As we say goodbye to the JEDI cloud contract, the DoD ushers in a new cloud effort. So, if you were waiting for things to settle down the first time, if you just wait a little longer, you can be on the Joint Warfighter Cloud Capability (JWCC), which is a multi cloud/multi-vendor IDIQ contract. The Pentagon wants proposals from Microsoft and Amazon Web Services (AWS), as market research has narrowed down the selection process a bit already. But that doesn’t mean that other U.S.-based Cloud Service Providers (CSPs) can’t meet the DoD’s requirements. So, while there’s no Star Wars themes for this acronym, the need for cloud capabilities continues to remain unfulfilled for the DoD. Although the Joint All Domain Command and Control (JADC2) and the Artificial Intelligence and Data Acceleration (ADA) initiative have met some needs, some gaps still exist.
“JEDI was developed at a time when the Department’s needs were different and both the CSPs technology and our cloud conversancy was less mature. In light of new initiatives like JADC2 and AI and Data Acceleration (ADA), the evolution of the cloud ecosystem within DoD, and changes in user requirements to leverage multiple cloud environments to execute mission, our landscape has advanced and a new way-ahead is warranted to achieve dominance in both traditional and non-traditional warfighting domains,” said John Sherman, acting DoD Chief Information Officer.
Contract Opportunities to Watch
| Raytheon | Raytheon Missiles & Defense was awarded a $2 billion contract for the engineering, manufacturing, and development of the Long-Range Standoff Weapon on a sole-source acquisition with the U.S. Air Force. The work will be performed in Tucson, Arizona, and is expected to be completed in February 2027.
The LRSO is the replacement for the aging AGM-86B Air Launched Cruise Missile. The ALCM was fielded in the early 1980s with a 10-year design life. The aging ALCM will continue to face increasingly significant operational challenges against emerging anti-access/area-denial threats until replaced. “The LRSO program office capitalized on a pioneering reliability and manufacturing approach to establish a very capable and mature design during the Technology Maturation and Risk Reduction phase,” said Maj. Gen. Anthony W. Genatempo, AFNWC commander and Air Force program executive officer for strategic systems. “The team has continued that approach with its EMD strategy to provide the best overall value to the warfighter and taxpayers, while meeting the nation’s deterrence needs in the future.” “The LRSO team has strived for nearly three years to ensure the Air Force achieved a stable cruise missile design meeting the nation’s requirement for a credible air-delivered nuclear deterrent for many years to come,” said Elizabeth T. Thorn, LRSO program manager. “Awarding the EMD contract marks our next step in finalizing development, fully maturing our manufacturing techniques, and proving LRSO meets its operational requirements.” |
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Key Employer in the Cleared Industry
| Jacobs | Jacobs has 52,000 employees across 50 countries working every day, challenging the expectations of today to reinvent the way we’ll all live tomorrow. Join their team.
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Cleared Job of the Week
| Background Investigator | Background investigators are critical to the government’s personnel security program. Although investigators aren’t responsible for deciding who gets a security clearance, they are the fact finders who search and confirm information related to an individual’s security clearance application. You could say that behind every clearance is a background investigator.
According to the Association of Certified Background Investigators (ACBI), there are four ways to serve as a background investigator: the federal route, contract investigators, sub-contract investigators, and employee investigators. Typical experience requirements are “3 – 5 years federal, military or law enforcement investigation.” And if you don’t want to be in the same waiting game as everyone else, having a current security clearance in hand is a huge advantage. With the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency (DCSA) on point to conduct over two million background investigations per year on federal employees, contractors, and military applicants. there’s a lot of information to gather, process, and review. So, that means, the background investigator’s days are filled with interviewing the friends, family members, and colleagues of security clearance applicants. And of course, writing reports. If you’re into researching and talking with people, and documenting and organizing everything, the background investigator could be your next career move in national security. |
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Growth Opportunities
In 2021, shipbuilding meets cybersecurity, and they decide to join forces. Huntington Ingalls plans to pay $1.7 billion to acquire Alion, a cybersecurity and research and development company. Alion brings its staff of 3,500 (with most of them holding security clearances) and $3 billion contract backlog to the table. Huntington Ingalls is the largest military shipbuilder in the U.S., and while it has expanded into cybersecurity over the years, Alion will position the organization for Navy simulation and training work, in addition to military intelligence support. Pending regulatory approval, the acquisition will be in the bag before the end of 2021.
Huntington President and CEO Mike Peters said: “Today’s announcement, coupled with our previous investments in leading edge technologies, such as cybersecurity and autonomous systems, reflects our commitment to stay on the cutting edge of critical, high-growth national security solutions and generate significant long-term value for our shareholders.”
