Congress Brings In Top Pentagon Leadership to Kick Off FY 2024 Budget Process
Leaders across Capitol Hill have met with Pentagon leadership following the release of the President’s Fiscal Year 2024 budget request in March.  In addition to hearing from the Secretary of Defense and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the House and Senate Armed Services Committees and House and Senate Defense Appropriations Subcommittees (HASC, SASC, HAC-D, and SAC-D) have met with the leaders of the military services in their respective hearings.  Read more here.

House Advances Debt Limit Package
The Republican-led House passed a controversial debt limit package titled the “Limit, Save, Grow Act of 2023” on April 26.  The bill concedes to raising the debt ceiling $1.5 trillion for one year in exchange for a ten-year federal discretionary spending freeze at 2023 spending levels.  The package also contains measures that would cut popular Administration priorities.  Although the bill is not expected to be passed by the Senate and would be similarly rejected by President Biden, the proposal outlines the funding priorities for the Republican majority in the House.  Economic experts predict dire global consequences, including national security implications, if the debt ceiling is not addressed before June.  Read more here.

---

NATIONAL SECURITY NEWS

DOD and White House Name New Pentagon Personnel
Over the past month, the Department of Defense (DOD) and the White House have announced new appointments and nominees for top roles within the Department.  On April 4, the DOD announced the appointment of Doug Beck as the next Director of the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU), a DOD organization tasked with accelerating the adoption of commercial technologies by the military services.  Additionally, on April 20, President Biden announced his intention to nominate Cara Abercrombie as Assistant Secretary of Defense for Acquisition.  Read more here.

DOD IG Releases Audit of Climate Change Adaptation Plans
The Department’s Inspector General (IG) released its second audit on military installation climate change assessments, specifically focusing on those in the southeast.  The IG found that despite DOD’s mandate to include climate resilience plans for each installation’s master plan, they ultimately failed to do so properly due to a lack of standardization in DOD’s directives, failure to properly update such directives following the Fiscal Year 2020 National Defense Authorization Act which required such planning, and generally lacked the funding to implement such measures.  Read more here.

---

Opportunity	Agency  Name	Program Description	Poste Date	Close  Date
DARPA-SN-23-54  Future Microsystems Exploration Announcement: Magnetic High Temperature Sensors (MagHITS)	DARPA - Microsystems Technology Office	Future solicitation as part of DARPA MTO’s Microsystem Exploration program.  Seeking to produce sensors that can measure magnetic fields at ultra-high temperatures.	3/22/2023
DARPA-SN-23-55  Future Microsystems Exploration Announcement: Thermal Modeling of Nanoscale Transistors (Thermonat)	DARPA - Microsystems Technology Office	Future solicitation as part of DARPA MTO’s Microsystem Exploration program.  Seeking to reduce uncertainty in modeling of thermal properties of transistors.	3/22/2023
FOA-AFRL-AFOSR-2023-0005  Fiscal Year 2024 Defense University Research Instrumentation Program (DURIP)	Air Force Office of Scientific Research	Provides funding for universities to purchase major, state-of-the-art research equipment that will enable cutting edge research that aligns with DOD priorities.  Each military service runs its own competition.  While the Space Force received funding for DURIP in FY 2023, it is unclear which office will facilitate that competition.	2/14/2023	5/12/2023
W911NF-23-S-0006  The Department of Defense (DOD) Fiscal Year 2024 Defense University Research Instrumentation Program (DURIP)- Army Submission	Dept of the Army -- Materiel Command
N00014-23-S-F002  FY24 Defense University Research Instrumentation Program (DURIP)	Office of Naval Research
N00014-23-S-BC05  Physical and Networking Layer Prototype (PNLP)	Office of Naval Research	Seeks new hardware and software technologies to aid underwater communication to both manned and unmanned vehicles.	1/26/2023	5/17/2023
HR001123S0025  Faithful Integration and Reverse-Engineering And Emulation (FIRE)	DARPA - Microsystems Technology Office	Looking to rapidly analyze cyber-physical systems in order to secure our nation from attack and exploit vulnerabilities in adversary’s systems.	3/15/2023	5/19/2023;  3/31/2023 (Abstracts)
N00014-23-S-F003  FY24 Department of Defense Multidisciplinary Research Program of the University Research Initiative (MURI)	Office of Naval Research	Provides funding for universities to build a defense-oriented research capability through programs managed by each military service.	2/22/2023	5/19/2023 (White Papers)
W911NF-23-S-0005  Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 Department of Defense Multidisciplinary Research Program of the University Research Initiative (MURI)- Army Submission	Dept of the Army -- Materiel Command
FOA-AFRL-AFOSR-2023-0004  Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 Department of Defense Multidisciplinary Research Program of the University Research Initiative (MURI)	Air Force Office of Scientific Research
IARPA-RFI-23-01 Molecular Information Storage II (MIST II)	Office of the Director of National Intelligence-IARPA	Request for information on a potential program focused on storing data and information in biological systems such as DNA.	4/20/2023	5/26/2023
HR001123S0020 Pipelined Reasoning of Verifiers Enabling Robust Systems (PROVERS)	DARPA - Information Innovation Office	Seeks proposals that will drive advances in proof engineering, providing for the development of capabilities ensuring that critical DoD systems remain free of categories of defects and vulnerabilities.	3/29/2023	6/02/2023; 4/14/2023 (Abstracts)
HR001123S0028 Compartmentalization and Privilege Management (CPM)	DARPA - Information Innovation Office	Seeks proposals to develop tools, hardware, and software to restructure legacy software to ultimately prevent successful cyber-attacks.	4/04/2023	6/06/2023; 4/18/2023 (Abstracts)
FOA-AFRL-AFOSR-2023-0008  FY23 Defense Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (DEPSCoR) - Research Collaboration (RC)	Air Force Office of Scientific Research	Seeks to increase the research capabilities of higher education institutions in territories that conduct basic research in science and engineering that benefits DOD’s mission.  The Research Collaboration (RC) award aims to foster basic research collaborations between a pair of researchers.	3/7/2023	6/12/2023
FOA-AFRL-AFOSR-2023-0007  FY23 Defense Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (DEPSCoR) - Capacity Building (CB)	Air Force Office of Scientific Research	Seeks to significantly improve the existing basic research capabilities or initiatives of the applicant institution.	3/7/2023	6/12/2023
OLDCC-23-F-0002 Defense Manufacturing Communities Support Program (DMCSP)	Office of Local Defense Community Cooperation	Seeks public/private consortia proposals to spearhead long-term investments in “critical skills, facilities, research and development, and small business support” to strengthen manufacturing capabilities and national security in designated defense manufacturing communities.	4/24/2023	6/26/2023
HR001123S0027 Tellus	DARPA - Biological Technologies Office	To develop methodologies to program microbial sense-and-respond devices to ultimately assess the utilization of such devices in environmental monitoring.	4/21/2023	7/6/2023; 5/18/2023 (Abstracts)
N00014-23-S-F004 FY24 Young Investigator Program (YIP)	Office of Naval Research	Provides funding to promising young tenure-track faculty who demonstrate the ability to deliver innovative research aligned with ONR’s research priorities.	3/29/2023	7/07/2023
FOA-AFRL-AFOSR-2023-0011 FY24 Young Investigator Program (YIP)	Air Force Office of Scientific Research	Provides funding to promising young tenure-track faculty, scientists, and engineers who demonstrate the ability to further AFOSR’s research and development mission.	05/02/2023	8/14/2023; 06/12/2023 (Abstracts)
W912HZ-23-BAA-01 ERDC Broad Agency Announcement	Dept. of the Army -- Corps of Engineers	Solicits research proposals of interest to ERDC.  Successful proposals require frequent engagement with ERDC program managers and congressional involvement.	3/31/2023	1/1/2024
N00014-23-S-F005 The Office of Naval Research (ONR) Science, Technology, Engineering And Mathematic (STEM) Program	Office of Naval Research	Develops efforts that correlate with ONR science and technology areas and that provide solutions that establish, build, and/or maintain STEM educational pathways and workforce opportunities.	4/03/2023	4/02/2024
W911NF-23-S-0010 United States Army Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social Sciences (ARI) Broad Agency Announcement	Dept. of the Army – Materiel Command	Solicits research proposals of interest to ARI to improve human performance and Army Readiness.  Prospective awardees must meet certain standards pertaining to financial resources and responsibility, among others.	05/01/2023	4/30/2028

NIST Seeks Feedback on Cybersecurity R&D Resources
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has issued a Request for Comment seeking information on cybersecurity risks related to conducting research at institutions of higher education.  Following public comments, NIST will develop potential cybersecurity resources, such as white papers and quick-start guides, that could address the identified challenges.  Read more here.

CDMRP Releases Additional FY 2023 Research Topic Solicitations
The Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP) are currently accepting proposals for the following FY 2023 topics:

• Autism
• Bone Marrow Failure
• Breast Cancer
• Epilepsy
• Joint Warfighter Medical
• Lung Cancer
• Lupus
• Multiple Sclerosis
• Ovarian Cancer
• Pancreatic Cancer
• Peer Reviewed Alzheimer's
• Peer Reviewed Cancer
• Peer Reviewed Orthopaedic
• Prostate Cancer
• Rare Cancers
• Spinal Cord Injury
• Tick-Borne Disease
• Tuberous Sclerosis Complex

Additional research program solicitations are expected to be released in the coming months.  All open funding opportunities and pre-announcements are available here.  Interested applicants can subscribe for real-time updates, including forthcoming solicitations here. WHAT WE'RE READING

U.S. Space Force Seeks $16 Billion to Track Hypersonic Missiles
The U.S. Space Force Resilient Missile Warning Missile Tracking program is developing a new fleet of small satellites in Low Earth-Orbit that will be able to detect and track any threats, including ones moving at hypersonic speeds, reports Defense News.  Being carried out by the Space Development Agency (SDA), the program is expected to cost almost $16 billion over the next five years, with $2.3 billion being requested for FY 2024.  The service highlights the need to rapidly deploy new space capabilities to defend against rapidly evolving threats from our adversaries.  This program will be in addition to the SDA’s initiatives to increase the U.S.’s presence in geosynchronous and cislunar orbits.  

Defense Community Calls for Increased Funding for Basic Research
In the Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 President’s Budget request, significant cuts were posed to defense S&T accounts (6.1-6.3), particularly those related to basic research.  Many of those in the research community urge Congress to reject these cuts, especially as competition with U.S. adversaries in STEM intensifies.  In an article titled “Let’s Stop Low-Balling Defense Basic Research”, Jesse Ausubel, Director of the Program for the Human Environment at The Rockefeller University in New York City, and Admiral Paul Gaffney II, President Emeritus of Monmouth University and former Chief of Naval Research, urge legislators to provide a larger fraction of the defense budget to basic research.  Even with just a small portion of the defense budget, basic research investments have led to strides in invention and innovation and the creation of the scientific workforce necessary for national security.  Ausubel and Gaffney state that the “creation of a sufficient, excellent STEM workforce” is recognized as a national concern, one that basic research funding addresses by training and equipping future STEM thought leaders for careers in tackling defense technology challenges.  Ausubel and Gaffney call out the Biden Administration for failing to fully realize the impact of basic research and call on defense decision makers to place more emphasis on protecting investments in basic research to ensure future capabilities and workforce in science relevant to the defense enterprise.

Space Force Embraces Unconventional Ways to Attract and Retain Talent
Digital recruiting initiatives, expanded constructive service credits, and exploring part-time and full-time duty options for Space Reserve personnel are just a few ways the Space Force is attempting to recruit, develop, and retain the future Guardian workforce writes Sandra Erwin for SpaceNews.  In a keynote speech before the Mitchell Institute’s 2nd Annual Spacepower Security Forum on April 5, General B. Chance Saltzman, Chief of Space Operations, touted the agency’s innovative recruitment efforts as part of their long-term plan to maximize the success of Guardian servicemembers in solving the problems of tomorrow.  In one such initiative aimed at recruiting experienced professionals in fields critical to national security, Space Force now offers Constructive Service Credit eligibility for Intelligence and Cyber experts.  These credits allow the agency to commission qualified civilians into the military ranks at levels comparable to their expertise.  Saltzman also optimistically announced that negotiations are underway with Congress to integrate Air Force Reserve with the Space Force as a single component.  If permitted, service members could seamlessly transfer between part-time and full-time status to pursue interests and career development opportunities.