If it's June, it must be briefing season for aerospace and defense industry

Posted by John Keller

THE MIL & AERO BLOG, 4 June 2013. The calendar has turned to June, so it must be briefing season for the aerospace and defense industry -- at least that's how it feels.

There are more government briefings to industry scheduled for the next month or two than I've seen in a long time. These briefings are government agencies telling industry what they'd like to do, not necessarily what they're going to do.

That said, one of the first briefings is coming up on 13 June when the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA) briefs industry on the Janus program to develop advanced facial-recognition technology able to identify people not only using incomplete, erroneous, and ambiguous data, but also that accounts for aging, pose, illumination, and expression.

Janus, if you're wondering, isn't a government acronym, but refers to the Roman god of beginnings and transitions, which usually is depicted with two faces to look to the future and to the past. Janus briefings will be at a secure facility in Washington.

Related stories -- Intelligence researchers seek to make big improvements in biometric facial recognition -- Air Force weapons experts to brief industry on near-term and far-term fuzing research -- Army to brief industry on enabling technologies for Spring 2014 network integration exercises.

On 25 June is a briefing by the Air Force Research Laboratory Munitions Directorate at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. on munitions fuze technology research efforts for near-term transition, as well as on research programs in the mid- and far-terms.

That same day, 25 June, the Army will brief industry on upcoming requirements to support the Network Integration Evaluation 14.2 (NIE 14.2) scheduled for May 2014.The industry briefing will be at Aberdeen Proving Ground Md., north of Baltimore. Briefings will outline NIE participation opportunities in network-centric warfare and overview the NIE 14.2 sources-sought notice that will be released in early June to solicit industry participation in NIE 14.2.

The next day, on 26 June, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will sponsor an online webinar to tell industry about the department's research and development strategy for airport security. Presenting are officials of the DHS Homeland Security Advanced Research Projects Agency (HSARPA) on the aviation security portion of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) research strategy.

DHS is back in the briefing business on 25 and 26 July when officials gather industry experts to discuss trace explosives detection for facilities and airport security, as well as for mass-transit security. Those briefings will be at the William J. Cohen Building, 330 C Street SW, in Washington.