Defense Policy Newsletter

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March 5, 2019 | Lewis-Burke Associates LLC
 
IN THIS ISSUE

On the Front Lines: FY 2020 Budget Debates Loom; Military Oversight Issues Emerge 
The House and Senate Armed Services Committees (HASC and SASC) are expected to tackle a variety of issues starting this month with the anticipated delivery of the President’s fiscal year (FY) 2020 budget request to Congress the week of March 11.  Many reports state that the President will adhere to the existing budget caps from the Budget Control Act but will also ask for $174 billion in Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) that are not subject to the caps to achieve an overall DOD budget of $750 billion.  Congress sees this as a short-term budget gimmick that inappropriately utilizes a warfighting fund.  Congress would rather have a two-year budget deal that raises the caps for defense and non-defense spending by 3 percent, slightly higher than inflation, to ensure longer-term budget certainty.
 
While the budget debate will dominate broader conversations, Congress is poised to address a number of policy issues and Department of Defense (DOD) realignments, including the Army Futures Command reorganization, the establishment of a U.S. Space Force under the Department of the Air Force, and the re-establishment of U.S. Space Command.  Members of Congress expressed skepticism over the Army Futures Command (AFC) reorganization during a HASC Subcommittee on Readiness hearing last year, and the reorganization faced pushback from members of the Maryland delegation, who feared it would impact the Army Research Laboratory (ARL) in their state.  Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD) attempted to attach an amendment to the defense appropriations bill last year that would prevent Congress from funding the effort until the Government Accountability Office (GAO) completed a review.  Even with these concerns, the Army has completed its AFC headquarters establishment in Austin, activated the AI Task Force and AI Hub at Carnegie Mellon University, and transferred authority for the Research, Development, and Engineering Command (RDECOM) to Army Futures Command in the past two months.
 
Congress will address multiple research issues through the lens of implementing the National Defense Strategy and the National Biodefense Strategy.  Major areas of interest will include cybersecurity, involvement in foreign theaters such as Yemen, Syria, and Afghanistan, personnel and readiness, and artificial intelligence (AI).  Other issues anticipated during congressional posture hearings associated with the FY 2020 defense budget include the need to fill multiple vacant appointed positions at the Department, including the Secretary of Defense; sexual assault in the military; increased partnerships and alignment among the DOD laboratories, academia, and industry; and Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson’s delayed review of S&T, known as Air Force 2030.  Both the House and Senate will debate balancing near term readiness needs against DOD’s long-range investments in research and development (R&D) to address critical technologies such as cyber, AI, quantum information sciences, and microelectronics.
 
With a Democratic majority in the House, HASC Chairman Adam Smith (D-WA) and other Democrats on the Committee have expressed interest in reducing defense spending by scrutinizing administration priorities that contribute to the $750 billion budget, such as:

  • Troop deployment at the U.S. border
  • Nuclear weapon modernization
  • Readiness issues with perceived wasteful spending on outdated weapons
  • Climate change and national security
  • Balancing security roles of the DOD with funding at the State Department and US Agency for International Development

Even with these new priorities, Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-WI), a member of the HASC, believes the Committee can make bipartisan progress.  Speaking at the American Enterprise Institute on February 28  he said,  “the Armed Services Committee remains an island of opportunity in a sea of legislative chaos.”
 
On the other side of the Capitol, SASC Chairman Senator James Inhofe (R-OK) and Senate Republicans will continue to push for more DOD funding for readiness and modernization, including supporting the domestic industrial base, test and evaluation infrastructure, cybersecurity, and biodefense.
 

VIEW FROM THE HILL

Senate Committee on Investigations Holds Hearing on “China’s Impact on the U.S. Education System”
Confucius Institutes (CIs) impact on universities continues to be a concern for Congress.  This follows a  February 28 hearing by Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee’s (HSGAC) Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (PSI) entitled, “China’s Impact on the U.S. Education System.”  Although the hearing focused primarily on CIs, there were important implications for all institutions of higher education, particularly around immigration and Department of Education (ED) reporting.  Two reports were released in conjunction with the hearing: a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report, “CHINA Agreements Establishing Confucius Institutes at U.S. Universities Are Similar, but Institute Operations Vary,” and a PSI staff report, “China’s Impact On The U.S. Education System.” 
 
Chairman Rob Portman (R-OH) and Ranking Member Thomas Carper (D-DE) expressed the need for increased transparency and reciprocity between institutions and China.  In his opening statement, Senator Portman referenced statements made by officials from the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) that identified CIs as threats.  Several senators highlighted the PSI staff report observation that China has provided over $158 million in funding to U.S. schools for CIs.  Policymakers have continued to express concerns that the funding compromises academic freedom and requires U.S. institutions to comply with Chinese law.  The hearing also raised two issues in the context of CIs, which have implications for institutions that do not have CIs: foreign gift reporting requirements under section 117 of the Higher Education Act (HEA) and the requirements of the Exchange Visitor Visa (“J-1”).  Lewis-Burke’s full analysis of the hearing is available here.
 
It is extremely likely that future legislation and policies will continue to focus on ways to combat perceived attempts by China to influence academia and research.  In his written testimony, Deputy Undersecretary of Education MIthcell Zais noted that ED continues to confer with the Department of Defense to support the protection of U.S. intellectual property, a result of a directive included in the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019.  These types of directives will continue to be included in future legislation, with the potential to expand to visa and higher education legislation as well.  It is anticipated that as reports of academics’ ties to foreign governments continue to surface, this issue will continue to be a priority for Congress.
 

NATIONAL SECURITY NEWS

White House and DOD Push to Accelerate AI Development and Adoption 
The Trump Administration continues to push federal agencies to prioritize investments in artificial intelligence (AI), one of its top R&D priorities, following President Trump’s executive order on February 11 to establish the American AI Initiative.  At a Center for New American Security (CNAS) discussion on February 28, White House officials said the fiscal year (FY) 2020 budget will prioritize and increase R&D investments in AI, particularly at the Department of Energy, National Science Foundation, and the Department of Defense (DOD).
 
The American AI Initiative will seek to accelerate the integration of and maintain U.S. leadership in AI.  Among other actions, the executive order would:

  • Prioritize R&D funding at federal agencies who conduct foundational AI research, though this doesn’t include new funding for programs.The order specifically directs agencies to explore opportunities to collaborate with industry, academia, non-profit organizations, and other entities.
  • Call on federal agencies to make data, models, and resources accessible to researchers and industry who develop AI.
  • Direct the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to lead the development of technical standards and establish guidance for developing safe and trustworthy AI systems.
  • Call on federal agencies who provide educational grants to consider AI a priority area for existing fellowship and training programs, in order to help build an AI workforce. The order highlights programs that fund early-career university faculty who conduct AI research as an example of programs that agencies should consider.
  • Have federal agencies develop and implement plans to ensure research and development in AI is protected from “strategic competitors and foreign adversaries.”

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) plans to publish two notices in the Federal Register for public comment in the next few weeks.  One will seek justification for which federal data sets should be made available to researchers and industry while balancing privacy and security concerns.  The other will provide guidance for federal regulatory agencies in advancing the creation and adoption of new AI technologies, such as AI-powered medical diagnostic devices.  The initiative will be coordinated by the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) Select Committee on Artificial Intelligence, which was established at a White House summit last year.  
 
Following the executive order, DOD released its AI Strategy. DOD’s strategy acknowledges China and Russia’s investments in AI for military uses and that the U.S. must pursue the integration of AI in military operations to maintain its strategic advantage and deter or defeat adversaries in future conflicts.
 
DOD will seek to leverage AI capabilities to address mission needs, such as situational awareness, decision-making, improving safety and predictive maintenance of military systems, and streamlining business processes. Still, the Department notes that partnerships with academia, industry, and other entities are crucial to helping the military achieve the full potential of AI, and the strategy notes the DOD’s intent to increase investments in academic partnerships and to invest in “innovation districts,” or concentrated areas of researchers and businesses that develop AI.  The strategy also lays out the Department’s plan to build a stronger AI workforce and ensure the military’s leadership in AI ethics and safety.
 
Under the strategy, the Joint Artificial Intelligence Center (JAIC) will serve as the focal point for leading DOD’s efforts to adopt AI in military operations, focusing on short term needs such as planning, policy, and implementation.  JAIC’s work will complement that of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and other DOD laboratories, which will focus on long term R&D investments for future capabilities.  DOD’s strategy indicates that it will increase investments in AI R&D, with the focal point being DARPA’s AI NEXT campaign, though more insight into DOD’s investments will not be clear until the President’s budget request is released this month.
 
Pentagon Submits Space Force Plans to Congress
The Pentagon delivered its legislative proposal to Congress on February 28 to create a U.S. Space Force within the Air Force.  The vision for Space Force was first debuted in “Space Policy Directive-4”, which was signed by President Trump on February 19.  Plans call for the new branch to be led by two four-star generals.  Media reports revealed that the plan says the Space Force will cost $72 million in fiscal year (FY) 2020, and costs could reach $2 billion over five years.
 
As reported by Lewis-Burke Associates LLC (Lewis-Burke) last fall, President Trump previously advocated that the Department create an independent branch separate from the Air Force, which had faced pushback from Members of Congress and the Air Force due to potential concerns over costs and efforts in creating a new organization in DOD.  However, the directive notes that it will become necessary to create a Department of the Space Force as the U.S. Space Force matures.  The executive order also follows a Presidential Memorandum to the Secretary of Defense to establish a U.S. Space Command as a Unified Combatant Command.  It is unclear whether lawmakers will support the Pentagon’s Space Force plan, as Members have expressed concern about the bureaucracy of a separate Service.
 
DOD expects to formally establish U.S. Space Command in 60 to 90 days, although it will first seek a “technical revision” to the 2019 National Defense Authorization Act to ensure its plan for Space Command is in line with the language in the law.  Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson stood up a U.S. Space Force planning task force on February 22 to lay out key phases of the transition.
 
Along with the creation of the Space Force, DOD is standing up a Space Development Agency to help the military “develop and field capability more quickly.”  Fred Kennedy, head of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s (DARPA) Tactical Technology Office, was tasked with studying the Space Development Agency and selected to serve as the agency’s first director by Undersecretary of Defense for Research and Engineering Mike Griffin.  A plan for the new agency is due to Griffin by March 1 to stand up the agency no later than March 29.  Air Force Secretary Wilson expressed skepticism regarding the unique mission of the Space Development Agency compared to existing research, development, and acquisition organizations, according to a report in Breaking Defense on February 28.
 

FUNDING AND ENGAGEMENT OPPORTUNITIES

Department of Defense Releases DURIP BAA
The DOD basic research office released the broad agency announcement (BAA) for the fiscal year (FY) 2020 Defense University Research Instrumentation Program (DURIP) competition.  The full FY 2020 DURIP solicitation issued by each military Service is available at www.grants.gov by searching “FOA-AFRL-AFOSR-2019-0001” (Air Force), “W911NF19S0005” (Army), and “N00014-19-S-F007” (Navy).

Department of Defense Releases MURI BAA
On behalf of the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the Office of Naval Research released the fiscal year (FY) 2020 Department of Defense Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative (MURI) which is part of the University Research Initiative. The full fiscal year (FY) 2020 MURI solicitation issued by each military Service is available at www.grants.gov by searching “N00014-19-S-F005” (Navy), “W911NF-19-S-0008” (Army), and “# FOA-AFRL-AFOSR-2019-0002” (Air Force).

ONR Seeks Proposals for Manufacturing Engineering Education Program (MEEP)
The Office of Naval Research (ONR) released a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) for the Manufacturing Engineering Education Program (MEEP).  The full ONR FOA is located at www.grants.gov under solicitation number N00014-19-S-F006.

Army Futures Command Releases BAA
The Army Futures Command’s Army Applications Lab (AAL) released a special notice Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) through the Army Research Laboratory’s long term BAA “W911NF-17-S-0003” requesting white papers for “research and development solutions in support of new technologies and translational research-based approaches that support the identification, alignment, and exploitation of applied research and technology with the Army Future Force Modernization Enterprise.” Lewis-Burke learned that AAL anticipates releasing a second BAA in the near future for more specific topics that will be proposed via a “shark tank” type forum where Army leaders will be able to immediately issue a contract for up to $160,000. More information on the AAL special notice can be found here.

DTRA Releases Three University Research Alliance Draft Solicitations
The Department of Defense’s (DOD) Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) announced three draft University Research Alliance (URA) broad agency announcements (BAAs).  A University Day in support of the BAAs will be held in Lorton, VA, on March 22.  Lewis-Burke’s full analysis of the three draft BAAs is available here.

DTRA Chem Bio Defense S&T to Hold Conference in November
DOD’s Defense Threat Reduction Agency’s (DTRA) Chemical and Biological Technologies Department will host its 2019 Chemical and Biological Defense Science & Technology (CBD S&T) Conference at the Duke Energy Convention Center in Cincinnati, Ohio, on November 18-21, 2019.  The event offers a networking opportunity for university researchers to interact with members of the DTRA chemical and biological technologies defense program and other DOD scientists.  Registration information, when published, can be found here.

DOD CDMRP Releases FY 2019 Solicitations
The Congressionally-Directed Medical Research Program (CDMRP) published funding opportunity announcements in the following research programs:

  • Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis
  • Breast Cancer
  • Peer Reviewed Medical
    • Lewis-Burke’s analysis of the Peer Reviewed Medical Research Program is available here.
  • Defense Medical Research and Development Program
    • Combat Casualty Care Research Program
  • Tuberous Sclerosis Complex

Details on each opportunity are available at: http://cdmrp.army.mil/funding/default.  Interested applicants may subscribe here for real-time updates, including forthcoming solicitations.
 
DOD CDMRP to Host Informational Webinars for Proposers
For the first time, the Congressionally-Directed Medical Research Program (CDMRP) will post a series of webinars for proposers in order to offer insight into the types of funding opportunities and how to craft competitive proposals.  CDMRP already hosted two webinars entitled “Funding Opportunities and Strategies for Success” on February 11 and “High Risk/High Gain Funding Opportunities” on February 28.  Both are available for the public to view on CDMRP’s website.  The next webinar, “Team Science Funding Opportunities,” will be posted on March 11, 2019.  The full schedule for CDMRP webinars can be found here. 

Military Health System Research Symposium Calls for Abstracts
The Military Health System Research Symposium (MHSRS) released its call for abstracts, including a separate competition for young investigators, and will accept submissions through March 15, 2019.  Details on the submission process, topic areas and descriptions, and information on the 2019 MHSRS are available here.

DARPA BTO Releases BAA for Bioelectronics for Tissue Regeneration (BETR) Program
DARPA’s Biological Technologies Office (BTO) released the Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) for the Bioelectronics for Tissue Regeneration (BETR) program.  The BETR program seeks to develop a system that will facilitate communication between the body and a bioelectronic interface that will track and speed the healing process following an injury.  DARPA ultimately aims to strengthen warfighter resiliency by shortening the injury recovery time before re-deployment.  The BAA is available here.

ARO Releases BAA for DOD Advanced Computing Initiative (ACI)
The Army Research Office (ARO) and the National Security Agency (NSA) released a broad agency announcement (BAA) for the fiscal year (FY) 2019 Department of Defense (DOD) Advanced Computing Initiative (ACI).  More information is available in the full BAA, located at www.grants.gov under solicitation number “W911NF-19-S-0007.”

DARPA DSO Announces Proposers Day for ONISQ Program
DARPA’s Defense Sciences Office (DSO) announced a Proposers Day for the Optimization with Noisy Intermediate-Scale Quantum devices (ONISQ) program.  The ONISQ program seeks to “demonstrate quantitative advantage of Quantum Information Processing (QIP) over the best classical methods for solving combinatorial optimization problems using Noisy Intermediate-Scale Quantum (NISQ) devices.”  Additional information is available in the special notice, located at www.fbo.gov under solicitation number “DARPA-SN-19-35.”

DARPA DSO to Host Proposers Day for Competency-Aware Machine Learning (CAML) Program
DARPA’s Defense Sciences Office (DSO) announced that it will hold a Proposers Day for the Competency-Aware Machine Learning (CAML) program, in advance of a planned Broad Agency Announcement (BAA).  The CAML program seeks to develop machine learning systems that are aware of and able to communicate their competency to human partners, in order to facilitate better collaboration between humans and autonomous systems.  The full BAA can be found at www.grants.gov under solicitation number “HR001119S0030.”

DARPA I2O Releases BAA for Guaranteeing AI Robustness against Deception (GARD) Program
DARPA’s Information Innovation Office (I2O) released a Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) for its Guaranteeing AI Robustness against Deception (GARD) program.  The GARD program seeks a new generation of defenses against attacks on machine learning (ML) models, specifically to develop more advanced defenses against physical world attacks “in a variety of pertinent modalities,” including audio and video.  The full BAA is available at www.grants.gov under solicitation number “HR001119S0026.”

DARPA MTO Releases BAA for Digital RF Battlespace Emulator (DRBE) Program
DARPA’s Microsystems Technology Office (MTO) released its Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) for its Digital RF Battlespace Emulator (DRBE) program.  The DRBE program, which is funded under DARPA’s Electronics Resurgence Initiative (ERI), supports the ability of critical RF systems, such as radars and Electronic Warfare (EW), to train and test themselves in newly-adopted artificial intelligence (AI) environments.  The program seeks to create a new breed of high-performance computing (HPC), known as “Real-time HPC.” The full BAA is available at www.grants.gov under solicitation number “HR001119S0023.”

ANTICIPATED OPPORTUNITIES
 
Minerva Research Initiative FOA Expected This Month
Lewis-Burke has learned that DOD is anticipated to release the Minerva Research Initiative funding opportunity announcement (FOA) in March.  Minerva, jointly administered by the Office of Basic Research and the Office of Policy at DOD, is the premier defense social science research opportunity.  Topics for 2019 are likely to be similar to previous years, with some new topics added.  All topics will connect to the National Defense Strategy and those that align closely with strategy are likely to viewed more favorably.  This year’s solicitation will include a separate section asking proposers to briefly articulate the basic research contribution of their project.  Previous topics have included Sociopolitical (In)Stability, Resilience, and Recovery; Economic Interdependence and Security; Fundamental Dynamics of Scientific Discovery; Adversarial Information Campaigns; Automated Cyber Vulnerability Analysis; and Security Risks in Ungoverned and Semi-Governed Spaces.  More information on Minerva and previously funded research can be found here.   

DEPSCoR Solicitations Expected Soon
Lewis-Burke has learned that the DOD Basic Research Office will soon release two Defense Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (DEPSCoR) opportunities for fiscal year (FY) 2019.  DEPSCoR was re-authorized in the FY 2018 National Defense Authorization Act and is intended to expand research opportunities in states that traditionally receive the least funding in federal support for university research.  The first solicitation would provide additional funding for each military Service to award additional Young Investigator Program (YIP) and Defense University Research Instrumentation Program (DURIP) grants to researchers at institutions in states that meet the criteria for DEPSCoR.  The emphasis on DEPSCoR awards for young investigators aligns with the DOD’s objective of cultivating young researchers to support defense research and development programs throughout their careers.  The second solicitation will be a Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) for DEPSCoR-eligible states to conduct basic research.  The BAA will include funding opportunities for new defense researchers to partner with existing DOD-funded researchers in DEPSCoR states.  DOD seeks to facilitate the mentorship of early career defense researchers to increase their success in meeting DOD’s mission-focused research needs.

NHLBI and DOD CCCRP Announce Intent to Start Trans-Agency Blood-Brain Interface Program
The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), in collaboration with the Department of Defense Joint Program Committee-6 (JPC-6) Combat Casualty Care Research Program (CCCRP), released a notice of intent (NOI) for a funding opportunity announcement (FOA) that will establish a trans-agency program to “support collaborations between hematologists/vascular experts, neuroscientists, and blood-brain barrier (BBB) tissue chip developers for high risk/high reward research.”  The future FOA will solicit innovative projects that “stimulate the development of human-based neurovascular-blood model to identify targets for diagnostics and regulation of the blood-brain interface” in both normal and pathological states.  The FOA is expected to be published in summer 2019 and applications due in fall 2019.

DARPA DSO to Release BAA for SAIL-ON Program
DARPA’s Defense Sciences Office (DSO) is expected to release a broad agency announcement (BAA) for the Science of Artificial Intelligence and Learning for Open-world Novelty (SAIL-ON) program.  The SAIL-ON program aims to develop underlying scientific principles, engineering techniques, and algorithms that will allow artificial intelligence (AI) systems to operate effectively in novel situations in dynamic environments, a crucial for military applications of AI.  Though details are not yet available, DARPA anticipates releasing the BAA in early March.  More information is available at www.fbo.gov under solicitation number “DARPA-SN-19-31.”
 

WHAT WE’RE READING

Special Operations Command to Request Big Boost to S&T Budget
National Defense reports that Lisa Sanders, Director of Science and Technology (S&T) for Special Operations Forces (SOCOM), announced a plan on February 7 to increase funding for S&T in fiscal year (FY) 2020 and years to follow.  The planned increases for S&T from FY 2020 to FY 2024 will contribute to technology budget activities, with a special focus in four areas: tactically relevant situational awareness platforms; communication and navigation systems for all environments; tailored lethality technologies; and biotechnologies.  Sanders stated that for FY 2020, the S&T Division is asking for $130 million, which she noted is substantially higher than the $35 million S&T accounts were funded at a few years ago.  Read more here.

Inside Army’s Cutting-Edge Research Lab That’s Helping Drive a Big Modernization Push
WashingtonExec describes the Army Research Laboratory’s (ARL) unique role in driving cutting-edge modernization research, highlighting the Combat Capabilities Development Command Army Research Laboratory as the “nation’s premier laboratory for land forces.”  The Combat Capabilities Development Command Army Research Laboratory specializes in foundational disruptive research and technology forecasting.  It also acts as the “beginning and end” of the Army’s supply chain for technologies.  The article notes that the lab has a special interest in robotic technologies and systems, which is seen as an important capability in an emerging “multidomain” battlefield.  Read more here.

Academia a Crucial Partner for Pentagon’s AI Push
An op-ed published in the February issue of National Defense by the Vice President of Purdue University’s Discovery Park posits that research universities play a crucial role in providing the DOD with advanced scientific outcomes and a reliable workforce pipeline.  The article explores how collaborative relationships between DOD and academia allow for a “trusted capability to produce open, verifiable solutions” to addressing DOD needs, specifically in advanced artificial intelligence (AI).  Citing the National Defense Authorization Act, the article emphasizes the need for AI talent to “dominate the AI technology landscape.” For example, Purdue’s Integrative Data Science Initiative pushes students to have some level of data science and AI “literacy” no matter their majors.  Read more here.

Microsoft Workers Call on Company to Cancel Military Contract; Microsoft Stands By Its $480 Million Pentagon Contract
Multiple reports emerged in late February that a group of Microsoft employees are pushing back against their company’s $480 million contract with the Army to build augmented reality headsets for the battlefield.  In the open complaint letter, now signed by more than 100 employees, employees stated their objections to helping “increase lethality” of technologies.  As described in reports from The Washington Post and Bloomberg, the letter called for cancelling the contract and for Microsoft to publish an explicit policy on the acceptable uses of its products, enforced by an independent ethics board.  However, on February 26, DefenseOne reported that Microsoft plans to fulfill its Army contract.  Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said that the company won’t “withhold technology” from democratic governments and that the company plans to “remain engaged as an active corporate citizen.”  Read more about the employee letter here and the President of Microsoft’s rebuttal here.

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