The government technology media took to the skies this week, with the trending stories focused on things that fly – namely, drones and space-based technology. There were a variety of headlines on drone-related news and several developments at the U.S. Space Force.
Drones Across Government
We saw varied reports related to drone technology this week across government tech media outlets, covering civilian and defense agencies and applications for both offensive and defensive purposes:
- The U.S. Marine Corps established a new organization to oversee training and standardization for small unmanned aerial systems (sUAS) and counter-sUAS across the service, according to an article by Lisbeth Perez in MeriTalk.
- Perez also covered the Pentagon’s drone task force release of a new handbook to help federal agencies, industry partners and academic institutions protect themselves against threats posed by small drones.
- The Department of Homeland Security issued a report critical of the Secret Service, charging that lackluster counter-drone skills and faulty processes were among the Secret Service failures that occurred during the July 2024 assassination attempt on then-former President Donald Trump, Lindsey Wilkinson wrote in FedScoop.
- Lauren C. Williams reported in Defense One that the Navy plans to launch the next phase of its marketplace for high-capacity, medium-sized drone boats on August 1.
- Williams’ colleague Patrick Tucker produced a short documentary discussing how the Ukrainian military is “combining air and ground drones, autonomy and swarming to re-capture territory with robots while risking fewer humans.”
- In another example of how video is increasingly becoming a popular tool for government tech media outlets, Breaking Defense posted a video in which Editor-in-Chief Aaron Mehta and Deputy Editor Lee Ferran discuss Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s new memo creating a Direct Reporting Portfolio Manager to oversee the department’s drone program.
The Space Force Launches Reforms
The U.S. Space Force announced several actions this week to streamline acquisition and beef up its capabilities. Here’s a sample of that coverage:
- Sandra Erwin of Space News reported that the Space Force completed the biggest overhaul of its acquisition organization since the service was established, creating nine mission-focused Portfolio Acquisition Executives to oversee the buying, integration and modernization of the military’s space capabilities.
- The move is part of the service’s plan to implement Hegseth’s sweeping acquisition reform agenda and transform the way the Pentagon buys, builds and fields weapons and platforms, Courtney Albon wrote in Air & Space Forces Magazine.
- Albon also noted this week that the Space Force is eyeing three key upgrades next year to its next-generation command-and-control system that will make it easier for allies to share space domain awareness data and improve collaboration and training for operators.
- In related news, the top civilian overseeing the Space Force’s acquisition branch said the command aims to hire 100 employees each month as it rebuilds following last year’s civilian purge, Rachel S. Cohen wrote in a piece in Federal News Network.
- Jane Edwards of ExecutiveGov reported that the Space Force plans to award six additional other transaction authority (OTA) agreements in July after issuing seven OTA awards in May and June, bringing the total value of the commercial technology awards to more than $500 million in support of the space combat power portfolio.
Upcoming Industry Events
Once again, we noted a few industry events this week we think are worth your time:
- July 14: Shift Happens, MeriTalk, International Spy Museum, Washington, D.C.
- July 16: Government Efficiency Summit, GovExec, JW Marriot, Washington, D.C.
If you would like your event included in this list, please fill out this form.
That covers the biggest trending government tech stories for this week. I hope you’re finding these roundups useful. If so, please share this with a friend. And if a friend shared this with you, subscribe on LinkedIn or via the form below to receive it every week.