Work To Be Performed In Rome, NY

H.R. 6157, the Department of Defense Appropriations Act, includes an increase of $10 million for New York's Rome Lab for the Dominant Information Sciences and Methods to enhance current research and development into small Unmanned Aerial Systems (sUAS) by enabling a Cyber Resilient Command and Control (C2) Environment.

Congresswoman Claudia Tenney (R-NY) (pictured) requested the funding in April and continued to advocate to Members of the Appropriations Committee, who included the increase in funding in the final bill.

The Air Force Request for Dominant Information Sciences and Methods was $162,420,000, with Rep. Tenney’s advocacy, the appropriations bill allotted $172,420,000.

“Small Unmanned Aerial Systems are becoming an essential tool of warfare and increasing funding for research and testing on resilience, communications, and operations is of critical importance. Rome Lab’s ability to adapt to emerging challenges, especially in the arena of unmanned aerial systems (UAS) continues to grow. This funding I secured will ensure that Rome can continue to lead the charge to find innovative ways of detecting, identifying, and disabling potentially hostile UAS’s. It will help Rome Lab serve the critical and otherwise unmet research needs of the Department of Defense.

Rome Lab provides full spectrum support for cyberspace operations, equipping our operators with the ability to disrupt and deny cyber-attacks and the resiliency to fight through and recover from intrusions, while continuing to lead in the development of sophisticated technologies vitally important to our military intelligence and defense operations. In keeping with this mission, Rome Lab is dedicated to providing our military with the tools and resources needed to dominate on today’s high-tech battlefields. Ultimately, the stronger Rome Lab’s foundation is, the stronger our national defense will be,” said Congresswoman Claudia Tenney.

The funds Rep. Tenney secured will enable the Cyber Resilient Command and Control Environment for sUAS Research and Development Environment to support the research and development of certified and robust sUAS technology, UAV traffic management system, and infuse autonomous and cyber resilient C2 capabilities into the emerging drone industry through collaborative efforts.

The proposed controlled environment supports the development and safe experimentation of autonomous air vehicles to prevent fly away and to ensure accurate measures of performance and effectiveness. New algorithms and their autonomous characteristics developed in the laboratory must be verified and validated in a controlled and enclosed environment before being tested in the “wild.”

(Source: Congresswoman Tenney news release)

FMI: tenny.house.gov