full text on the Committee’s website (pg. 57) or below:
“Virtual modeling and simulation.—The Committee continues to recognize the importance in DOT evaluating the safety of advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) and autonomous vehicles (AVs) to ensure readiness of infrastructure to accommodate these technologies and secure public trust. The Committee finds integration of testing and evaluation platforms using virtual simulation and synthetic data generation would significantly enhance the agency’s ability to independently audit, assess and validate the safety of these systems. Therefore, of the amounts provided under this heading, the Committee directs up to $3,500,000 to support the virtual review, assessment and validation of AVs and increased coordination with the Highly Automated Systems Safety Center of Excellence.”
FY23 defense appropriations
Policymakers in Congress outlined their spending recommendations in the House FY23 Defense Appropriations bill. The House Committee on Appropriations’ report provides funding for Research, Development, Test and Evaluation (RDT&E) programs, including programs related to the development of autonomous systems and capabilities.
Army RDT&E
The Committee recommended more than $15B for Army Research, Development, Test and Evaluation, a $1.29B increase over the FY23 budget request. Included in that funding topline are a number of recommendations for specific next-generation vehicle programs and their associated autonomy and simulation capabilities and requirements, including:
$561M for the Optionally Manned Fighting Vehicle (OMFV).
$314.9M for Next Generation Combat Vehicle Advanced Technology, which includes $3.75M in FY23 for “autonomous systems for military ground vehicles,” $15M for “digital enterprise technology for OMFV,” and $7M for a “digital twin.”
$216M for Next Generation Combat Vehicle Technology, which includes $5M for “digital design and simulated testing.”
$109.8M for the Robotic Combat Vehicle (RCV).
Additionally, on the Common Tactical Truck (CTT) program, the Committee stated their expectation that “prototypes will optimize available and emerging commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) technologies such as advanced driver assistance systems, digital design,” and more.
News we’re reading
Support for autonomous systems is gaining momentum in the national security space. Here are a few of the articles that Applied Intuition’s government team is tracking:
Bloomberg Government | Robot Tanks With Commercial Software Foreseen by Army Procurers
The US Army wants contractors to help with software used in autonomous tanks for use in combat. The first robotic-related solicitation out of the Defense Department’s Defense Innovation Unit is asking the industry to assist in evaluating current DOD software as well as provide new commercial options that can be prototyped and iterated for the Army’s Robotic Combat Vehicle (RCV) program.
Congress is on board with robotic combat vehicles. The House Armed Services Committee chairman’s mark of the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal 2023 (H.R. 7900) would direct the Army to “lay the administrative groundwork” for more procurement of AI-integrated autonomous vehicles.
Current software is “very experimental” and not yet mature, existing mainly in DOD labs, said David Michelson, DIU project manager. The goal is to be able to prototype commercial software technologies so they can eventually be deployable.
“We’re not at Level Five autonomy yet. We’ve still got a long ways to go,” Michelson said, referring to the stage in which a vehicle doesn’t require any human attention to operate. “What we’re really looking for is to develop that software for autonomous navigation, but to allow intervention and guidance and training through remote operations.”
The office is looking for industry to suggest hardware they think is best for that task. They need contractors to consider the environments that the military would operate in and the type of sensors that the military would use. The DIU is also asking that the software is built on an open architecture design framework and transferable to future DOD systems.
“This project is hopefully going to save lives by pulling soldiers and troops away from those high-risk missions while giving the ability to put a robot out there in front of troops, close to the enemy so that it can gain great situational awareness for those units and those commanders on the ground,” Michelson said.
The solicitation comes as the Army is developing unmanned vehicles through various innovation-focused channels like US Army DEVCOM Ground Vehicle Systems Center’s Project Origin and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s Robotic Autonomy in Complex Environments with Resiliency program.
During a markup of a portion of the NDAA, the House Armed Services Committee’s Subcommittee on Tactical Air and Land Forces noted that the Army’s use of autonomous vehicles has the “potential to increase efficiency, reduce workload, reduce risk, and support the lethality of ground forces.”
The most recent version of the NDAA also would direct the Army to report on the development and acquisition strategy for autonomous ground vehicles, including planned systems, projected timeline, quality and safety metrics, and viable commercial systems before January 30, 2023.
FedScoop | Army’s Optionally Manned Fighting Vehicle program entering next phase
The Army’s Optionally Manned Fighting Vehicle (OMFV) program will soon be transitioning to its detailed design and prototype phases, and the service has issued a new solicitation for the effort. The OMFV is a critical element of the Army’s next-generation combat vehicles portfolio and a top modernization priority as the service pursues new technologies.
An RFP for phases 3 and 4 of the program was released July 1, with proposals due November 1. “The purpose of Phase 3 is to conduct detailed design activities to mature OMFV designs and will culminate in a critical design review,” according to the RFP. Phase 4, which is slated to immediately follow Phase 3, will include building and testing prototypes.
The OMFV is expected to replace the Bradley infantry fighting vehicle. The system “will bring transformational change to how our ABCTs [armored brigade combat teams] fight in the future, bringing more lethality to the battlefield and reducing risk for our most valuable asset, our fighting women and men,” said Maj. Gen. Ross Coffman, director of the Army’s next-generation combat vehicles cross-functional team. In addition to providing firepower and reducing risks to soldiers, the vehicle is expected to serve as a critical node in the Army’s data networks at the platoon level by “rapidly generating, receiving, and passing information to dismounted elements, other vehicles, and command nodes.”
Air Force Magazine | Air Force to Start Tactical Autonomy Research Partnership With HBCUs
The Air Force will look to the nation’s historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) in a closed solicitation that will create the Air Force’s first university-affiliated research center. The resulting center will study tactical autonomy, with the chosen HBCU leading a consortium of other HBCUs studying the topic. The Department of the Air Force will provide $12 million per year for five years to fund the research.
“Part of the future of the military is going to be autonomy - there’s no doubt in my mind of that,” Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall said. “It’s here to stay, and we need to be at the front edge of that. This is an opportunity to tap into that,” he said. “I am very focused on the threat of Chinese military modernization and what that means in terms of our forces for the future.”
The tactical autonomy center will look at trust, collaboration between platforms, and human-machine teaming, according to Victoria Coleman, Chief Scientist of the Air Force.
The Wall Street Journal | U.S. Small-Business Programs’ Future Is Clouded by Congressional Fight
A pair of federal programs meant to help the Pentagon and others tap U.S. small-business innovation face an overhaul or outright extinction as Congress feuds over allegations their funds are being abused. The Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program and the affiliated Small Business Technology Transfer (SBTT) program are set to expire at the end of September if legislators don’t renew them.
In a June letter to six House and Senate committees reviewed by The Wall Street Journal, two Pentagon undersecretaries said failure to renew the programs means that many war-fighting needs won’t be addressed. They said, “Any lapse could result in thousands of small businesses being forced to lay off workers, or drive them to other sources of funding, to include foreign investment.” The Pentagon said in a 2019 report that by 2018 it saw a 22:1 return on investment from SBIR and STTR contracts made between 1995 and 2012.
The current legislative fight over the small-business funds centers on companies that have excelled at winning many awards, which generally total $50,000 to $750,000. Sen. Rand Paul refers to these firms as “SBIR mills,” and accuses them of gaming the system to get funding for research that largely can’t be commercialized, crowding out businesses with potentially more innovative technology. He wants to cap the number of awards one company can receive annually. Sen. Paul, along with fellow committee Republican Sen. Ernst, have urged Congress to require government agencies to vet companies seeking SBIR funding to prevent exploitation by adversaries like China.
Sen. Ben Cardin (D., Md.) and Rep. Nydia Velázquez (D., N.Y.), who lead the Senate and House small-business committees, said in statements that they are open to discussing the national-security concerns. In meetings, however, they have opposed targeting the multiple award recipients so broadly, saying those companies provide invaluable research and technology, according to people involved in the discussions.
For more on SBIRs, watch this clip from Nexus 22.
Breaking Defense | NATO leaders establish new €1B innovation fund, accelerator
On June 30th, NATO leaders launched a new innovation fund and defense innovation accelerator initiative to stay ahead of technological advancements and cyber challenges posed by Russia and China.
“Maintaining our technological edge has helped to keep our alliance strong and our nations safe for more than 70 years. But today, nations that do not share our values, like Russia and China, are challenging that lead in everything from artificial intelligence to space technologies,” said Jens Stoltenberg, NATO Secretary General. “It is essential that we do everything in our power to remain at the forefront of innovation and technology.”
The first-of-its-kind fund will invest €1 billion in startups and deep-tech funds across 22 participating nations over the next 15 years, focusing on companies developing dual-use emerging technologies of priority to NATO. According to the NATO news release, those include: artificial intelligence; big-data processing; quantum-enabled technologies; autonomy; biotechnology and human enhancement; novel materials; energy; propulsion and space.
FedScoop | New legislation includes Pentagon pilot program for negotiating software data rights
The House Armed Services Committee chairman’s mark of the FY 2023 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) includes a pilot program for the Pentagon to test the feasibility of new and unique approaches to negotiating and establishing software data rights in agreements for the procurement of software.
“This requires the Department [of Defense] to launch a pilot program to test the feasibility of unique approaches to negotiating data rights to improve speed, efficiency and effectiveness of defense acquisitions,” said one staffer on the condition of anonymity. “Data rights have obviously been a sticking point on a whole variety of acquisition programs over the years … so finding new [and] unique ways to get after that in the acquisition process is going to provide better results on the back end. That’s a lot of the thinking behind that.”
The pilot program is to be established by the secretary of Defense “not later than 18 months after the establishment of this Act,” according to the text of the chairman’s mark.
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