J. Scott Christian

MYSTIC DEPOT: Vendor-Agnostic AI Evaluation Infrastructure Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) | United States Department of War https://lnkd.in/e8-T9nsT Desired Solution Attributes The Department of War (DoW), in partnership with the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), seeks an evaluation harness and government-specific benchmarks that together enable rigorous, reproducible, vendor-agnostic assessment of any AI system against government-defined criteria. The Government intends to use this harness across multiple programs. Solutions should be designed for broad applicability rather than single-program optimization. This Area of Interest (AOI) comprises two Lines of Effort (LOE); vendors may respond to one or both. Vendors submitting solutions must specify if they are addressing LOE 1, LOE 2, or both on the title slide or title page in their submission. Submission file titles should likewise indicate “LOE1_”, “LOE2_”, or “LOE1&2_” as a prefix. The Government is interested in considering solutions from a wide selection of vendors. All submissions should clearly explain which of the desired solution attributes they do and do not address, with proven examples of prior deployment, if applicable. The Government will consider partial solutions. Vendors are welcome to apply individually or in partnership. The Government may also request teaming arrangements amongst solution providers. Vendors are expected to demonstrate their solution in an unclassified environment as part of the Commercial Solutions Opening.

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Young Bang, President of Two Six, is featured in Nate Doughty's article, “War with Iran creates winners and losers among Greater Washington's defense contractors,” examining how the evolving conflict is reshaping demand across the region’s defense community. One theme is clear: the growing importance of non-kinetic capabilities. As Young highlights, demand has “drastically increased” for technologies that operate beyond traditional munitions, spanning cyber, advanced communications, data analytics, and electronic sensing. These capabilities are not only critical to modern mission execution, but are increasingly central to how the Department of Defense and Intelligence Community prioritize speed, agility, and mission impact. This moment underscores the continued convergence of technology and national security, and the critical role defense tech plays in delivering scalable, mission-ready, non-kinetic solutions when and where they’re needed most. At Two Six, we’re meeting that moment with speed, innovation, and mission focus. You can read the article here: https://lnkd.in/es6uGk9J

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Backed by a $79M government investment, Denmark is opening its doors to Ukrainian defense firms in a bid to boost regional capabilities and deepen interoperability with Ukraine’s military. Read full story: https://lnkd.in/e-vQeDWy --- #DefenseSecurity #Investments #Europe

SmallSat Alliance shifts focus from proliferation to coordination After helping place proliferated LEO constellations at the center of U.S. military space planning, the SmallSat Alliance is now tackling how these networks can be used together as a unified system....

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DKI APCSS was featured in the U.S. Department of War’s Joint Statement Reaffirming a Shared Commitment to Defense Industrial Resilience on Friday. The Center has been actively supporting this program in the last couple of years and completed the first Multinational Armaments Resilience Seminar (MARS) in January. The next four-week seminar will kick off in May in Washington, D.C., with follow-on sessions in Australia, Korea, and Honolulu. https://lnkd.in/gGHA4vGb #DefenseIndustrialBase #DIB #IndoPacific #Deterrence #SecurityCooperation

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Congress Blocks the “Easy Button”: The Strategic Logic Behind Restoring Tranche 3. The fight over the Space Development Agency's (SDA) budget was actually a proxy war between two acquisition philosophies: the SDA's open shop vs. a classified sole source alternative. http://ow.ly/C2cp106rUhi

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Switzerland Suspends Weapon Exports to U.S. Over Iran Conflict Switzerland Halts Weapon Exports to the U.S. Amid Iran Conflict, with Existing Approvals Under Review and Broader Controls on Military and Dual-Use Exports https://lnkd.in/gu2WSQRP #SwitzerlandHaltsWeaponExports #SwitzerlandWeaponExportstoUS #WeaponExports #TWN #TradeWorld #Trade #TradeWorldNews

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"New evidence suggests that access to Chinese-origin gallium remains constrained for U.S. industry, creating challenges for critical defense and high-tech production lines," writes CSIS Hidden Reach. More: https://lnkd.in/eHR9eZfG

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Under Secretary of War Michael Duffey says defense acquisition must deliver in months or weeks — not a decade. Duffey, United States Department of War's under secretary for acquisition and sustainment, has laid out five pillars to speed critical emerging tech buys, including new contracting strategies, earlier industry engagement, and fewer layers between program teams and top Pentagon leadership. For GovCon executives and capture/BD leaders, the challenge is timing + access: 🔹How do you engage earlier, before requirements harden? 🔹Which contracting strategies are being prioritized to bring in non-traditional firms? 🔹What changes when priority programs get a more direct line to senior decision-makers? Swipe the carousel for the five shifts Duffey is driving. #DefenseTech #FederalContracting

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The United States Department of War is seeking input from defense industrial base stakeholders on potential changes to the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) and Defense FAR Supplement (DFARS). The request from Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment Michael Duffey is tied to Phase 2 of the Revolutionary FAR Overhaul (RFO), which will use formal rulemaking to codify recent RFO class deviations. DoW is seeking recommendations that help the government: 🔸Field technology and modernize systems at a pace that outmatches adversaries 🔸Increase production capacity to support wartime surge requirements 🔸Place the acquisition system and industrial base on a wartime footing Learn more here: https://lnkd.in/eiaVMM8y #govcon #DefenseAcquisition #DFARS #RFO

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Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s new plan to revamp the Pentagon’s acquisition system includes provisions that would penalize or sideline acquisition officials and contractors who fall behind schedule in delivering capabilities for warfighters. https://lnkd.in/eZXR98fN

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Ukraine is taking steps to attract international defense firms seeking joint ventures and investments to rebuild and modernize its defense industry amid ongoing security challenges.​ ​ 👉 Click here to subscribe to our newsletters: https://lnkd.in/dRcg2BvA ​ ​ #Ukraine #DefenseIndustry #DefenseInvestment #Security #AerospaceAndDefense #GlobalData​

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On Bloomberg Television this week, Frankenburg CEO Kusti Salm spoke with Tom Mackenzie about the challenge of sustaining air defence under modern battlefield conditions. “Even the largest military powers can sustain today’s level of air defence attrition only for a few weeks.” Frankenburg is building missile systems designed to reduce intercept costs by more than tenfold and enable production at industrial scale, allowing air defence to be sustained even under large-scale drone and missile attacks. #WinTech

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