The ByteDance-owned TikTok faces an uphill battle in the United States after President Joe Biden signed a law this week forcing it to sell to a U.S. company or be banned outright. Biden’s signature was the final stroke needed to pass the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, originally introduced by U.S. Reps. Mike Gallagher (R-WI) and Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL). While ostensibly introduced to make it illegal to own, distribute, or update social media apps designated foreign adversary controlled applications unless exempted, the act explicitly targeted the C ..read more

Promising to grow space for integrating and delivering on critical defense programs by more than 50 percent, the RTX company Raytheon recently broke ground on a $115 million expansion to its Redstone Raytheon Missile Integration Facility in Alabama. When finished, it should grow the facility by 26,000 square feet and draw approximately 185 new jobs to the area. Primarily, this new work will focus on key missile and defense programs, such as the Glide Phase Interceptor (GPI) – a tool slated to be the first interceptor to counter the threat of hypersonic glide vehicles during the glide phase of ..read more

In unsealing a 13-page indictment this week, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) revealed charges against four Iranian nationals for their alleged involvement in a hacking campaign against the U.S. government and private companies.  The defendants remain at large and the United States has offered a $10 million reward for their whereabouts. Manhattan court documents named the four men as: Hossein Harooni, Reza Kazemifar, Komeil Baradaran Salmani and Alireza Shafie Nasab. Nasab was particularly notable, given previous charges for the same conduct in an unsealed Feb. 29 indictment as well ..read more

For the next round of participants in a pilot program to Accelerate the Procurement and Fielding of Innovative Technologies (APFIT), the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) recently announced 13 projects will receive funding. Helmed by the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering (OUSD(R&E)), this program is meant to hasten the transitioning of technologies into production, and subsequently field them for soldiers in the field. Priorities were given to technologies developed by small businesses and nontraditional defense contractors, to buck the trend of military ..read more

Focused on China and Russia as the combined threats of the present and future, a group of senators recently introduced the Restoring American Deterrence Act to revise United States nuclear preparedness and update deterrence strategies. The bill was based on recommendations from the Congressional Commission on the Strategic Posture of the United States, which was assembled by Congress in 2023 to review the country’s strategic posture, including nuclear weapons policy, strategy and force structure. It was the second commission of its kind, following the first in 2009. The goal, in both cases: f ..read more

This week, a collection of Republican and Democratic legislators introduced a bill to sanction any Chinese military firm supporting Russia. In the NO LIMITS ACT, U.S. Reps. Mike Gallagher (R-WI), Jimmy Panetta (D-CA), John Moolenaar (R-MI), and Jared Golden (D-ME) proposed blanket sanctions for any such firm providing material support to Russia during its invasion of Ukraine, and would give any Chinese military firms identified by the U.S. government 180 days to withdraw from the Russian market. Failure to do so would not result in steady increases in sanctions; it would lead to full blocks ..read more

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) recently announced more than $1.8 billion in preparedness grants to benefit eight recipients in fiscal year 2024 in addressing capacity, flexibility and high priority investments. “As threats continue to evolve, the Department of Homeland Security is committed to providing state, local, tribal and territorial governments, as well as transportation authorities and nonprofit organizations, with vital resources to help them strengthen our nation’s security and preparedness,” Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said. “This funding is essen ..read more

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security released a notice of funding opportunity for its Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 Targeted Violence and Terrorism Prevention (TVTP) grant program recently, opening a month-long application period for interested parties to seek out $18 million. Online, in-person, and hybrid projects run by states, localities, Tribes, and territories, as well as nonprofits and universities, are all applicable. Each will have until May 17, 2024, to apply, with winners to be announced in September. In all cases, this money will go toward helping local communities build and improve lo ..read more

In introducing their Defense Quantum Acceleration Act last week, U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) seek to hasten the implementation of quantum technologies within the Department of Defense (DoD). Both lawmakers pitched the move as one specifically meant to counter China’s own advances. It is also meant to consolidate existing efforts, which the pair labeled tremendous, but noted lack a unified effort and focus when it comes to getting these capabilities to soldiers on a timeline. “U.S. advancement of quantum technology is critical for our nation to compete ..read more

A bill introduced by U.S. Sens. Gary Peters (D-MI) and Steve Daines (R-MT) recently proposed extending use of the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) procurement tool to acquire leading-edge technology from private companies. The Better Enabling Secure and Trustworthy (BEST) Technology for the Homeland Act (S.4024) honed in on the other transaction authority (OTA), which DHS uses to work with contractors new and old to acquire technologies deemed mission critical for everything from border security to aviation and supply chain security. It allows the creation of flexible agreements in pla ..read more