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CACI opens up more on its Arka acquisition and the path forward

Ross Wilkers — Fri, 24 Apr 2026 13:24:36 -0400

CACI International steadily increased its space investments over roughly a decade, then the serial acquirer decided to break company records with its $2.6 billion purchase of Arka Group that closed in March.

By adding Arka, CACI sought to incorporate more space-based imaging sensor technology into its portfolio with an eye toward becoming more of a multisource intelligence provider. Agentic artificial intelligence is also part of the equation for CACI in this move.

During CACI’s fiscal third quarter earnings call with investors Thursday, CEO John Mengucci opened up more on the company’s path forward with Arka and its 1,100 employees now in the fold.

Ground processing is the area where CACI sees the “most prolific synergy” arising out of the purchase, Mengucci said. Arka brought to CACI several government authorizations that allow for the operation of agentic AI tools and several other mission models for geospatial intelligence missions.

Agentic AI has not yet advanced into signals intelligence efforts, but Mengucci signaled that could happen down the road.

“We're just beginning to have customer meetings, given that we just got everything integrated,” Mengucci said. “There are revenue synergies there that haven't even begun that will allow us to move the intelligence community further down the path that we know that they want to move towards, which is getting to higher level multi-INT solutions.”

CACI’s space strategy in recent years has also emphasized optical communications, which uses light propagating in space to wirelessly transmit data for communications and computer networking functions.

With Arka integrated, Mengucci said CACI is looking at how it can build larger terminals or even ones of the same sizes being made already. The idea is for the terminals to eventually push through 1 terabit of data versus today’s bandwidths of 2-to-4 megabits.

“We're looking at different ways that we can get through production. We're looking at different ways we can do engineering,” Mengucci said. “There's just so much more we can be doing for the folks who build satellites and the customers who absolutely need information from those missions.”

Fiscal third quarter revenue of $2.3 billion was 8.5% up from the prior year period, while profit of $289.7 million showed a 14.3% year-over-year increase in EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization).

CACI lifted its full-fiscal year financial outlook to revenue of $9.5 billion-to-$9.6 billion, up from the prior range of $9.3 billion-to-$9.5 billion, on an EBITDA margin of 11.8%-to-11.9%.

Both the quarterly results and updated guidance factor in contributions from Arka, including $150 million in added revenue.

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Commerce goes direct to hyperscalers with $4.1B cloud pact

Nick Wakeman — Fri, 24 Apr 2026 13:22:47 -0400

The Commerce Department is planning a 10-year, $4.1 billion blanket purchase agreement for cloud computing capabilities and only the big hyperscalers need apply.

In a Sam.gov notice posted Thurday, the department said the BPA will only be open to native hyperscale cloud services providers.

The department said it is going with a direct to CSP strategy because of the “highly specialized technical requirements, including massive compute elasticity (25,000+ concurrent vCPUs), proprietary 100+ tbps (terabits per second) global backbones, and specific hardware density for AI/ML, and weather modeling.”

Given those requirements, Commerce decided that only “original equipment manufacturers acting as cloud service providers” will be eligible for award. The inclusion of the OEM language effectively locks out resellers and systems integrators from competing as primes.

Commerce is using the General Services Administration’s eBuy portal to create the BPA, so any bidders will need to hold a GSA Schedule for cloud services.

The Sam.gov notice does not ask for any comments or responses. Commerce said the posting was to give notice of its cloud strategy.

In many ways, Commerce is following a strategy similar to the Defense Department and its Joint Warfighter Cloud Capability vehicle with Amazon Web Services, Microsoft, Oracle and Google Cloud.

JWCC was awarded in December 2022 and has a $9 billion ceiling. It runs through June 2028.

According to GovTribe data, 185 task orders have been awarded under JWCC. AWS has captured 77 of those, followed by Microsoft with 75. Oracle has won 19 task orders and Google follows with 14.

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White House accuses China of ‘deliberate, industrial-scale campaigns’ to steal US AI models

Edward Graham and David DiMolfetta — Fri, 24 Apr 2026 12:00:00 -0400

The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy on Thursday accused China and other foreign entities of engaging in “deliberate, industrial-scale campaigns to distill U.S. frontier AI systems,” and said that the Trump administration will be taking steps to safeguard domestic artificial intelligence products.

In a memo sent to federal agencies, the White House office warned that these distillation campaigns — in which a deluge of requests are sent to an AI model in order to train a knockoff version of it — are allowing bad actors to steal proprietary information from U.S. companies.

“Models developed from surreptitious, unauthorized distillation campaigns like this do not replicate the full performance of the original,” the memo said. “They do, however, enable foreign actors to release products that appear to perform comparably on select benchmarks at a fraction of the cost.”

Anthropic in February accused three Chinese-based AI companies — DeepSeek, Moonshot AI and MiniMax — of overwhelming its Claude model with 16 million exchanges from roughly 24,000 fraudulent accounts.

Those allegations came the same month that OpenAI sent a letter to members of the House China Select Committee that said, in part, that it had seen evidence “indicative of ongoing attempts by DeepSeek to distill frontier models of OpenAI and other US frontier labs, including through new, obfuscated methods.”

Thursday’s memo does not cite any specific companies engaged in distillation campaigns against U.S. AI firms. But OSTP Director Michael Kratsios said in an X post that “these foreign entities are using tens of thousands of proxies and jailbreaking techniques in coordinated campaigns to systematically extract American breakthroughs.”

OSTP told agencies that the Trump administration will be taking a series of steps to expand engagement with U.S. companies and crack down on foreign-based distillation campaigns.

These include sharing more information with the private sector about attempts to conduct large-scale distillation attacks, enabling companies “to better coordinate against such attacks;” partnering with firms to develop a set of best practices to counter these campaigns; and looking at developing new steps to hold foreign actors accountable for their actions.

The memo said these actions are consistent with the White House’s AI Action Plan, which was released in July 2025 and emphasizes the importance of “preventing our adversaries from free-riding on our innovation and investment.”

The White House’s warning about China-based distillation campaigns is the latest salvo in the U.S. and China’s ongoing competition to lead the global AI race. It also comes as major American AI firms have rolled out what they say are advanced AI models that have exquisite cybersecurity capabilities that could cause national security risks if they fall into the wrong hands.

Retired Gen. Paul Nakasone, who led the NSA and U.S. Cyber Command, said the administration may consider export controls, diplomatic protests and tailored technology restrictions as potential responses to the distillation efforts.

“And we’re going to be very, very careful about how we’re going to share that [AI technology] with a series of different partners,” he said, speaking at a Wednesday roundtable with reporters in Nashville when asked about the campaigns. Nakasone now leads Vanderbilt University’s Institute of National Security.

Given China’s increasingly bellicose tone toward Taiwan, and the potential for preemptive actions against the U.S. in advance of a full-scale invasion of that country, lawmakers have also been worried about how technology advances will ultimately benefit Beijing. Through China’s military-civil fusion strategy, the country has moved to enhance its military strength by removing barriers with its commercial sector.

President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping are scheduled to meet next month in Beijing for a summit to discuss a host of issues, including export controls on semiconductors and IP theft.

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HHS to rework $1B legal services contract after protests

Nick Wakeman — Thu, 23 Apr 2026 15:33:49 -0400

The Health and Human Services Department has agreed to rework parts of a solicitation for a $1 billion contract supporting legal services for unaccompanied migrant children.

Acacia Center for Justice, an incumbent contractor, and ICF both filed protests with the Government Accountability Office in early April after HHS released the solicitation for the contract.

HHS' Office of Refuge Resettlement uses the contract to provide legal services to unaccompanied children including consultations and direct legal representation.

The work covers 10 immigration relief categories including asylum, special immigrant juvenile stats, T and U visas, and adjustment status. The contractor will provide services at 203 Office of Refugee Resettlement offices across 26 states.

Data from GovTribe indicates HHS is using a trade-off analysis for the evaluation by using four factors: scalability and pro bono integration capabilities, technical approach, recent and relevant past performance, and price.

Acacia’s protest challenged the invoicing and payment terms in the solicitation, which the organization said restricted competition. The group also challenged background investigation and suitability determination requirements for pro bono attorneys.

In addition to that, Acacia’s protest argues that the requirement was improper because it violates applicable federal regulations and state bar professional codes of conduct.

ICF challenged the request for proposal’s past performance submission requirements as unduly restrictive of competition. The requirements create an unfair competitive advantage, according to ICF.

ICF called the RFP’s background investigation requirements vague, ambiguous, and possibly restrictive of competition.

Both protestors cited ethical and legal issues with the requirement to end representation when children turn 18. The solicitation requires that representation end at age 18, even if there is an ongoing case.

GAO dismissed the protests on Tuesday after HHS said it would reassess the requirements and amend the solicitation. HHS will also set a new deadline for submitting proposals.

Proposals were due April 3, but the protests delayed that. HHS will announce a new date after it reworks the solicitation.

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Autonomous weapons will be ‘key and essential part’ of warfare, Joint Chiefs chair says

David DiMolfetta — Thu, 23 Apr 2026 13:35:00 -0400

NASHVILLE — Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine said Thursday that autonomous weapons are going to be a “key and essential part of everything we do” when asked about how such tools would fit into the future of warfare.

Speaking during a fireside chat at Vanderbilt University’s Asness Summit on Modern Conflict and Emerging Threats, Caine said “we are doing a lot of thinking about this in the joint force right now” on how autonomous tech would be applied to areas like drones and command-and-control operations.

His remarks signal that the U.S. military is keen on crafting plans to further adopt artificial intelligence tools and other evolving technologies that would automate national security decisions made in the Defense Department.

“Probably everybody in this room uses some flavor of a [large language model] every single day,” he said, adding the same can’t be said for staff in the halls of the Pentagon. “So, we have to really normalize this and become early adopters.”

The remarks come as observers weigh tensions between the Pentagon and Anthropic, which recently unveiled a powerful frontier AI model, Mythos Preview, that was held back from public release over cybersecurity risks, paired with a new initiative to study its effects on global networks.

Intelligence community units have expressed interest in Mythos, Nextgov/FCW previously reported. The NSA, a component of the DOD, has been granted access to it, Axios reported Sunday.

Earlier this year, Anthropic declined to ease restrictions against its tools being used for domestic surveillance or fully autonomous weapons for Pentagon use, triggering a “supply chain risk” designation from the Defense Department and a White House order that all federal agencies phase out their uses of Anthropic tools.

The company has legally challenged the move, and a federal judge issued a temporary injunction on the designation and ban in late March. The government has said it intends to appeal the injunction.

This week, President Donald Trump said in a CNBC interview that the company is “shaping up” and can “be of great use” in the future, a sign that tensions between Anthropic and the government may be easing up.

The use of AI in military operations often draws scrutiny because it can speed up battlefield decisions while blurring human accountability, and it can raise doubts about whether such systems would reliably comply with the laws of war. Lawmakers have asked the Pentagon if AI systems were used in a deadly strike on a school in Iran that occurred in the opening hours of the U.S.-Israel war against Tehran.

Caine also said U.S. government agencies need to be “better buyers” for the private sector. “We have to write better contracts,” he said, elaborating that current acquisition frameworks are slowing contract workflows.

Contracts should be structured so risk is shared between buyers and sellers with the goal of bringing better outcomes for servicemembers, he added.

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VA seeks industry ideas for contact center tech upgrade

Ross Wilkers — Thu, 23 Apr 2026 13:27:51 -0400

The Veterans Affairs Department has started to canvas industry for ideas on how it can enhance the backend tech infrastructure that supports VA’s contact center operations, including calls and other means of communication.

VA currently utilizes the NICE CXOne platform as the foundational piece of its contact center infrastructure, while other features and enhancements rely on Medalia and integration with an IT service management tool based on ServiceNow.

In a request for information posted Wednesday, VA is asking for input on how it can add more artificial intelligence applications and other new tech functionalities into the contact center environment.

Conversational AI, including voice and chat, is one of 13 new capabilities VA wants as part of any new contact center infrastructure solution.

A statement of work accompanying the RFI describes the conversational AI piece as covering natural language voice bots and chatbots, multilingual capability, intent recognition with contextual memory, dynamic conversation flow generation, and voice AI with natural prosody and interruption handling.

VA also lists these future capabilities as of interest in the RFI:

AI intent-based routing
Predictive routing
Journey-aware routing
Proactive and predictive service
Workforce engagement management
Hyper-personalized customer experience
Intelligent process automation
Knowledge intelligence
Real-time operational intelligence
Integrated service management
Simulation-based agent training
Experience orchestration

The current environment does have some capability in intelligent routing, but VA wants to expand that by incorporating new AI-centric forecasting functions and increasing how prior interactions are considered.

Submissions should not exceed five pages and provide ideas on maintaining, updating and/or replacing the current contact center infrastructure offering. VA also wants respondents to give their view of benefits or risks to their approach.

Responses also must provide details on firm-fixed-price licensing models that support help desk agents and other users, opportunities for future updates and recommended contract vehicles to fulfill the requirement.

The deadline for submissions is 10 a.m. Eastern time on May 4.

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DOD completes $1B investment in L3Harris missile solutions unit

Ross Wilkers — Thu, 23 Apr 2026 11:54:59 -0400

The Defense Department has completed its $1 billion investment in L3Harris Technologies’ missile solutions unit ahead of a planned initial public offering of that business during the second half of this year, pending market conditions.

DOD’s capital infusion starts out as a convertible preferred security that will convert into common equity in a Missile Solutions IPO, which L3Harris first announced in January.

L3Harris said Thursday it will retain roughly 80% ownership of Missile Solutions and DOD is also receiving warrants to purchase additional shares in what is poised to become an independent, publicly-traded company.

Missile Solutions houses much of the legacy defense portfolio of Aerojet Rocketdyne, which L3Harris acquired in 2023 as a foray into the solid rocket motor and munitions markets.

Alongside the Orbital ATK business acquired by Northrop Grumman in 2018, Aerojet was one of the two primary providers of rocket propulsion systems for missile and space launch programs.

Demand for solid rocket motors and munition stockpiles has grown because of conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East, while suppliers are being stretched on the capacity front.

DOD’s direct investment in the Missile Solutions business follows other equity stake acquisitions in rare earth mineral suppliers and the chipmaker Intel. The Trump administration has so far made direct investments in 10 companies total.

A bulk of the DOD investment and proceeds from any potential Missile Solutions IPO will go toward expansion and modernization efforts at solid rocket motor production facilities in Camden, Arkansas; Huntsville, Alabama; and Orange, Virginia.

Below are members of L3Harris' executive team ringing the opening bell on Thursday at the New York Stock Exchange.

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Outcome-based strategies must come before outcome-based contracts

Nick Wakeman — Wed, 22 Apr 2026 16:09:58 -0400

Outcome-based contracting has become a buzzword in the federal market as the Trump administration pushes to streamline procurement.

They are saying the right things – buy results, not activities. The Revolutionary FAR Overhaul aims to give contracting officers greater flexibility.

But according to a new report from the IBM Center for the Business of Government, more emphasis needs to be put on an outcome-based strategy that then drives the structure of contracts.

The report, Outcome-Based Contracting in U.S. Government: From Policy to Performance, was co-authored by Daniel Finkenstadt, vice president of research and senior fellow with the Commerce & Contract Management Institute.

Finkenstadt told WT that are contracts instruments for communicating intent, establishing limits and defining behaviors.

"But they aren't the grand strategy of what you're trying to do through an acquisition," he added.

An outcome-based strategy can deploy multiple contracts and some of those can be very structured, while others can be very open-ended.

“But you are getting at an overarching outcome,” he said.

For industry, the shift toward outcomes-based contracting carries both opportunity and risk.

Risk is easy to miss and the opportunity is flexibility. An outcome-based structure gives contractors the autonomy to solve problems their own way, without seeking government approval at every step.

The risk is accountability without control.

Finkenstadt said he has observed a recurring pattern in negotiations where agencies say they want outcomes-based contracts, then reach back in during statement-of-work discussions and refuse to give up oversight of individual activities.

"If you're going to be put on the hook for outcomes, you need to make sure governance is in place that allows you to have that autonomy and flexibility," he said.

Contractors also need to ensure they can clearly attribute results — good and bad — to their own performance, not to government actions or inactions.

That governance question is where Finkenstadt said the real work happens. It's not about terms and conditions, but rather about how the two parties agree to behave under various conditions.

That includes conditions nobody anticipated. Customer and contractor must have open communications and flexibility.

“You have to do scenario planning,” he said. “Outcome-based contracts require you to think through the what-ifs in advance.”

A challenge for the government is a lack of data. The report Finkenstadt wrote for the IBM center identifies five critical success factors – outcome focused requirements, strong data capabilities, trust-based collaboration, effective governance structures, and oversight centered on results.

The data problem is acute because in order to pay a contract based on outcomes, the government needs to know how much of a given result can be attributed to performance versus market conditions, government decisions or external events.

Right now, that data capability largely does not exist.

The Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System is the government's primary tool for measuring performance. But CPARS is siloed and historically accessible only to active source selections, making it useless for research or modeling.

Contract writing systems, finance systems and performance systems not talking to each other is another issue.

"Attribution is the mechanism of payment," Finkenstadt said. "We don't have the systems to pull that off."

Agencies tend to measure only what their systems can measure rather than outcomes that actually matter.

The report lays out areas where the government should focus to foster more outcome-based contracts. These areas include governance training, portfolio-level prioritization strategies, and conducting more pilots.

The Defense Department is an early adopter and has been actively moving procurements to the left to open more communications with industry and establish ways to measure outcomes.

Finkenstadt said that approach has centered on munitions as a portfolio for pulling the Army, Navy and Air Force into a unified approach covering everything from research-and-development through sustainment. Those service branches previously negotiated separate deals for munitions.

DOD is leaning on what it calls framework agreements, where its goals and objectives are negotiated at the corporate level. That frees contracting officers from having to renegotiate those for every contract or order, Finkenstadt said.

"I think outcomes-based got buzzworded a little bit. But if you don't have trust, if you don't have governance, if you don't have data, then you need to be more specific. And as you build those things, you can open up,” he added.

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House FY27 VA funding bill allocates $3.4B for EHR rollout

Edward Graham — Wed, 22 Apr 2026 15:47:00 -0400

The House Appropriations Committee advanced a fiscal year 2027 funding package on Tuesday that includes billions of dollars for the continued rollout of the Department of Veterans Affairs’ new electronic health record system, although lawmakers once again made a portion of the money contingent on VA meeting certain performance and oversight requirements.

The agency’s effort to modernize its legacy health record system has long been stymied by cost overruns, technical issues and patient safety concerns. VA initially signed a $10 billion contract — later revised to over $16 billion — with Cerner in May 2018 to modernize its EHR system. Oracle later acquired Cerner in 2022 and rebranded the new unit as Oracle Health. A recent cost projection provided to Congress estimated the modernization project’s total price tag at around $37 billion.

VA paused most deployments of the modernized EHR system in April 2023 to address the safety and usability issues associated with the new software. At that time, the agency had only rolled out the system at five medical facilities. VA subsequently conducted a joint rollout of the Oracle Health EHR system with the Pentagon in March 2024 at a healthcare site in North Chicago.

Under current VA Secretary Doug Collins, the agency has moved to restart EHR system deployments and aggressively ramp up go-lives while addressing underlying issues that previously slowed the program. Earlier this month, VA rolled out the new software at four Michigan-based medical facilities, and the agency plans to implement the system at nine more sites in 2026.

Tuesday’s markup of the FY27 Military Construction, Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies bill came after the Trump administration released its governmentwide budget request earlier this month. VA proposed allocating $4.2 billion for the modernization project’s continued rollout.

The House panel’s funding bill, which was passed through the committee by a voice vote, would provide $3.4 billion for VA’s continuing EHR modernization project, with the funds “to remain available until September 30, 2029.” That is the same amount that Congress allocated for the EHR modernization project in FY26.

The allocated funds, however, would be contingent upon VA submitting quarterly reports to the House and Senate Appropriations panels “detailing obligations, expenditures, and deployment implementation by facility, including any changes from the deployment plan or schedule.”

Additionally, 25% of the total funds for the EHR modernization program would also be withheld until July 1, 2027, at which time they would only be disbursed if the agency provides both the House and Senate committees with additional information on the project’s progress.

That includes an updated life-cycle cost estimate as well as a site-by-site deployment schedule for medical facilities awaiting implementation of the new system. VA would also be required to show that the six medical facilities that received the EHR system prior to the end of the operational pause are meeting specific performance metrics, and provide “an updated projection of Federal VA staffing levels, contract support, and other relevant activities required, and the resources required to fund those activities.”

VA’s FY26 budget allocated $3.4 billion for the EHR modernization program, although Congress included a similar provision in that measure withholding 30% of the funds until this July, contingent upon the agency providing similar figures and information to lawmakers.

Rep. Sanford Bishop, D-Ga., said during the panel’s markup that Congress “must continue close oversight of the electronic health record modernization effort.”

“This bill includes a funding fence and reporting requirements, which I believe are steps in the right direction, but we still need far greater confidence in execution, patient safety and value for the taxpayer,” he added.

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Fortem receives new Lockheed backing, Reliable Robotics completes Series B raise

Ross Wilkers — Wed, 22 Apr 2026 14:53:34 -0400

Fortem Technologies

The maker of sensors and software for securing airspace from unauthorized drones has received a $25 million investment from Lockheed Martin to represent the first tranche of a Series B capital raise.

Fortem Technologies opened for business in 2016 to design radars that help unmanned aerial vehicles detect and avoid other aircraft and airborne objects beyond visual lines of sight.

Fortem builds artificial intelligence functions into its sensors, command-and-control software and interceptors to defend government and commercial infrastructure from hostile or unauthorized UAVs.

“Low-cost, increasingly autonomous drone threats are scaling faster than traditional defenses were designed to handle,” Fortem CEO Jon Gruen said in a release Wednesday. “Our work with Lockheed Martin reflects a shared recognition that counter-UAS capabilities need to be autonomous, integrated and deployable at scale.”

As part of this investment and partnership, Fortem will push to accelerate production of its products at scale and deploy them within Lockheed’s counter-UAS ecosystem called Sanctum. The idea is to further create an interoperable environment that allows for more seamless integration of technologies as they evolve.

For Lockheed, this new investment in Fortem follows the defense giant’s participation in a $17.8 million funding round in 2023 through its venture capital arm.

Fortem’s network of investors also includes AE Industrial Partners, DCVC, Toshiba, AIM13 and Signia Venture Partners.

Reliable Robotics

Also focused on autonomous flight, this maker UAVs for transporting cargo has collected $160 million in capital to aid its pursuit of a key Federal Aviation Administration certification for its aircraft.

SpaceX veterans Robert Ross (CEO) and Juerg Frefel (chief technology officer) co-founded Reliable Robotics in 2017 to develop its flagship Reliable Autonomy System to avoid accidents and integrate with existing aviation infrastructure, including other certified aircraft.

“Aviation is vital to our economy and national security, but to meet demand it needs to be able to scale safely,” Rose said in a release Tuesday. “Automation eases constraints, enabling us to realize greater levels of throughput at even higher levels of safety.”

With this new capital infusion, Reliable will push to expand its production facility footprint and pursue more opportunities for demonstration flights for military and commercial entities.

Nimble Ventures led the new financing round with continued support from Eclipse, Lightspeed, Coatue and Pathbreaker Ventures. Nimble’s partner and founder John Burbank will join Reliable’s board of directors.

Notable GovCon names entering as new investors include AE Ventures and RTX Ventures, respectively arms of AE Industrial Partners and RTX Corp. Other new investors include Island Green Capital, Socium Ventures, Presidio Ventures, UP.Partners, KAS Venture Partners, What IF Ventures, Calm Ventures, Gaingels and Mana Ventures.

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DHS takes first step in Cumulus cloud award process

Ross Wilkers — Wed, 22 Apr 2026 12:06:13 -0400

The Homeland Security Department has taken the first step in making awards for Cumulus, its centralized contract for acquiring commercial cloud computing services across the entire enterprise.

DHS originally set up the pact to have a blend of competitive and non-competitive awards that cover all aspects of commercial cloud. This includes everything from infrastructure-as-a-service, platform-as-a-service and software-as-a-service.

For block one of the awards announced Tuesday, DHS said it will enter into non-competitive contracts with the four major hyperscalers on a staggered basis through the end of the federal fiscal year on Sept. 30.

DHS estimates the award to Amazon Web Services will be finalized by the end of June, or the fiscal second quarter. The department is eyeing final awards to Oracle, Google Cloud and Microsoft by the end of the fiscal third quarter.

Each of those contracts will have a one-year base ordering period followed by up to four individual option years. Financial information on the awards was redacted from DHS’ justification-and-approval notice to announce them.

From there, DHS is creating a separate multiple-award competition to support the Cumulus effort and more details on that will apparently be forthcoming down the road.

Cumulus is part of DHS’ larger efforts to gain more visibility into cloud spending and usage across the entire department, plus achieve greater economies of scale and consistency in cloud acquisitions.

The department is also using Cumulus as a means to bring in compute, storage, database, network, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, logging and monitoring functions that are inherent with commercial cloud environments.

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New test range opens for the startup-war era

Patrick Tucker — Wed, 22 Apr 2026 09:30:00 -0400

A new, 400,000-acre testing and training facility aims to bring troops and defense firms together so they can innovate at the speed of modern warfare.

On Friday, Georgia-based Second Bend Labs announced the public opening of the facility near Moody Air Force Base. It’s designed to appeal to two usually separate groups whose challenges can only be solved together. Soldiers need to test drones and counter-drone equipment against a competent adversary, and drone startups need to see if their stuff works.

That requires a new approach to the military test range: a site that civilians can easily access, unlike a military base, and that allows military drone testing, unlike a regular expanse of private acreage.

Simply creating a place where a young company can fly medium-sized drones at the altitude of an A-10 Warthog and have soldiers shoot at it might seem obvious. It isn’t. It’s a problem that Deputy Defense Secretary Steve Feinberg discussed in his confirmation hearing as a major obstacle to modernization, and that Government Accountability Office and the Pentagon’s acquisition undersecretary have called burdensome to innovators. It’s also a problem that Ukraine has solved out of necessity, making the wartorn country a central testing site for drone and counter-drone warfare.

“You need to train the way you fight in realistic mission environments,” said Stu Booker, a former Air Force combat controller who is now Second Bend’s president of unmanned and autonomous systems. “Our clients, whether they are testing new technology, developing new tactics, or sharpening existing skills, are doing it in conditions that reflect the complexity of the environments they will actually fight in.”

The site offers diverse terrain and five miles of riverfront water for testing land and sea drones. It sits within Moody’s Corsair South Military Operations Area, which enables testing of low-altitude air support craft like the A-10 Warthog but also, increasingly, small and medium drones.

The facility has a range complex designed to Defense Department specifications, a 3,000-square-foot hangar, and an adjacent 20-foot launch pad. It also has “personnel in private guest home lodging, chef-supported meals, a 2,000-square-foot gym, and 3,000 square feet of team bonding spaces,” according to a press release for the lab. The idea is to create something akin to a modern co-working space or even a tech accelerator, allowing startups to collaborate and share gear. Think back to the Silicon Valley campuses of Google, Facebook (before Meta), and Twitter (before X) in the 2000s.

One thing the company is still working on is getting changes or waivers to local and federal regulations that limit its ability to replicate jamming and other electromagnetic warfare effects—the biggest factor driving evolution on the Ukrainian battlefield.

Second Bend Labs CEO Sam Kellett said he had reached operating agreements with the nearby Air Force base and the state of Florida. He also touted the willingness of federal officials to visit the site and discuss easing regulations—something the Defense Department has been pushing to increase the realism of testing and training.

“Our first government group will come out at the end of this month to start planning that. So there's nothing set in stone that we can or can't do. Okay, if somebody says they want to do something, we go find a way to make it happen for them,” said Kellett.

Why the need

One senior enlisted military official said other testing and training sites don’t make it easy for soldiers and engineers to do realistic drone-on-drone warfare, which changes far faster than Cold War-era testing sites or weapon designs under the constraints of programs of record.

The senior enlisted official said, “The rise of drones and counter-drone systems has forced us to dramatically expand the scope and frequency of training and testing. It’s no longer enough to strictly focus on shooting, moving, communicating.” Modern warfare has created a need for other skills such as analyzing electronic warfare conditions, identifying difficult-to-detect drone threats, and modifying equipment. “That means more repetitions, more scenario-based training, and more live or realistic test environments where drones are actually flying,” they said.

Practicing those skills requires more frequent contact with the people actually creating those technologies, people who aren’t easily found on military bases.

“My operators aren’t just users anymore, but they are also testers and evaluators. Every new piece of gear means building a mini test plan, running iterations, capturing data, and feeding that back to developers and higher headquarters,” they said.

The facility quietly hosted the 123rd Air Force Special Tactics Squadron in March and other military elements in previous months.

It has also hosted a handful of defense startups, younger companies that don’t have their own ranges and who aren’t accustomed to navigating the Defense Department’s complex procedures. These include Red Cat, a startup drone company; and a drone and counter-drone company called T3i.

Shaun Sorensen, T3i’s director of small unmanned aerial systems, said conventional test ranges are too “static.”

Today’s ranges lack “the ability to rapidly integrate and evaluate new systems—especially prototype solutions from startups,” Sorensen said in an email. “We need more interactive training and testing locations because drone and counter-drone threats evolve faster than traditional ranges and curricula can keep up.”

CEO Kellett also leads a biometric wearables company called Aware Custom Biometric Wearables. He said 2BL is blending the two to offer “next-gen human performance technology in development that will measure brain activity and vitals in realtime,” as well as other new tech that startups might want to test against gear from other startups.

Kellett said some of the early visitors to the site have also expressed interest in setting up production facilities nearby, in line with the growing Defense Department preference for a closer design, testing, and supply chain.

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Contractors sue to block Trump’s federal DEI executive order

Sean Michael Newhouse — Tue, 21 Apr 2026 15:20:06 -0400

A coalition that includes the National Association of Minority Contractors and several higher education groups on Monday filed a lawsuit to block a recent Trump executive order targeting diversity, equity and inclusion programs at federal contracting companies.

“For centuries, minority-owned businesses have faced discrimination. This executive order is aimed at undermining the very policies that work to address that discrimination and move the nation toward fairness and inclusion,” said Wendell R. Stemley, national president of NAMC, in a statement. “These policies are not always successful, but we know one thing for sure, we will not have success if we do not even try. And the first step in trying must be to openly discuss race and discrimination free from government censorship.”

The executive order prohibits federal contractors and subcontractors from engaging in “racially discriminatory DEI activities.” Noncompliance could lead to the termination or suspension of the contract, being barred from future government contracting opportunities and being sued by the Justice Department.

While contractors were already subject to anti-DEI directives that the president enacted at the start of his second term, Trump said that another order was necessary because “some entities continue to engage in DEI activities and often attempt to conceal their efforts to do so.”

Attorneys for the coalition argued in their filing that the executive order is unconstitutional.

“The administration views discussion of race and ethnicity as unlawful, and the very concepts of diversity, equity and inclusion as discriminatory. But that is flat wrong,” they wrote. “The [executive] order sanctions legal, and laudable, expression on race or ethnicity, and in doing so, violates the free speech, free association and due process rights of plaintiffs and their members.”

Parties in the lawsuit also reported that the directive could cause them to refrain from certain activities that might run afoul of the directive.

For example, NAMC’s Washington, D.C., area chapter said it was “anxious” about hosting future events that are similar to a recent mayoral candidate forum it sponsored with a Black business community organization. And a member of NAMC may stop advertising jobs in a local newspaper targeted to Black readers due to the executive order.

Democracy Forward, a national legal nonprofit, is handling litigation for the plaintiffs. NAMC is additionally represented by the Minority Business Enterprise Legal Defense and Education Fund.

“At its core, the executive order is a gag rule dressed up as a contract clause,” said Sarah von der Lippe, pro bono chief counsel of MBELDEF. “It demands minority-owned businesses trade their First Amendment right to speak about race and discrimination for fair access to federal contracts. The Constitution does not permit that trade.”

The Justice Department this month agreed on a $17.1 million settlement with IBM over DEI programs, which appeared to be the first such agreement with a federal contractor. In the settlement document, the company denied that it participated in the “covered conduct.”

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Army’s $50B MAPS contract draws fire on multiple fronts

Nick Wakeman — Tue, 21 Apr 2026 14:30:00 -0400

The Army's attempt to combine two of its largest contract vehicles is drawing significant pushback from industry over a large number of unanswered questions.

Among them, companies are seeing a lack of transparency around documentation requirements and criticizing how the Army is looking at the past performance of small business partners.

Proposals for the Marketplace for the Acquisition of Professional Services contract are due May 1. MAPS will be a 10-year, $50 billion vehicle that combines the Army's RS3 and ITES-3S contract vehicles.

Robert Turner, founder and CEO of the business development consultancy rTurner Consulting, sent a 5-page letter to the Army Contracting Command on behalf of an undisclosed group of companies with multiple concerns concerns about the procurement.

The Army has addressed at least one part of the complaint — it has numbered the questions submitted by commenters, totaling 2,572.

But that move also sharpens Turner's central grievance: the Army has answered only 237 of them.

"The central problem is not merely administrative backlog. It is the procurement consequence of leaving such a large body of questions unresolved," Turner wrote in the letter, which he shared in a LinkedIn post. "When material ambiguities remain unanswered, offerors are forced to make assumptions about proposal strategy, compliance, and evaluation risk. That is not in the Army's interest, and it is not in industry's interest."

Turner also criticizes the Army for stating it does not intend to provide a complete list of supporting documentation required to substantiate scorecard points for past performance, experience, and qualifications.

"Offerors cannot compete on a level playing field when the solicitation fails to clearly disclose the documentary support required to validate claimed qualifications, experience, or scoring elements," Turner wrote. "If the Army expects offerors to validate points, the solicitation should expressly state what documentation is required, how that documentation will be assessed, and what thresholds must be met for compliance and scoring."

A third issue involves how MAPS treats first-tier subcontractors — the teammates that small business primes bring to the table when they lack certain capabilities themselves. The Army has said it will not evaluate the past performance of those teammates.

Turner argues that position likely violates a federal regulation that requires agencies to evaluate the qualifications and past performance of first-tier subcontractors when the small business prime does not independently possess the relevant capabilities.

"Small business participation is not meaningfully protected if small business primes are denied the benefit of the very first-tier subcontractor experience the governing framework requires agencies to consider," Turner wrote.

The letter asks Army Contracting Command to extend the proposal due date, complete the Q&A process in a meaningful way, provide unambiguous instructions on required documentation and explicitly clarify that small business offerors may rely on first-tier subcontractor past performance as required by regulation.

Turner believes that the current state of the solicitation creates unnecessary protest risk.

"A short strategic pause at this stage is far preferable to prolonged instability later," he wrote.

Some in industry are also raising a more fundamental question: whether the Army needs MAPS at all. A second industry source said existing governmentwide acquisition contracts such as OASIS+ already cover much of the same ground as MAPS.

That begs the question, is MAPS even needed?

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FedRAMP and CMMC compliance deadlines are looming

Amanda Mull — Tue, 21 Apr 2026 14:00:00 -0400

Is your company ready for the upcoming FedRAMP and CMMC deadlines?

With the latest FedRAMP deadline on Sept. 30 and the CMMC deadline on Nov. 10, federal contractors are less than six months away from needing to demonstrate compliance.

Both programs require documented evidence, third-party assessments, and in some cases significant changes to how systems are configured and managed. Organizations that are not already on their way to compliance will lag behind their competition.

Failure to comply with these deadlines can have serious implications for your business — from revocation of your FedRAMP certification status to being unable to compete for potentially lucrative contracts with the Defense Department.

Let’s take a closer look at the two upcoming deadlines, and what you need to do to meet these important requirements.

FedRAMP compliance: A play in two acts

For the uninitiated, FedRAMP governs how cloud service providers handle federal data. The program is undergoing its most significant modernization in years, driven by the transition to NIST SP 800-53 Revision 5 — a shift that is a fundamental reset of cybersecurity expectations for cloud vendors operating in the federal space.

The Sept. 30, 2026, deadline is the first of two FedRAMP deadlines on the horizon.

By this fall, vendors must transition their authorization packages to machine-readable formats — a requirement designed to streamline federal review processes and reduce the documentation bottlenecks that have historically slowed FedRAMP authorizations. This is not a formatting preference; it is a compliance requirement.

The second deadline plays out 12 months later. By Sept. 30, 2027, all FedRAMP-authorized vendors must be fully aligned with Revision 5 control baselines, with particular emphasis on configuration management, system hardening, and continuous monitoring. Vendors who have not completed that transition by the final deadline face revocation of their FedRAMP certification.

For vendors currently listed in FedRAMP's Preparation Phase, there is additional urgency. New rules require that organizations achieve FedRAMP Certified or Validated status within 12 months of entering that phase or face removal from the marketplace entirely.

Three priorities should be driving your FedRAMP planning right now.

First, assess where your current authorization sits relative to Revision 5 requirements. Many vendors are further from compliance than they realize, especially when it comes to the full integration of privacy controls and control families for personally identifiable information and supply chain risk management.

Second, engage an accredited third-party assessment organization (3PAO) early. Assessment schedules are filling up.

Third, monitor the new FedRAMP requests for comments released in early 2026. These RFCs propose changes that create new opportunities to expedite FedRAMP validations and Rev 5 certifications, but also introduce new obligations, such as assessment‑cost reporting, expanded marketplace transparency and machine‑readable authorization data requirements.

Organizations that treat the initial September 2026 machine-readability deadline as the deadline for both actions, rather than a stop along the way to 2027, will be in a better competitive position. Vendors who wait for 2027 to begin substantive Rev 5 work will be managing a crisis, not a transition.

CMMC: Mandatory and already in motion

Effective Nov. 10, 2026, DOD’s CMMC requirement for C3PAO assessments becomes mandatory across all new defense contracts involving federal contract information (FCI) or controlled unclassified information (CUI).

This ends reliance on self-attestation, requiring independent, third-party verification of NIST SP 800-171 compliance. Every contractor across the defense industrial base is expected to be CMMC compliant on one of the three levels by 2028.

CMMC is not a self-certification program, and it does not forgive preparation gaps. DOD will not award or extend defense contracts without proof of a CMMC third-party certification at the required level.

There is no workaround and no shortcut. There is, however, an exception. CMMC does not apply to defense contracts that are solely for the acquisition of commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) items. This exception can be tricky, though, because it doesn’t apply to services and it does not apply where the contractor possesses CUI.

If you miss the deadline, the remediation process is not quick. It involves gap correction, scheduling the C3PAO assessment, and reapplication. C3PAO availability is constrained, and the process can add months to your compliance timeline.

Expected Phase 3 implementation, beginning Nov. 10, 2027, will introduce government-led Defense Industrial Base Cybersecurity Assessment Center (DIBCAC) assessments. Preparing your documentation now for this eventuality makes sense due to the protracted cycles for certain types of acquisitions.

Subcontractors are at risk here as well. CMMC requirements flow down through the supply chain, and subcontractors handling FCI or CUI are subject to the same certification requirements as the primes. If you are a subcontractor waiting for a prime to tell you what to do, you are already late.

Layered on top of this deadline is another development that contractors handling CUI should track. NIST SP 800-171 Revision 3 will become mandatory for contractors subject to Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) requirements, and its adoption will have downstream effects on CMMC 2.0 compliance obligations.

Rev 3 is not a minor update. It tightens requirements around access control, incident response, and supply chain risk management in ways that will require organizations to revisit documentation and controls they may believe are already in order. Get ahead of it now so it doesn’t become an emergency after the upcoming November 2026 CMMC deadline.

What to do before the deadlines hit

Organizations that successfully navigate the deadlines will have three things in common: an early start, credible third-party partnerships, and a realistic assessment of the gap between where they are today and where they need to be.

Here are some quick tips to get ready.

For FedRAMP: Review your current authorization package against Rev 5 baselines now. Identify what documentation needs to be converted to machine-readable format and have a C3PAO engaged before the summer. The fall 2026 deadline for machine-readable packages is just around the corner.

For CMMC: If you have not already conducted a gap assessment against the required controls of the relevant CMMC level for your contracts, do so now. Level 2, which covers most contractors handling CUI, requires a formal assessment by a C3PAO. Scheduling that assessment takes time. Completing the remediation that may follow will take even more.

The federal government is playing hardball and has indicated strict enforcement of these deadlines. For contractors and subcontractors selling into defense agencies, the question isn’t whether to comply — it is whether you will be ready on time.

To understand more details about compliance and the deadlines surrounding FedRAMP and CMMC contact immixGroup.

Amanda Mull is a federal contract specialist for immixGroup, the public sector business of Arrow Electronics. immixGroup delivers mission-driven results through innovative technology solutions for public sector IT. Visit immixGroup.com for more information.

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OMB seeks details from agencies on their commercial buying, or lack thereof

Ross Wilkers — Tue, 21 Apr 2026 13:13:00 -0400

The Office of Management and Budget wants details from agencies on how they are complying with President Trump’s 2025 executive order calling for them to prioritize commercially available products and services in acquisitions.

Efforts to shift agencies in that direction date back almost three decades, including the signing of the Federal Acquisition Streamlining Act of 1994 that requires agencies to give a preference to commercial offerings. Trump’s executive order sought to reinforce the policies outlined in FASA and further promote commercial acquisitions.

In a memo to agencies sent Friday, OMB Director Russ Vought writes that they have until May 4 to report every non-commercial contract award from April 2025 through September 2025. For any award exceeding $10 million, agencies must explain why they acquired a non-commercial offering and what they plan to do for the contract’s next option period.

Vought wrote that during the government’s 2024 fiscal year, more than two-thirds of total contract spend — as reported to the Federal Procurement Data System — was for non-commercial products and services. FPDS is the since-discontinued database that housed information on non-classified contract obligations across government.

That estimate includes $130 billion in what Vought called “non-commercial contracting for common services, such as professional support services, information technology and telecom services, and operation of facilities” that was acquired through cost-reimbursement contracts.

OMB is also putting in place a new consultation process for agencies if they plan a non-commercial buy, but sign-off from the agency’s political appointee responsible for acquisition is required before an agency can even go to OMB.

According to the memo, this means the agency’s chief acquisition officer must approve the request of the senior procurement executive to set up a non-commercial contract.

Those requests must include details on the contract’s duration and size, any market research efforts that informed the decision, whether the contract will be competed, cost analysis information, and other details on the requirements.

Requests must also include an “affirmative statement” from the agency’s political appointee overseeing acquisition that they support the career official’s determination to create a non-commercial contract.

Each agency has a policy official serving as a competition advocate, whose responsibilities include the promotion and advocacy of commercial acquisitions. As part of their reports to OMB due May 4, agencies must confirm whether that person is “at a level now lower than the head of the contracting activity or deputy (Senior Procurement Executive).”

OMB’s memo also details how the competition advocate is also responsible for making recommendations to SPE officials on maximizing commercial purchases, as well as working with the agency’s small business director on lowering barriers to entry for commercial providers and new entrants.

Competition advocates also work with the Procurement Committee on E-Government to review and improve data collection protocols, plus support the SPE in developing annual process reports for submission to OMB.

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GSA No. 2 talks ‘million hours challenge,’ scaling agency AI efforts

Frank Konkel — Tue, 21 Apr 2026 10:00:00 -0400

The General Services Administration is working to save and automate one million hours of workload across the agency as part of its Eliminate, Optimize and Automate — or EOA — playbook.

GSA Deputy Administrator Michael Lynch said the effort aims to use artificial intelligence and intelligent automation to handle “repetitive, manual workflows,” allowing its workforce to redirect their time toward serving customer agencies, improving procurement outcomes and pursuing other mission-critical services. Early into 2026, Lynch said the agency is almost halfway toward achieving its moonshot goal.

“We have about 400,000 hours that are currently identified of ways that we can — not replace people — but remove that non-high-value added time and replace it by putting people on more high-value opportunities within the agency,” Lynch said April 14 at the OpenText Government Summit in Washington, D.C. “And that really goes to address some of the workforce challenges we’ve had.”

Lynch added that GSA, like most agencies across government, lost headcount over the past year, but he asserted the leaner setup hasn’t slowed operations.

In 2025, the agency took on a centralized role in federal acquisition and led a massive overhaul of the process; became a key cog in the Trump administration’s AI Action Plan through the launch of USAI.gov; and negotiated more than two dozen deals with tech companies, saving partner agencies more than $1 billion on software through its OneGov program, according to Lynch.

Still, the agency is looking at more ways to drive innovation, foster collaboration and develop future leaders within its ranks — while tackling some of the agency’s toughest problems.

Called GSA Labs, the new program seeks a few dozen high-performing early-to-mid-career employees within the agency who will be placed into small, cross-functional teams with executive sponsorship to tackle those problems.

“We did a call to action for all of our senior leaders to say, ‘What are the problems that exist within automation technology, workflows and things that you want to dedicate resources to, that you just don't have the staff to do it?’” Lynch said. “And then we put out a call to our workforce to say, ‘Hey, if you’re kind of mid-career talent, would you be interested in doing a second job in addition to your day job — not a second pay job — but you know, be part of this program?’”

Lynch said the response was “amazing,” totaling more than 300 internal applicants who were narrowed to an initial cohort of 30 GSA staff to address five problem statements with a goal of “trying to create interoperable systems and processes."

He noted GSA Labs’ work is largely internal now, but “could be a scalable program in the future.”

“We have 30 individuals from GSA that are going to be almost our internal McKinsey consulting group that’s going to come in and help us solve these problems in partnership with leaders,” Lynch said. “And then the hope would be that further develops our workforce, develops great outcomes for our agency. And then where the program goes in year two and beyond is a bit up in the air.”

Maturation of OneGov

Far from a one-hit wonder, Lynch said to expect a maturation of GSA’s OneGov effort, which netted more than two dozen discounted deals for agencies from AI and tech software firms, including Google Public Sector, Adobe, Salesforce, Elastic, Oracle, Uber, IBM, Docusign, Microsoft, Amazon Web Services, OpenAI, Anthropic and Box.

Some of those were relatively short-term deals, and GSA is using feedback from industry and agencies to inform how that program evolves into “longer-term, scalable programs and engagements that are mutually beneficial for both the federal government as well as our industry partners.”

“Over the next six to nine months, you’ll see a lot more announcements around how those OneGov deals have matured,” Lynch said.

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NTT Data hires CGI Federal veteran for U.S. government unit

Nick Wakeman — Tue, 21 Apr 2026 08:00:00 -0400

NTT Data has hired Horace Blackman, a former CGI Group executive, as the new leader of its U.S. federal subsidiary.

Blackman was most recently senior vice president and business unit leader for CGI Federal’s defense, intelligence and space business. He brings more than two decades of experience in the market to NTT Data.

“Horace’s deep expertise and mission first mindset are exactly what agencies need as they modernize at speed,” John Hillen, chairman of NTT Data's federal board of directors, said in a release Tuesday.

Blackman's work experience spans both the public and private sectors, including early work on digital services and enterprise modernization efforts. He has held leadership roles at the Veterans Affairs Department, where he led programs focused on modernizing health care and benefits delivery.

His career in industry includes senior roles at Leidos, Lockheed Martin and Edifecs.

Blackman is a past Federal 100 award recipient and a three-time FedHealthIT 100 honoree. He also has served as rector of the George Mason University board of trustees.

He will lead NTT Data's federal strategic growth initiatives focused on client delivery, secure cloud modernization, artificial intelligence-enabled mission solutions and digital transformation.

“Throughout my career, I’ve seen the profound impact that smart, secure, mission‑aligned technology can have on agencies and the people they serve,” he said. “I look forward to working with this exceptional team to deepen our partnerships, advance innovation and help our clients achieve meaningful mission outcomes.”

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DOD, GSA switch out contractors for resource support program

Ross Wilkers — Mon, 20 Apr 2026 15:29:30 -0400

The Defense Department and General Services Administration have moved to replace Accenture, the lead contractor for Military OneSource -- a program for connecting service members and their families with resources on handling military life.

GSA is running this procurement on behalf of DOD and terminated the original award to Cognosante on Friday for cause, the agencies said in a notice to Sam.gov. Accenture’s U.S. federal subsidiary inherited the contract through its acquisition of Cognosante in May 2024 and proposals for the contract were due in October 2023.

Following the termination, GSA awarded a new contract to Leidos on Friday to take over technology and other support services for a program that covers 4.7 million participants.

Leidos’ contract has a ceiling of $456.3 million, GSA said in a separate award notice. The original contract with Cognosante covered a potential five-year duration, including an initial base year and up to four individual option years.

Military OneSource provides service members and their families with round-the-clock access to information, resources and counseling support. The Internet, telephone, email and artificial intelligence chatbots are among the communication channels available to users.

The lead contractor’s areas of responsibility include program management, call center operations and support, IT operations management, and strategic outreach.

Under the Federal Acquisition Regulation, contracting officers typically issue a cure notice and a show-cause letter to the contractor outlining problems with the program and expectations for remedying those issues. The contractor then usually has a minimum of 10 days, or longer if specified, to cure the problems.

GSA first awarded Accenture Federal Services/Cognosante the contract in July 2024, then undertook a corrective action after Leidos filed a protest claiming the agency did not fully consider the impact of that business combination.

AFS/Cognosante was re-awarded the contract in May 2025 at a $576.1 million ceiling and no protests followed.

Officials at Accenture Federal Services did not respond to our request for comment.

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AI and CMMC: A double-edge sword for defense contractors

AJ Yawn — Mon, 20 Apr 2026 14:50:54 -0400

The Pentagon’s Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification initiative, a program for verifying that defense contractors have implemented the cybersecurity controls required to protect sensitive government information, requires those contractors to take concrete steps to protect controlled unclassified information. These requirements are substantial – if companies fail to comply, they risk losing their contracts.

Recently, the rise of artificial intelligence has added even more complexity to the efforts of contractors to comply with CMMC requirements. This has created a real and immediate problem: AI tools are inadvertently expanding organizations’ CMMC assessment boundaries, introducing new attack vectors into CUI environments and complicating assessments.

For example, an employee may paste a CUI document excerpt into a commercial large language model such as ChatGPT, inadvertently transmitting CUI to a cloud environment not authorized or assessed under the company’s CMMC boundary. Doing this may represent a potential breach of CMMC requirements and a CMMC scope violation.

Additional risk may also be introduced when AI tools are used to draft policies, procedures and system security plan content. AI-generated content looks authoritative but may be inaccurate, generic or describe controls that do not match the actual technical environment. When using AI for these purposes, every implementation description still needs to be verified against the actual environment before it goes into a compliance review.

The good news is that contractors can conversely deploy AI tools to enhance CMMC compliance. Specifically, AI can help by automating the evidence collection process as well as system security plan generation and continuous monitoring.

In the area of evidence collection automation, AI-powered tools can reduce the cost of compliance by assisting with queries of the environment’s identity platforms, configuration management systems and security tools. AI can also help process raw output into consistently formatted artifacts and flag anomalies such as accounts with unexpected permissions, systems not enrolled in endpoint protection and patches that exceed remediation timelines.

When used correctly, AI tools are also effective for supporting the drafting of system security plans. An AI assistant can review a draft plan and identify missing implementation descriptions, inconsistencies between sections or controls that are documented without the appropriate references. In addition, AI can map existing policy documents to the applicable CMMC requirements they satisfy, identifying policy gaps and redundancies.

Also, when applied to continuous monitoring and anomaly detection, AI-based tools can help detect anomalous network behavior that may indicate malicious activity and monitor compliance to ensure that the controls assessed at certification remain in place. And when applied to risk assessment, these tools can process vulnerability scan data, threat intelligence feeds and configuration data to generate risk-prioritized remediation recommendations. This prioritization directly addresses one of the most common challenges in CMMC programs: knowing which of many gaps to fix first given limited resources.

Contractors can employ a five-step process for leveraging AI without creating more compliance risk. First, they need to identify every AI tool in their environment, including commercial AI assistants used by employees on work devices, and categorize them by whether they are deployed on-premise, in a private cloud, or in a commercial cloud. Contractors also must determine whether the tools can access, process or store CUI.

Second, they must assess whether users can input CUI into each of the tools identified in the environment. If the answer is yes, they have to look at whether the tool’s backend is authorized by the government’s FedRAMP program to process CUI.

Third, the organization should update their system security plan to document every AI tool identified as an in-scope asset, the security function it performs and how it is managed and controlled. For AI tools that have been determined not to process CUI, document the justification and the controls that prevent CUI from entering the tool.

Next, they should establish an acceptable use policy for AI that defines which tools are authorized for use on work systems; which categories of information cannot be entered into any AI tool; the approval process for adding new AI tools to the authorized list; and how violations are reported and addressed. Finally, they should train employees on which AI tools they can use, which information categories cannot be processed by AI tools and why. Abstract policy without context does not change behavior.

One caveat: Despite its usefulness in assisting with CMMC compliance, AI output requires human verification. A completeness check that an AI produces is useful, but a human with actual knowledge of the environment must confirm that the implementation descriptions accurately reflect technical reality.

AJ Yawn is the governance, risk and compliance advisor at NR Labs.

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Z SofTech challenges how NASA delivered its SEWP VI elimination notice

Nick Wakeman — Mon, 20 Apr 2026 12:53:29 -0400

Z SofTech Solutions is pushing back on the Government Accountability Office’s dismissal of its SEWP VI protest.

GAO ruled that Z SofTech filed its protests well after the window for raising objections and a second part of the company's protest was insufficiently detailed.

In Z SofTech's request for reconsideration, President Letitia Alexander says they want GAO to take a second look at the entire decision to dismiss the protest.

SEWP VI is the recompete of NASA's popular government-wide contract for IT services and solutions.

On the point of untimeliness, Alexander said NASA sent the notice of z SofTech’s elimination to an unmonitored email address instead of the point contact included in the company’s proposals. The notice was also not accessible through the SEWP portal, Alexander said.

It was nearly two months before Z SofTech discovered the email and then filed its protest with NASA, which dismissed the challenge for being untimely. The company then filed a protest with GAO, which also dismissed it because it was too late.

“The timing of our filings reflects when we had actual notice of the Agency’s actions and when supporting information was developed and submitted, including through a supplemental filing that provided additional detail and documentation referenced in the initial protest,” Alexander said.

NASA eliminated the company because its past performance volume did not meet the solicitation's requirements. Z SofTech argues that it followed NASA’s Q&A guidance on where those materials should be placed.

The company is also raising a consistency issue but it used the same approach to submit past performance in category A and category C. Category C was eliminated but Category A was not.

“That same structural approach was not treated as an issue in Category A, which is part of the broader evaluation consistency question,” Alexander said.

On the point of insufficient detail, Alexander said the focus is on whether the initial decision fully accounted for supporting materials that were part of the record. This includes a detailed CLIN listing and how Z SofTech’s proposal aligned with NASA’s Q&A guidance.

The company also has an ongoing Freedom of Information Act request to gain access to its evaluation record and other communications.

Z SofTech filed its reconsideration with GAO on April 13. GAO expects to make a decision by July 22.

Separately, there are three other protests pending at GAO. NASA plans to extend SEWP V through Sept. 30, 2026.

SEWP V also has option periods that could push the end date out to April 30, 2027.

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Delivery, tech and operations leadership moves across the market

Ross Wilkers — Mon, 20 Apr 2026 12:47:06 -0400

Agile Defense

Shawn Tyrie has joined the Enlightenment Capital-owned digital transformation specialist as chief revenue officer, a role he brings two decades of defense sector experience to.

“The national security environment we're operating in right now spans great power competition to the proliferation of AI-enabled threats to violent extremist organizations,” Tyrie wrote in a LinkedIn post on his new role. “The diversity and urgency of these missions demand that government and industry close the gap between technological capability and mission execution.”

Tyrie was most recently an executive at the McChrystal Group and is a former senior account executive for Amazon Web Services.

Agile Six

The digital services provider has added two new members to its C-level leadership team from within, only three years after they joined the company.

Jennifer McLaughlin moved up to chief delivery officer and will focus on the health, quality and effectiveness of Agile Six’s services. She most recently held the title of vice president of delivery experience and is a 26-year tech veteran.

As chief innovation officer, Melissa Schaff will lead Agile Six’s work in applied artificial intelligence for government services and efforts to align it with the user experience. Schaff most recently worked as a digital services strategist and is a 13-year tech veteran.

Anser

Lynn Chia has joined the nonprofit public service research institute as chief strategy officer, a newly-created role she brings three decades of experience to.

Chia most recently co-founded the water-focused startup Ayon Technologies and is a former leader of HackerOne’s federal business. Her career also includes stops at Serco Inc., Deloitte and Booz Allen Hamilton.

Anser focuses on studies and analyses in national security, homeland security and public policy.

D&G Solutions

Trish Csank has joined the logistics and supply chain management specialist as vice president of strategy and mission solutions, a role she brings three decades of experience to.

Csank most recently worked as a vice president at LMI, where she helped lead different areas of its supply chain-focused businesses.

She is also a 25-year Air Force veteran and retired colonel whose career in service includes roles such as director of Task Force Liberty for logistics and engineering, plus deputy director of logistics.

Dynanet

Dr. Anthony “Tony” Kirilusha has joined the technology integrator as chief scientific officer, a role he brings 25 years of health care sector experience to.

Kirilusha will help lead efforts to scale Dynanet’s services in areas such as analytics, interoperable data platforms and digital transformation. Health IT is a priority market for Dynanet, which works with the Health and Human Services Department on tech initiatives.

Kirilusha most recently worked as chief scientific officer at Credence. He is also a 10-year veteran of the National Institutes of Health, where he was a program leader in its Office of Strategic Coordination.

Electrosoft

Jamie Holcombe, the former Patent and Trademark Office chief information officer, has joined the cybersecurity and digital engineering company as chief operating officer.

“Throughout my career, one belief has stayed constant: don’t ask to be trusted, build systems like they never will be. That mindset will continue to guide how I approach my new role at Electrosoft,” Holcombe wrote in a LinkedIn post on his new role.

Holcombe was USPTO’s CIO for six-and-a-half years.

Fluor

Stacey Shepard has joined the global engineering and construction company as senior vice president of growth and strategy in its mission solutions group, which houses the government portfolio.

Fluor hired Shepard to aid in its efforts to “sharpen our focus on the markets where we can lead and the services that set us apart,” Al Collins, group president for mission solutions, wrote in a LinkedIn post on the new role.

A three-decade market veteran, Shepard most recently worked as a senior managing director at CBRE. Her career also includes senior roles at Jacobs and AAI Corp.

Google

Lax Jadeja has joined the global tech giant as chief financial officer for its public sector business, a role he brings two decades of experience to.

“It's a privilege to support the teams working at the intersection of technology and public service, helping governments, agencies, and institutions leverage Google's capabilities to solve real-world challenges,” Jadeja wrote in a LinkedIn post on his new role.

Jadeja most recently worked as CFO at Viamo for four years. His career also includes roles at Amazon, Xerox and Computer Sciences Corp.

Ignite IT

David O’Neil has moved up to president at the digital transformation company, which he first joined in 2020 as chief growth officer and most recently was chief operating officer.

O’Neil will work with CEO Steve Pichney on the overall corporate strategy and long-term vision. Ignite IT has also tasked O’Neil with leading its partnership, joint ventures and alliances.

A 26-year market veteran, O’Neil’s career also includes roles at Xcelerate Solutions and Longevity Consulting.

Integrated Data Services

Sujey Edward has joined the business management software provider as chief strategy and innovation officer, a newly-created role he brings nearly two decades of market experience to.

Edward will oversee efforts at IDS to further iterate its core product as the Arlington Capital Partners-owned company pushes for expansion into new markets and works to identify potential acquisitions.

Edward most recently worked as chief technology officer and senior partner at IBM’s U.S. federal business, which he joined in 2023 following Big Blue’s acquisition of Octo. He was CTO at Octo prior to that transaction.

Merlin Labs

Mark Brunner has joined the newly-minted public company as chief revenue officer to help lead efforts at expanding the capability and availability of its autonomous flight operating system.

The 25-year tech and public sector veteran will lead growth initiatives to aid in Merlin’s work at scaling its Merlin Pilot tool, which uses artificial intelligence techniques to gather data during each flight to help it learn and get smarter.

Brunner most recently led public sector growth initiatives at PsiQuantum and before that worked as president of public sector at Primer AI.

Merlin Labs, again

Following its $200 million initial public offering in March, the company has unveiled its seven-member board of directors that includes six independent members.

CEO Matt George was named chairman of the board. Michael Blitzer was appointed lead independent director. Other board members include Kenneth Braithwaite, Kelyn Brannon, Michael Montelongo, Michael Montelongo, Dr. Robert Smith and Carolyn Trabuco.

Northrop Grumman

Chuck Jones has joined the blue chip defense hardware maker as chief information and digital officer for its defense systems sector, a role he brings 16 years of experience to.

“I’ll be leading IT, cybersecurity, and digital strategy focused on enabling mission outcomes through simplified, secure, and data-driven capabilities,” Jones wrote in a LinkedIn post on his new role.

Jones previously worked at vice president of digital operations at RTX’s Raytheon segment. His career also includes roles at Honeywell and General Electric.

Peraton

Justin Ciacco has moved up to president of the government technology integrator’s national aerospace solutions sector, a role that puts him in leadership for the Federal Aviation Administration’s Brand New Air Traffic Control Systems program.

Peraton captured the BNACTS program in December and will oversee an industry team responsible for the overhaul of the U.S.’ aging air traffic control system. The FAA eyes 2028 as when it wants to implement the new system.

Ciacco is a two-decade market veteran and formerly a vice president at Peraton, which he joined in 2021 via its acquisition of the Vion Corp. cloud business.

Radiance Technologies

Darien Hammett has moved up to chief operating officer at the employee-owned engineering services company, which he first joined in 2019 as an assistant vice president.

The three-decade defense veteran will work with CEO Bill Bailey on implementing strategies and growth pursuits, while also overseeing internal processes and efficiency initiatives.

Hammett most recently held the role of executive vice president of Radiance’s defense sector. He is also a 24-year Air Force veteran whose career includes service as military assistant to the assistant defense secretary for acquisition.

Shift5

Jason Hall has joined the venture-backed operational technology and cyber company as vice president of mission delivery, a role he brings three decades of defense experience to.

“I’ll be focused on delivering mission-critical solutions that enhance cybersecurity, predictive maintenance, and compliance across operational technology environments,” Hall wrote in a LinkedIn post on his new role.

Hall most recently worked as a general manager at L3Harris Technologies, where Shift5’s CEO Toby Magsig also came from. Hall is also a 27-year Navy veteran.

Two Six Technologies

The Carlyle Group-owned national security tech integrator has elevated three executives to its C-level leadership team to help shape the next phase of the strategy.

As president, Young Bang will oversee Two Six Technologies’ performance on programs and efforts to expand its pipeline across the defense and intelligence communities. He joined the Two Six team in 2025 after a stint as an operating executive at Carlyle.

In the chief operating officer role, Amy Dalton will lead all of Two Six’s corporate enablement functions and the corporate strategic initiatives group. She has been a member of Two Six’s leadership group since its 2021 inception and most recently was its chief performance officer.

For the chief product officer post, Becky Fair is responsible for growth and development initiatives related to Two Six's software and hardware products. Fair joined Two Six in 2022 through its acquisition of Thresher Ventures, a software company she co-founded and led as CEO.

Okla

Mark Peters, chief executive of Mitre Corp. since the fall of 2024, has joined the board of directors at this developer of fast fission power plants that is pushing to convert nuclear fuel into clean energy.

Oklo’s efforts also include development work on advanced fuel recycling technologies in collaboration with the Energy Department and national laboratories.

Peters is one of four new members joining Okla’s board.

Xcelerate Solutions

Jerry Howe, a 35-year GovCon and legal veteran, has joined the board of directors at the McNally Capital-owned secure IT services provider.

Howe most recently worked as general counsel at Leidos from 2017 to 2024, then formally retired from the company in March 2025.

Before Leidos, Howe was a partner at the law firm Fried Frank. His career also includes stints in the general counsel roles at both TASC and Veridian Corp.

York Space Systems

Janine Davidson, Navy undersecretary from 2016 to 2017 and also a former deputy assistant defense secretary for plans, has joined the board of directors at the now-publicly traded small satellite maker.

York Space Systems’ board of directors grows from seven members to eight with the appointment of Davidson, who also becomes a member of the audit committee. She is a nominee of AE Industrial Partners, the private equity firm and controlling shareholder of York.

Davidson has been president of the Metropolitan State University of Denver since 2017.

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WT 360: Noblis and its next 30 years

Ross Wilkers — Mon, 20 Apr 2026 06:00:00 -0400

Noblis was stood up in 1996 as a science, technology and strategy organization that works with federal agencies on creating and rolling out solutions for some of their most complex problems.

Mile Corrigan, chief executive of Noblis, joins for this episode to go over the firm’s blueprint for its future beyond this milestone year of celebrating its 30th anniversary and how technology transition efforts are at the heart of that vision.

The government wants tech to get from lab to field much quicker than before. In talking with our Ross Wilkers, Corrigan explains some of the keys to making that happen from an industry point-of-view.

Corrigan also lays out how Noblis looks at applied science, the firm’s venture investment activity since starting out on that in 2023 and what it means to be a nonprofit in today’s landscape.

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The GovCon uncertainty principle: Navigating the 2026 market collision

Mark Amtower — Fri, 17 Apr 2026 15:10:17 -0400

In quantum physics, the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle states a fundamental limit to what we can know about a particle. The formula suggests that the more precisely you measure a particle's position, the less precisely you can know its momentum, and vice-versa.

In the last 15 months, the federal contracting landscape has reached its own "Heisenberg Point." As the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) slashed the workforce and the FAR Revolution accelerates procurement, contractors are finding that traditional ways of "measuring" the market are failing.

If you focus too much on where the government was (position), you lose the speed required to keep up with where it is going (momentum).

Yesterday’s tactics went into a black hole.

At the recent Visible Thread April Optimize conference, I sat down with Lyle Peterson of VisibleThread to discuss how to survive this quantum shift.

1. The Momentum of the "Commercial-First" Revolution

For decades, the position of a successful contractor was defined by their ability to build custom, "Government-Unique" solutions under FAR Part 15. In 2026, that position is probably a liability. Their win rate was predicated on their relationships and often, incumbency.

The momentum has shifted entirely toward FAR Part 12. Current mandates dictate that if a commercial product meets 80% of a requirement, the agency must buy it.

The "Easy Button": Remaining Contracting Officers (COs)—exhausted by a 40% reduction in staff—are looking for the path of least resistance.
The Amtower Insight: I noted that while commercial-first is a win for speed, it creates a who-you-know vacuum. If you have a great product but no high-trust network, you’re just noise in a very crowded channel. To strike federal gold, you must position your service as a commercial product or risk choosing the hardest path to revenue.

2. The Observer Effect: Surviving the DOGE Ripple

In physics, the act of observation changes the state of the particle. In GovCon, the "Observers" (the feds) are disappearing. With 300,000+ feds gone, the human chokepoint has tightened. This includes the 30% reduction in the senior executive service (and increasing) and the 40% reduction in contracting officers.

The "Survivor" Hunt: How do you network when your primary contact has been DOGE-ed? And who do you network with?
Tactical Pivot: The remaining COs aren't looking for new friends; they are looking for safe bets. Networking in 2026 is no longer about showing up—it’s about identifying the survivors who still hold the checkbook and proving you can help them "close tickets" faster with automated or consolidated solutions.

3. The Certification Wall: CMMC 2.0 & Neo Primes

The Uncertainty Principle also applies to the "Barbell Effect" currently squeezing the market. On one end, we see massive tier-one primes; on the other, highly specialized niche firms. The middle is evaporating.

The Momentum of CMMC: Phase 1 is here and Phase 2 begins Nov. 10, 2026. This is no longer a theoretical exercise. If your status isn't visible in the Supplier Performance Risk System (SPRS), you are effectively invisible to the Defense Department. Your certs need to be visible anywhere you have a digital presence.
The Rise of the "Neo Prime": These agile, mid-tier firms are responding to OASIS+ expansion by behaving like Large Primes. For small businesses, the question is: Do you keep the small business brand, or do you pivot to become a "specialized expert" (SME) within a prime’s ecosystem? There is one correct answer…

4. The Digital Trace: LinkedIn as the New Vetting Tool

If a contracting 0fficer cannot find your "momentum" online, they assume you have no "position" in the market. In my annual Census of Feds on LinkedIn I track the 2.75 million Feds currently on LinkedIn. As the COs use AI tools for vetting, the "LinkedIn Background Check" is now a standard part of the award process.

The Credibility Gap: If the SME listed in your proposal looks inactive or unskilled on LinkedIn, trust is broken before the first meeting. You probably won’t get a meeting.
The 820-Page Map: With 820 federal company pages now active, SMEs must tag and engage with these entities to stay on the radar of a leaner workforce. LinkedIn isn't just social media; it’s a verified data source for a government that no longer has time for many face-to-face activities.

5. The "Go/No-Go" for 2026 Events

Finally, the "Big Hall" trade show is shrinking, replaced by high-density, micro-events, both virtual and live. To determine if an event is worth the booth fee, I offer a DOGE-Proof Checklist:

Survivor Density: Are there federal speakers or attenders with actual signatory authority?
SME/Resume Match: Can your technical leads drive the conversation, or is it just "booth and brochure" fluff?
RFP Pulse: Is the event aligned with a specific contract or "Commercial-First" mandate?

Embracing the Uncertainty- Differentiate of Die

In the 2026 federal market, you cannot stand still. The new normal demands that contractors balance their position (compliance, certifications, and past performance) with momentum (speed of commercial delivery and digital influence). You must be findable, vet-able, credible and your social media presence must match your company web site. Many companies simply won’t survive in this environment.

The goal is to be the SME in a room full of generalists. In a quantum market, the only way to be certain of your future is to move faster than both your competition and the bureaucracy trying to measure you.

This article was inspired by the Visible Thread Optimize Conference April 15.

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