BAE Systems said Wednesday the Integrated Combat Solution allows combat vehicles to transmit critical information such as video streams, metadata, target data and slew-to-cue commands during missions. These capabilities enable warfighters in the field to respond quickly to potential threats.
Under the agreement, Kongsberg will develop the ICS tool while BAE Systems will integrate it into the fleet of combat vehicles of the U.S. Army and Marine Corps. The collaboration will also cover support for technology advancements throughout the product lifecycles. This includes developing advanced capabilities to keep up with the emerging technologies in the field of warfare.
The ICS utilizes an open-systems approach for seamless integration on any battlefield platform with a weapon system and built-in sensors, enhancing troop safety and survivability.
In addition, the tool’s integrated network enables it to link the sensors on different battlefield assets together. With this feature, users can control weapon stations, turrets, jammers and other effectors from a single interface inside the vehicle.
Andy Corea, vice president and general manager of combat mission systems at BAE Systems, stressing the importance of fast and seamless dissemination of information on the field, stated, “The combined talents of Kongsberg’s innovation and expertise in remote weapon systems and our lead systems integration capability provides the warfighter the opportunity to obtain fully integrated enhanced combat capability — helping them stay aware and unmatched in battle.”
Kjetil Reiten Myhra, executive vice president of defence systems at Kongsberg, added, “This force multiplier streamlines complicated threat responses, networking mobility platforms and other assets for increased combat capability.”
The GovCon market is facing some degree of uncertainty as the presidential election approaches and a continuing resolution puts a pause on funding growth. But one thing GovCon leaders know for certain is that the defense and government markets are rife with opportunities and poised for significant growth.
At the Raymond James 2024 Defense and Government Conference, CEOs from some of the most powerful players in the GovCon space shared their thoughts on an AI-powered future, the 2025 market outlook, the complex geopolitical environment and more in a panel discussion led by Andy McEnroe, a managing director in the defense and government services investment banking group at Raymond James.
Curious about the future of defense technology? Don’t miss the 2025 Defense R&D Summit hosted by the Potomac Officers Club on Jan. 23. Government decision makers, defense experts and industry leaders will converge to discuss what lies ahead for defense at this can’t-miss event. Join the conversation at the 2025 Defense R&D Summit.
How Government Contractors Are Approaching AI
Artificial intelligence has seen a major boom in the last couple of years, catalyzed by significant advancements in the generative AI field. Today, GovCon leaders believe AI will become as ubiquitous across the public and private sectors as technologies like cell phones and the internet.
For Parsons CEO, Chair and President Carey Smith, AI and machine learning are deeply embedded in the organization. Externally, Parsons is using AI in use cases like traffic management and energy response management. And on the federal side, the company is harnessing AI in counter unmanned air systems and cybersecurity. Smith, a six-time Wash100 Award winner, also illustrated some internal use cases.
“We apply [AI] for example to proposal management,” Smith explained. “We’re using it to determine if we’re going to win or lose a job — by the way, it has 92 percent accuracy on that. We apply it to cash forecast. We’ve trained our workforce, all 19,000 employees are going to be trained in AI. So for us, I just say it’s ingrained.”
Cubic CEO Stevan Slijepcevic, Cubic Board Chairman Mac Curtis and Parsons CEO Carey Smith — all Wash100 Award winners — at the Raymond James 2024 Defense & Government Conference. Photo by EM.
AI & Unmanned Systems In Defense
Companies like AeroVironment are using AI to power drones, making some defense missions much faster and more efficient, according to CEO, Chairman and President Wahid Nawabi.
“We have the technology today that we can put on one of our drones… to say, ‘Just go in this direction, go out 100 miles and find this particular target.’ It will go 100 plus miles, and it’ll find that target with more confidence and fidelity than five humans combined, even 50 humans combined in terms of the ability to actually search an area,” said Nawabi.
“It’s tested, it is valid, I have seen it with my own eyes. That has an enormous value to our national security. If we don’t do it, our competitors will,” he warned.
By and large, the defense landscape is embracing drones as a means to project power and combat the tyranny of time and distance in critical theaters around the world. GovCon leaders see unmanned systems as the future of defense — the looming question is: Can the U.S. embrace them fast enough?
“The biggest lesson learned in Ukraine is that while you always will have room and need for these big assets, a certain percentage and portion of our national defense budget has to shift towards uncrewed systems that are interconnected at the edge of the battlefield,” said Nawabi.
“The war in Ukraine is a very, very distributed war. I call it an intelligent distributed warfare of robotic systems,” added Nawabi. “Ground robots, air robots, water robots, space robots — they have to work together with AI and autonomy for them to actually make maneuvers and strategic decisions on the battlefield with much, much smaller forces. That fundamental shift is happening across the entire globe. Every military in the world is going to shift to some extent.”
AI Regulation In GovCon
AI is still somewhat nascent, and the federal government is trying to wrap its arms around how to approach it from a policy and regulatory perspective. But GovCon leaders agree that too much regulation could be a bad thing.
“What does that regulation look like? Should there be regulation? How does your business prepare for that?” asked Matt Tait, ManTech CEO and two-time Wash100 Award winner. “I would say we believe that there should be some regulation, and it should be standards-based, and it should be agreed upon by the government as well as private industry.”
For BlueHalo CEO Jonathan Moneymaker, another Wash100 Award winner, that regulation will need to take into consideration a variety of different use cases, from internal optimization to weapons systems on the battlefield.
“I agree with the standard-based approach. I think the application is critically important,” said Moneymaker. “Looking at AI from an internal standpoint versus a combat scenario are two very different things. And we need to, I think, figure out what the right level of policy [is].”
GovCon Market Outlook Going Into 2025
Continuing Resolutions
Congress passed a stopgap bill on Sep. 25, averting a government shutdown but perpetuating budget uncertainty for fiscal year 2025. The way GovCon CEOs approach continuing resolutions, or CRs, slightly differs — some say CRs are expected and they’ve learned to adapt, while others say that’s not how contractors should have to operate. Either way, all agree that they’re harmful to the industry and the country as a whole.
“We need Congress to do their job,” said Tait. “No new starts in defense. This is giving our adversaries an advantage, and we should not allow that as a country.”
M&A Outlook
Even with the uncertainty of a looming presidential election, government contractors have remained active in pursuing organic and inorganic growth. Raymond James reported that Q2 of 2024 saw 122 GovCon M&A deals — a 63 percent increase from the prior year period. Parsons, for example, has signaled that it plans to make a couple more deals this year.
“We’ve bought 12 companies in the last six years, and we’ve indicated this year we’ll do at least three deals. We’ve already made one so far this year,” said Smith.
For BlueHalo and Moneymaker, scaling is the major focus for their next phase of growth.
“How do we now take these systems that have been introduced in a disruptive manner into the force? How do we now deploy them at scale? So a tremendous amount of investment over the last couple years around scaling our manufacturing,” he said.
Tait shared that ManTech is laser-focused on national security and on the combination of the company’s capabilities. The growth they anticipate will be in their core areas and with their key customers like the Department of Defense and the Intelligence Community.
Nawabi highlighted the importance of independent research and development, or IRAD, in AeroVironment’s growth strategy.
“I’ve been with the company for 15 years, and I’ve never had a year that we haven’t invested less than 10 percent in IRAD,” Nawabi said. “We invest a lot in R&D as a company. It’s over $200 million a year in this category, and it’s all based on robotic systems.”
HomeExecutive MovesFormer National Cyber Director Chris Inglis Joins MITRE Board
Chris Inglis, the former national cyber director, deputy director of the National Security Agency and a Wash100 Award recipient, has joined MITRE’s board of trustees. In a statement published Thursday, Mark Peters, president and CEO of MITRE, said Inglis’ cybersecurity and national security leadership experience will be an asset to the not-for-profit corporation.
“For more than 50 years, MITRE has equipped the global community of cyber professionals with open-sourced frameworks and tools for threat-informed defense,” Peters stated. “I look forward to collaborating with Chris and our Board of Trustees, gleaning their insights as we tackle continued threats to our nation’s safety.”
Who is Chris Inglis?
Inglis was the White House’s first-ever national cyber director, a position established under the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021. In this role, he advised the president on matters of cybersecurity policy and strategy and provided scientific and technological analysis.
He stepped down in 2023 and was succeeded by Harry Coker, a former senior executive at the CIA and the NSA.
Before the White House, the cybersecurity and national security expert was a U.S. Naval Academy Looker Distinguished Visiting Professor and a commissioner on the U.S. Cyberspace Solarium Commission.
He also served in the military in the U.S. Air Force and Air National Guard for over 30 years, becoming a brigadier general and with the rating of command pilot by the time of his retirement.
Throughout his illustrious career in the government and military, Inglis received multiple awards such as the President’s National Security Medal and the Director of National Intelligence Distinguished Service Medal.
HomeExecutive MovesClarity Innovations Appoints Jason Bonci as Senior Vice President
Software developer Clarity Innovations has appointed Jason Bonci, former chief technology officer of the Department of the Air Force, as senior vice president. Bonci’s new role calls for driving company growth by aligning engineering and business resources and propelling integration of new systems and data solutions, Clarity Innovations said Thursday.
Wes Daniels, CEO and co-founder of the Columbia, Maryland-based company, called Bonci “the perfect addition” to its management team, citing his knowledge of government strategy and capability to implement vital technology platforms. The mindset that Bonci brings will be vital as Clarity pursues growth with national security and defense partners, including Capitol Meridian, Daniels added.
Before his Air Force stint of over three years, Bonci worked for more than 14 years at Akamai Technologies, with senior director of public sector engineering as his last post in the company, according to his LinkedIn profile.
A graduate of Southern New Hampshire University, Bonci is an advisory board member of cybersecurity company Appgate and Plenoptic Cognition.
As the U.S. military operates in an increasingly competitive multi-domain landscape, officials believe the nation and its international partners must prepare to fight and win in contested logistics environments.
During a panel discussion titled “The Importance of Logistics and Sustainment in Deterrence” at the Potomac Officers Club’s GovCon International Summit on Oct. 10, experts discussed ways in which the military can tackle a contested environment and how the Department of Defense, alongside allies, can maintain deterrence and readiness.
Patrick Kelleher, deputy assistant secretary of defense for materiel readiness within the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition & Sustainment, said, “Contested logistics is what we think about every day and the challenges associated with overcoming contested logistics, and it’s integral to deterrence.”
“Deterrence posture generally equates to military capability, but what logistics gives you in deterrence is depth and the ability to maneuver, operate and maintain a tempo that your adversary can’t sustain,” Kelleher stated.
The Departments of State and Defense are developing international deterrence strategies for allies to face adversaries. Laura Cressey, director of the Office of Regional Security and Arms Transfers within the U.S. Department of State, said partners value the U.S. contribution to global security cooperation.
“One of the main things we do with our Department of Defense colleagues is really help shape allied and partner contributions to deterrence strategies. As the State Department, one of the main things we can bring to bear as a tool of diplomacy is helping manage those very key relationships,” Cressey said. “I would say that a common theme that we hear from our partners around the world is that their partnership with the United States matters, the security cooperation partnership with the U.S. matters and they want to play a role. They want to live up to our expectations, and we want to make sure that we live up to their expectations.”
With these expectations, technological innovations are being integrated into modern logistics and sustainment activities to meet increased cyber-domain needs.
Mark Eddings, senior vice president of the space market at LMI, said these new technological developments raise economic questions around the economic output of commercial industry and where companies are focusing their technology and investment dollars.
To answer these questions, Eddings provided three factors that could contribute to a significant return on investment in warfighting capabilities, including manufacturing a technology roadmap, advancements in how much capabilities need to weigh and changes in how the military transports capabilities from one place to another.
Eddings spoke on recent investments in space transportation and how the industry could continue to grow.
“You can get anywhere in the world from space in less than an hour, whether you start on Earth or you’re staged up in orbit. That was a crazy idea 10 to 20 years ago before we were doing reusable launch, but reusable launch has changed everything. And then in another ten years, maybe it makes more sense to put data centers up in space than on the ground,” Eddings said.
Kelleher continued to echo the influence of logistics on military operations and even cited integrated logistics as essential to operational readiness.
“Once you get into conflict, logistics is readiness because logistics is your ability to maintain your warfighting platforms,” Kelleher emphasized.
“We are not going to be able to do what we need to do to fight and win by ourselves. Our ability to fight and win is going to be predicated on the degree to which we integrate our partners’ and allies’ capabilities and capacity regionally to offset the challenges that we have, particularly in INDO-PACOM, which are time and distance challenges,” Kelleher added.
You can learn more about the DOD’s top technology priorities and how they will be implemented in global security at the 2025 Defense R&D Summit on Jan. 23. Secure your spot at the 2025 Defense R&D Summit to gain access to insightful discussions with government and industry experts.
In a press release on Thursday, Parsons said it will compete for task orders to support USACE Northwestern Division and the Environmental Protection Agency Region 2 in conducting wetlands delineation, habitat mitigation and pollution prevention and other activities related to hazardous, toxic and radioactive waste remediation and investigation and environmental studies.
Some projects under the contract are funded by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act in support of the EPA’s cleanup efforts that protect public health and safety.
The latest award builds on Parsons’ decades-long work that helped advance the USACE mission to deliver engineering services to strengthen U.S. security and energize the economy.
“We remain committed to leveraging our proven experience, capabilities, and innovative technologies in support of USACE and EPA remediation actions to protect human health and the environment,” said Jon Moretta, president of engineered systems at Parsons.
The new contract was awarded after the company won a seat on the U.S. Army Environmental Command’s $464 million multiple-award contract for remediation services at sites involving hazardous toxic waste.
HomeC4ISRLeidos Secures $248M Navy Contract Under DODIAC Vehicle
Leidos received a follow-on contract from the Naval Information Warfare Center Pacific valued at $248 million to provide support services for unmanned and automated systems for maritime intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance, or ISR.
The company said Thursday the five-year single-award task order involves conducting research and analysis to gather and process ISR capabilities for the development of multi-sensor, unmanned underwater vehicles and other unattended and unmanned systems platforms.
According to the contract awarded under the Department of Defense Information Analysis Center’s multiple-award contract vehicle, Leidos will perform technology assessment and development, create software and hardware designs, develop prototypes and facilitate integration. The company will also conduct tests in laboratories and real-world sea conditions and provide recovery and repair services.
“This award enables Leidos to accelerate the technology needed to enhance ISR capabilities and harden the foundation for Navy operations,” stated Dave Lewis, senior vice president for sea systems at Leidos and former Wash100 Award winner. “We look forward to strengthening our partnership with NIWC PAC and addressing their needs with artificial intelligence and autonomy, integrated sensing, and cyber solutions.”
The Department of Homeland Security’s U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services plans to launch a competition for a task order for analytics, data, business intelligence and other professional IT services.
According to a notice published Oct. 11 on the Acquisition Planning Forecast System, the recompete Predictive Lake Analytics Next-Gen eXchange Services, or PLANXS II, task order has an estimated value of over $100 million.
PLANXS II covers IT architectural and systems development services to help convert data from USCIS transactional systems into an enterprise data warehouse and related operational and business intelligence reporting capabilities.
Through the task order, USCIS expects to modernize agency-wide analytical capabilities and enhance its ability to use its large pool of data for decision-making and operational improvements.
USCIS intends to issue a solicitation by December 2025 and expects to compete the task order as a small business program and award it through the NITAAC CIO-SP3 contract vehicle by the second quarter of fiscal year 2026.
Contract work is expected to occur in Camp Springs, Maryland, through May 10, 2031.
Register now for the Potomac Officers Club’s 2024 Homeland Security Summit on Nov. 13 to learn more about technology initiatives to protect the country amid the evolving geopolitical landscape.
The technology company said Thursday the transformation strategy includes an exploration of strategic alternatives for its terrestrial and wireless networks business segment, which is now under way.
According to Comtech, proceeds from the potential divestiture of the T&W segment would enable the company to strengthen its balance sheet, simplify its capital structure and capitalize on growth opportunities.
Imperial Capital serves as Comtech’s financial adviser in the T&W strategic alternatives process. Sidley Austin and Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison act as the company’s legal counsel.
Under the new strategy, the company will also pursue portfolio-shaping and operational initiatives, including assessing its satellite and space communications portfolio to identify opportunities to divest, rationalize or separate businesses and facilities that are not aligned with its go-forward focus.
As part of the portfolio-shaping efforts, Comtech decided to exit its U.K. subsidiary operations, expecting to generate about $10 million in annual cash savings.
The Chandler, Arizona-based company noted that it has initiated an intensive review of its product portfolio to direct future investments toward the most strategic opportunities within its satellite and space communications portfolio.
About Comtech’s Satellite & Space Communications Segment
The U.S. satellite and space communications segment provides advanced modems, troposcatter, high-power amplifier systems and other mission-critical technologies for the Department of Defense, U.S. Space Force, other branches of the U.S. armed forces and allied foreign governments.
The company expects DOD’s Joint All Domain Command and Control approach and USSF’s Commercial Space Strategy to drive robust demand for the business segment’s next-generation digital platforms.
The McLean, Virginia-based satellite communications company said Thursday its U.S. government business recorded $26.5 million in Q3 service revenue and ended the quarter with 141,000 government subscribers with Internet-of-Things data subscribers accounting for 55 percent of that number.
As of Sept. 30, government voice and data subscribers rose 3 percent from the same period last year to 63,000.
Iridium saw its third-quarter engineering and support revenue increase 22 percent to $30.7 million, driven by a rise in U.S. government activity, and noted that it expects its engineering and support sales to increase in 2024 as it expands work on a contract with the Space Development Agency.
The company also reported record operational EBITDA of $124.4 million, up from the prior-year period’s figure of $121.3 million.
Total billable subscribers also rose 11 percent year-over-year to 2.48 million, driven by the growth in commercial IoT subscribers.
“With our most recent award, the total value of our contract with the SDA grows to approximately 400 million since inception, of which 260 million or so remains to be recognized through 2029 with potential for additional opportunities in the future,” the chief executive told analysts.
“The increase in our scope of work on this multi-year project supports our outlook for record engineering support revenues this year,” the 2024 Wash100 Award winner added.
Under the award, the GDMS-Iridium team will work with SDA and related stakeholders to develop a ground system and oversee the integration of the ground enterprise with the agency’s Tranche 2 constellation.
Iridium’s share of the contract modification is valued at $239 million over five years.
