NOAA intends to award an indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract vehicle to cloud service providers to support the NOAA cloud strategy, which aims to enable direct access to hyperscale cloud services at all organizational levels, according to a sources sought notice posted on Wednesday.
The agency said the CSPs must be headquartered in the United States, with its primary data centers and critical infrastructure located within the country.
They must also demonstrate direct control over infrastructure changes, including the integration of advanced cloud technologies such as elastic computing, storage and network infrastructure; enhanced security measures; and advanced data analytics capabilities that support scientific research and data collaboration.
Other requirements include having multiple large-scale data centers in each region, with a total of at least 20 data centers, and the capability to support hundreds of thousands of servers, virtual machines and containers and handle petabytes to exabytes of data.
Interested parties have until Oct. 30 to respond to the notice.
The mission-focused technology services company said Monday Biddick will oversee the execution and quality assurance of its programs, including digital transformation, artificial intelligence, machine learning, cybersecurity and information technology, while ensuring compliance with business strategies and technological advancements.
Before joining ManTech, Biddick served as VP and managing partner at Gartner for almost four years. He supervised the growth and delivery of the national security consulting provider’s applied research offerings.
Biddick founded Fusion PPT in 2009 and served as the IT consulting company’s CEO for 12 years. He also spent a decade at Windward Consulting as executive VP and chief technology officer and as a strategic enterprise network consultant at Booz Allen Hamilton (NYSE: BAH).
Bonnie Cook, EVP and chief performance officer at ManTech, said, “With a 25-year track record of proven expertise in tech consulting and entrepreneurship, Michael excels at building high-performing teams leveraging technology-enabled capabilities, software tools, effective performance measures and indicators to support client and program requirements.”
In his new role, Adinolfi will lead DZYNE’s cloud transformation and compliance initiatives while ensuring information systems, information security strategies and compliance strategies align with business objectives.
Adinolfi previously worked as Director of Information Technology at High Point Aerotechnologies, which was acquired by DZYNE in June, and as a security consultant at GuidePoint Security and Rapid7.
The security veteran spent eight years at Adjusters International Pacific Northwest as Director of IT and security and later Chief Information Security Officer. As CISO, he supervised the development of systems, policies, and procedures for security enhancement for the company and its clients.
Adinolfi held several other security-related roles, including 13 years as a security consultant at Black Pine Cyber, Systems Architect at Davis Wright Tremaine, Systems Administrator and Application Analyst at K&L Gates and Network Operations lead at RealNetworks.
Before joining the industry, Adinolfi was a paratrooper in the U.S. Army’s 82nd Airborne Division and a mechanized infantryman in the National Guard. He also volunteered as a crew chief with the Snohomish County Helicopter Rescue Team and Snohomish County Search and Rescue.
Stucki announced his appointment at DTC in a LinkedIn post published Monday.
The U.S. Air Force Reserve lieutenant colonel most recently served as director of business development for Leonardo DRS’ land electronics business, where he led the capture and proposal process and was responsible for strategy and business development expansion through customer engagement efforts.
His industry career included time holding business development leadership positions at several companies, including Noble, Systel, L3 Wescam, ATK and Talent Alliance.
HomeContract AwardsAeroVironment Receives $743M Army Contract Ceiling Increase for Switchblade Systems
The U.S. Army has awarded AeroVironment (Nasdaq: AVAV) an additional contract ceiling of $743 million to continue producing Switchblade loitering munition systems for the military branch and several allied countries, including Sweden, Lithuania and Romania.
The company said Monday the award includes a $54.9 million delivery order issued under the previously awarded indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for Switchblade systems and leverages the Army’s fiscal 2023 and 2024 funds and foreign military sales funds.
“This contract allows us to continue delivering Switchblade systems to the U.S. Army and allied partners at speed with upgraded capabilities based on real-time battlefield feedback,” said Brett Hush, senior vice president and general manager of loitering munition systems at AeroVironment.
The company will perform work in Simi Valley, California, through June 30, 2026.
According to a presolicitation published Friday, the proposed Western Regional Multiple Award Construction Contracts will be a total small business set-aside program and will cover construction work in Northern and Southern California.
Construction work under the indefinity-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract vehicle will occur at NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center, Ames Research Center, NASA Office of JPL Management and Oversight and Edwards Air Force Base.
The contract may also include other locations, including Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex and Santa Susana Field Laboratory in California.
The space agency expects to issue the RFP by Nov. 1 and anticipates receiving offers by Dec. 13.
All contractual and technical questions or comments on the contract synopsis should be submitted on or before Oct. 25.
Margaret Palmieri/Department of Defense; Sean Moriarty/PrimerAI
The Department of Defense introduced its Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office, or CDAO, in early 2022, out of a dissatisfaction with the progress made by the Joint Artificial Intelligence Center, known as the JAIC. In the two and a half years since the CDAO’s establishment, though, how much progress has the Pentagon made with this rapidly growing technology?
AI in the DOD: By the Numbers
Deputy CDAO Margaret Palmieri said at a recent conference that the DOD is currently utilizing more than 1,000 AI programs, fueled by about $1.5 billion in funding. Its uses include as an enabling agent for DOD staff and warfighters and for other technological systems.
“How do we look through our current portfolio, pull across the capabilities that may be in the research and development phase now, but have to get into the hands of operators, have to be tested and evaluated and trained, and make sure that we’ve got good pipelines to do that?” Palmieri said of where her and her office’s minds are currently on the subject.
Want to gain a deeper understanding of AI’s defense applications and the other technologies that are currently being researched and integrated? Register for the Potomac Officers Club’s 2025 Defense R&D Summit. This January event, now over a decade running, is a central gathering for contractors working with the DOD. Last year’s event featured Heidi Shyu as the opening keynote speaker. Don’t miss out!
An Opposing Viewpoint
At another recent conference, Sean Moriarty, CEO of PrimerAI, contended that the DOD isn’t taking full advantage of the AI opportunities available to it. He said “the gap is enormous” between the progress being made in the private sector and that of the government.
From Moriarty’s perspective, the DOD needs to come together and collectively embrace and deliver strategies that prioritize AI — as opposed to, potentially, just leaving it up to the CDAO.
“I think the big challenge upon us now is we recognize the world is increasingly dangerous. Can we actually get ahead, or is the necessary forcing function a terrible event which allows us to just rip out these barriers to innovation and response?” wondered the PrimerAI chief executive.
Effective AI Implementation in the DOD
Large-scale, reorienting geopolitical events have thus far influenced the DOD to take AI more seriously, Moriarty said. In the timeframe directly after Hamas’ retaliation against Israeli occupation of Palestine on Oct. 7, 2023, the Pentagon was able to tap into generative AI to help sort through and disregard misinformation and biased sources about the events.
Similarly, at the Potomac Officers Club’s GovCon International Summit on Thursday, U.S. Central Command Chief Technology Officer Schuyler Moore said large language models are doing valuable work as the first line of defense when determining if data is releasable to foreign allies or not. Before, human officials might have labeled a whole dataset as unfit for international eyes based off one small part of the intelligence, but now LLMs are able to be simultaneously faster and more thorough (though Moore assured the audience that human oversight would of course need to take place at a later stage.)
AI also serves a more subsidiary—and frankly, abstract—role at the DOD. In her remarks, Palmieri said, “AI is kind of like electricity. It’s not a specific thing. It’s an enabler of a bunch of different mission areas.”
To support this function, the CDAO deputy shared that the Defense Department is working on building up an AI-fluent workforce, equipping itself with the appropriate compute and putting in place effective learning models.
Executive Mosaic’s GovCon Index maintained a winning streak last week, closing 0.65% higher than the previous week. This increase lifted the average to $5,505.35.
GovCon Index gathers and displays data on the stock market performance of 30 major government contracting companies in real time. With this information, users can evaluate the financial standing of each tracked organization and gain key insights into the broad trends characterizing today’s GovCon market.
V2X claimed the top spot last week with gains of 8.52%. Palantir (+8.04%) came in second, and Honeywell (+5.65%) was third. Aerovironment, which grew by 3.45%, secured fourth place, and The Carlyle Group (+2.88%) achieved the fourth spot in the ranks.
GovCon Index had a slow start last week, but an increase of 0.44% on Tuesday reversed Monday’s losses. Though Thursday brought a drop of 1.05%, Friday’s 1.44% rise pushed GovCon Index up overall, marking its fourth consecutive week in positive territory.
According to the proposed rule published in the Federal Register on Thursday, the DFARS amendment would revise the joint venture eligibility requirements and nonmanufacturer rule applicability to contracts awarded under the partnership agreement between the Department of Defense and the Small Business Administration.
The revision aims to align the DFARS with the Federal Acquisition Regulation changes allowing joint ventures to submit responses to solicitations for program acquisitions processed under the agreement.
This proposed rule also includes removing the kit assembler rule set and the nonmanufacturer rule requirements in the DFARS to align with the FAR’s nonmanufacturer rule, which specifies the requirements for all socioeconomic categories.
The DOD invites small businesses and other interested parties to comment on the expected impact of the proposed rule on small entities.
The NSF said Thursday the expansion into the southeastern United States, part of the three-year plan to expand to 10 regionally focused NSF Convergence Accelerators, is meant to drive advancement in research, innovation and workforce development and tackle societal and economic challenges within the area.
According to the notice, the NSF Convergence Accelerator is seeking an organization to serve as the southeast regional anchor. The selected party will supervise the implementation of the program’s model and oversee operations at the regional level as NSF’s representative.
Only proposers from the southeastern U.S. are eligible for the funding opportunity. Interested parties have until Nov. 21 to submit their proposals.
Erwin Gianchandani, assistant director for NSF Technology, Innovation and Partnerships, or TIP, stressed the TIP directorate’s commitment to accelerating technology and innovation.
“With initiatives like the NSF Convergence Accelerator regionalization, we are sparking the development of cutting-edge technologies and delivering practical solutions for the everyday challenges Americans face, while also building a workforce comprising all Americans and fueling economic growth,” Gianchandani said.
Douglas Maughan, section head for the NSF Convergence Accelerator, added, “After a successful launch in the Midwest, we hope to continue to build momentum in the Southeast Region, seeking organizations with a diverse set of expertise and capabilities to implement our program.”
