HASC Questions Austin, Milley on FY 2023 Priorities
This month, the House and Senate started hearings to review the President’s fiscal year (FY) 2023 budget request, including the Department of Defense’s proposal.  On April 5, 2022, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin testified alongside the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley before the House Armed Services Committee (HASC) to justify the Department’s largest funding request to date – $813 billion.  With the backdrop of the conflict in Ukraine, Secretary Austin continually stressed the need for integrated deterrence while General Milley remained laser-focused on the need for improved warfighter capabilities and amplifying strategic advantage.  Many questions posed by Members emphasized the need to keep pace with China and Russia, and both witnesses responded by touting the proposal’s $130 billion research and development (R&D) investments, including $28 billion for space capabilities, $11 billion in cyber, $2 billion in artificial intelligence, and $250 million in 5G technologies.  Both Secretary Austin and General Milley also testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) on April 7 and are expected to appear before the House and Senate Appropriations Committees in June.  Links to the unofficial transcripts of the authorizing hearings can be found here for the House and Senate.

 

Congress Kicks Off Annual Defense Funding Process
Congress has already set its sights on fiscal year (FY) 2023, kicking off the annual appropriations process with an array of hearings to discuss the Administration’s budget request.  In addition to hearing from the Secretary of Defense and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, the House and Senate Armed Services Committees and House and Senate Defense Appropriations Subcommittees (HASC, SASC, HAC-D, and SAC-D) tend to invite leaders of the service branches and those of high-profile programs, such as missile-defense, to serve as witnesses at defense appropriations hearings.  Hearings featuring those specific leaders are expected to be scheduled throughout the month of May.  Already, SASC congregated DOD’s top innovation leaders to discuss how it can modernize, innovate, and maintain its technological edge over competitors.  Witnesses included Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering Heidi Shyu, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Director Stefanie Tompkins, and head of the Defense Innovation Unit Michael Brown, who recently fielded questions from SASC on efficiently producing and distributing innovative technologies to the warfighter, as well as faster ways the science and technology (S&T) community can partner with acquisition and sustainment (A&S) to implement research.

NATIONAL SECURITY NEWS

DIA Publishes Report on Space Challenges
On April 12, 2022, the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) released the second iteration of an unclassified intelligence report, Challenges to Security in Space, examining the space and counterspace capabilities of America’s nearest competitors.  The report highlighted that between 2019 and 2021, China and Russia increased their combined operational space fleets by about 70 percent.  This includes satellites for communications (SATCOM), remote sensing, navigation-related, and S&T demonstration.  The congested space domain led DIA to expand its analysis of space situational awareness capabilities to ensure the U.S. can mitigate any potential collisions to our national security space resources.  The report found that American national security space assets are currently safe and protected, but as other countries ramp up space investments, the U.S. will need to ensure overmatch.  This will include investing in dual-use technologies in key strategic areas like SATCOM, satellite command and control, remote sensing, and assured positioning, navigation, and timing.

DOD Releases Equity Action Plan
Following President Biden’s Executive Order (EO) 13985, Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government, federal agencies developed equity action plans to address the order.  DOD released its equity action plan in April, reporting ongoing and future actions to address inequities across the Department.  The plan focuses on the following five areas:

1. Procurement and Contracting: Ensure and improve participation of small businesses, especially those in underserved communities, through equitable acquisition.
2. Military Installations: Advance equity at installations through actions such as investing in mitigating negative environmental, health, and/or economic effects.
3. Military Family: Invest further in equity-serving programs like DOD Educational Activity (DoDEA) schools and the Military Health System.
4. Equitable Artificial Intelligence (AI) R&D: Address AI challenges like facial recognition and biased screening algorithms.  DOD plans to create a responsible AI development framework, fund research in ethical AI across the agency, and create a more diverse AI/STEM workforce.
5. Underserved Community Investment: Invest in programs and opportunities that directly impact underserved communities, specifically Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs) and Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs).  DOD will also further invest in the Defense Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (DEPSCoR).

 
In the plan, DOD self-reflects and takes responsibility for its lack of diversity, noting that its leadership does not reflect the diverse population of military and civilians.  The plan states that within 90 days, the Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer will provide an implementation plan with milestones to the Deputy Secretary of Defense.

DIU to Open New Chicago Innovation Office
The Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) will open their fifth field office in Chicago, aiming to add talent from across the Midwest to the defense enterprise.  DIU bridges the gap between the rapid pace of cutting-edge commercial technology innovation and the needs of DOD end users.  DIU offers vendors a fast lane to contracts and paves the way for successful participation in the defense innovation ecosystem.  The new office will be located at the Discovery Partners Institute (DPI), a University of Illinois effort to foster technology talent and research.  The kickoff event, hosted at local manufacturing innovation partner MxD, drew praise from DOD leaders including Deputy Secretary of Defense Dr. Kathleen Hicks and DIU Director Michael Brown.  In statements, both praised the new Chicago office and hoped it would leverage the talent of the Midwest to provide new capabilities to the warfighter.  The Chicago office joins four other DIU sites in Silicon Valley, Boston, Austin, and Washington.

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DARPA BTO Releases Updated BAA
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Biological Technologies Office (BTO) updated its annual broad agency announcement (BAA).  The BTO BAA seeks research proposal that “foster, demonstrate, and transition breakthrough research, discoveries, and applications that integrate biology, engineering, computer science, mathematics, and the physical sciences.”  Currently, BTO’s research and investment portfolio includes combating pandemic disease, innovative physiological interventions, human performance and warfighter readiness, and deep exploration of changing ecologies and environments for improving U.S. capabilities and resilience. BTO’s general topic areas with some updated priorities include:

• Human Performance
  • New area: neurological and physiological health in extreme conditions
• Materials, Sensors, and Processing
  • New area: hybrid electronic/electromagnetic systems that integrate biological organisms
• Ecosystem and Environmental
  • New area: the use of biology to mitigate anthropogenic carbon dioxide
• Biosecurity, biodefense, and biosafety
• Biomedical and biodefense
  • New area: novel diagnostic, prophylactic, and therapeutic approaches for warfighter injury

 
BTO anticipates making multiple awards, with the award amount depending on the quality of proposals and availability of funds.  The BAA highly encourages proposers to submit abstracts for feedback from BTO program managers, prior to submitting a full proposal.  Awardees may be eligible to participate in the DARPA Embedded Entrepreneurship Initiative (EEI) during the performance period.  Abstracts and proposals may be submitted through April 20, 2023, and will be reviewed on a rolling basis.  The full funding opportunity can be found on www.grants.gov under solicitation number “HR001122S0034.”

ONR Announces New Funding Opportunity for STEM
The Office of Naval Research (ONR) seeks applications for its STEM program, which aims to fortify U.S. Navy and Marine Corps technological leadership by diversifying the national STEM workforce.  The solicitation calls for projects that build capacity in educational systems and communities, and that promote impactful experiences for students and the STEM workforce through engagement and technical skill training.  Specific thrust areas include:

• STEM in cybersecurity
• Warfighter performance
• Global STEM interests
• Naval Accelerator STEM interests
• ONR STEM interests (strong focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion)

 
Prior to submission, researchers are strongly encouraged to contact the program officer for their relevant thrust area.  Proposers are also encouraged to consider under-represented and underserved populations in their project plans.  ONR will accept proposals that supplement existing projects and new concepts.  The funding period and award amount is contingent upon the technology area and technical approach of the proposal.  Anyone from academia, non-profits, and industry is eligible to compete.  ONR highly encourages applications from MSIs.  Proposals will be accepted from April 1, 2022 through March 31, 2022.    More information can be found on ONR’S website or on www.grants.gov under funding opportunity number “N00014-22-S-F006.”
 
ONR Looking for Young Investigators for FY 2023
The Office of Naval Research released its fiscal year 2023 funding opportunity announcement (FOA) for the Young Investigator Program (YIP).  This program provides early career university faculty a path into the Navy’s research enterprise through multi-year research grants.  The YIP specifically helps ONR identify promising young tenure-track faculty who demonstrate the ability to deliver innovative research aligned with ONR’s research priorities.  ONR will accept proposals that address research areas outlined in its broad research portfolio and are of interest to ONR program officers.  A complete list of topics of interest to each of ONR’s departments is available on its S&T webpage, as is a list of ONR program officers.
 
ONR has offered the following best practices to increase the success of YIP candidates:

• Contact the ONR program officer before submitting a proposal to discuss research ideas. 
• Try to understand the program officer’s portfolio and interests.
• Review the ONR website; become familiar with Navy terminology/where your technology fits in.
• Demonstrate merit with a record of publishing in peer reviewed journals and a strong letter of support from the university and/or department.
• Submit a complete curriculum vitae with the white paper and/or proposal package.

 
First, or second full-time tenure-track or tenure-track equivalent faculty who have received their degree on or after January 1, 2015, are eligible to apply.  Further eligibility requirements can be found in the full FOA.  Applicants are strongly encouraged to contact the program officer in their technical area to discuss their research ideas before submitting a proposal.  Proposers may optionally send a brief, informal pre-proposal, or white paper to their designated ONR program officer and must copy ONRYIP@navy.mil to initiate a discussion.  Individual awards will be funded at a maximum of $510,000 for a three-year base period and 15 to 35 awards are anticipated with $8 million to $18 million of total funding available.  Proposals must be submitted by July 1, 2022, at 11:59 PM ET.  The full solicitation is available on www.grants.gov, under funding opportunity number “N00014-22-S-F007.”
 
ARL Releases FOA for Tactical Behaviors for Autonomous Maneuver
The Army Research Laboratory (ARL) announced a funding opportunity to develop and evaluate the behaviors of small groups of autonomous systems to gain insight into new navigation techniques in military relevant spaces.  Tactical Behaviors for Autonomous Maneuver Collaborative Research Program (TBAM-CRP) seeks to discover solutions to maneuver issues by leveraging results from other programs, as well as researching collaborative autonomous action in simulations that accurately represent complex, realistic terrains.
 
Though TBAM-CRP has been developed in coordination with other ARL collaborative efforts, this program will be conducted with a Scalable, Adaptive, and Resilient Autonomy (SARA) program model, a new set of standards for collaborative research.  Under this new approach, TBAM-CRP will accept proposals in five two-year cycles.  Under each cycle, a new topic will be released, which will be chosen based on the results of previous cycles.  The first cycle, the FY 2022 cycle, will focus on “coordinated and adversarial tactical maneuver in complex terrains” for army robotics and autonomous systems (RAS).
 
All institutions of higher education, for-profit, and non-profit organizations are eligible to apply.  Proposals are due by May 27, 2022, at 5:00 PM ET and awards are anticipated to be made in September 2022.  TBAM-CRP will be awarding multiple collaborative agreements under this solicitation.  ARL will host an opportunity webinar, and more information will be made available here.  More information on the FY 2022 competition is available on www.grants.gov under funding opportunity number “W911NF-22-S-0011.”
 
2022 Military Health Research Symposium Sets Tentative Schedule
DOD announced the annual Military Health System Research Symposium (MHSRS) will be held September 12-15 in Kissimmee, Florida.  MHSRS enables discussion of unique R&D in military medicine.  The symposium offers an opportunity for academia to engage with program managers and DOD personnel to socialize military biomedical and health-related research topics.  The 2022 MHSRS features breakout sessions on infectious diseases including SARS CoV-2, psychological health and resilience, occupational and environmental exposure, traumatic brain injury, and human performance optimization, amongst many others.  Additional information on the 2022 MHSRS can be found here.

CDMRP Releases Additional FY 2022 Research Topics
The Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP) are currently accepting proposals for the following FY 2022 topics: 

• Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis
• Autism
• Breast Cancer
• Epilepsy
• Joint Warfighter Medical
• Kidney Cancer
• Lung Cancer
• Neurofibromatosis
• Orthotics and Prosthetics Outcomes
• Ovarian Cancer
• Pancreatic Cancer
• Peer Reviewed Alzheimer's
• Peer Reviewed Cancer
• Peer Reviewed Medical
• Peer Reviewed Orthopaedic
• Prostate Cancer
• Rare Cancers
• Spinal Cord Injury
• Tick-Borne Disease
• Tuberous Sclerosis Complex

 
All open funding opportunities and pre-announcements are available here.  Interested applicants can subscribe for real-time updates, including forthcoming solicitations here.

DHS Releases Grant Opportunity for Targeted Violence and Terrorism Prevention
The Department of Homeland Security recently released its FY 2023 Notice of Funding Opportunity for the Targeted Violence and terrorism Prevention (TVTP) Grant Program.  TVTP assists local communities with developing capabilities geared towards preventing terrorism and targeted violence in the U.S.  This fiscal year, $20 million in total funding will be available and the following priorities will be used to evaluate applications:

• “Implementing Prevention Capabilities in Small and Mid-Sized Communities; 
• Advancing Equity in Awards and Engaging Underserved Communities in Prevention;
• Addressing Online Aspects of Terrorism and Targeted Violence;
• Preventing Domestic Violent Extremism; and 
• Enhancing Local Threat Assessment and Management Capabilities.”

 
Eligible applicants include U.S.-based accredited institutions of higher education, 501(c)(3) non-profit organizations, and state, local, tribal, and territorial government agencies.  Applications are due May 18, 2022, by 5:00 PM ET.  Awards are expected to be announced in September.  More information on the TVTP Grant Program, including project tracks and detailed objectives can be found on www.grants.gov under funding opportunity number “DHS-22-TTP-132-00-01.”
WHAT WE'RE READING

IARPA Previews Busy Research Season
Lauren Williams at Federal Computer Week describes in her report a slew of research projects expected to be released by the Intelligence Advance Projects Activity (IARPA) this year.  The projects were previewed as part of IARPA Director Catherine Marsh’s presentation at the National Security Alliance’s Spring Symposium.  Marsh intends to launch between ten and twelve new projects this year, focusing on issues such as predicting fine human movement using AI and novel computing architectures that help ingest massive amounts of data.  New IARPA programs aim to create realistic 3D walkthrough models using limited imagery as well as develop quantum science capabilities for the National Security Agency.  The broad swathe of projects presented foretells a busy year for IARPA and potentially many new competitive opportunities.

Democrats’ Dilemma: Back Biden’s Pentagon Budget or Supersize It
Writing for Politico, Connor O’Brien unpacks Democrat’s options for funding the Pentagon this year.  President Biden’s proposed FY 2023 budget included the largest DOD request ever: $813 billion.  This push goes against the wishes of many progressive Democrats who seek to constrain the defense budget in favor of more nondefense spending.  The request also does not fully appeal to Republicans who argue that it only represents a 1.5 percent increase.  Republicans are instead seeking a 5 percent increase in defense spending to counter the rate of inflation.  With the ongoing crisis in Ukraine, most Democrats seem accepting of the $30 billion increase to the defense budget.  But with upcoming midterm elections and the anticipated flip of the majority in the House of Representatives, it is expected that members of Congress will not come to a consensus on the Pentagon budget until after the election, forcing another year with a continuing resolution.

Into The Military Metaverse: An Empty Buzzword or a Virtual Resource for the Pentagon?
Andrew Eversden, writer for Breaking Defense takes us into the metaverse, as he uncovers opportunities in virtual reality (VR) and how possibilities of interconnected virtual worlds affect the future of our military.  Virtual realities, like that of the metaverse, pose new opportunities for connection and innovation, not just commercially, but within federal agencies.  Since the 1990s, the military has researched ways to train the warfighter via VR.  However, a new interconnected system of virtual realities could become a database that gives full insight on an individual.  However, many defense experts believe it will take a lot of time and work to get there.  Metaverse concepts have potential to benefit the warfighter through “immersive combat planning to hyper-realistic virtual training to truly experiencing weapons systems in ways that have never before been possible.”  Still, those in the defense community are worried a defense metaverse could follow in the footsteps of its commercial counterpart and become a flashy, empty buzzword.  Through discussions with Pentagon officials, defense experts, and industry giants, Eversden tries to tackle the arduous task of proper virtual reality utilization for the Department and finds that it will take years of practice in various iterations of virtual training environments.