“The speed with which technology is advancing provides opportunities to increase our effectiveness through innovation. Harnessing the benefits offered by these advances is particularly important to our work during emergencies when it is imperative that our critical infrastructure remains functional and can serve our communities,” said Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro N. Mayorkas. “The Clean Power for Hours Challenge opens a door for the creative and innovative minds of our nation to submit clean energy solutions that will effectively support communities in times of need.”

The Clean Power for Hours Challenge seeks innovative back-up power solutions that will help critical facilities such as fire stations, hospitals, and shelters, continue to operate during electrical outages. Winning solutions should be environmentally friendly, affordable, easy-to-use, and provide back-up power generation for critical facilities that serve communities across the United States. This is particularly vital to National Critical Functions (NCF) that support essential community lifelines.

“It is a priority for us to ensure the country can mitigate the many risks that come with climate change,” said Dr. Dimitri Kusnezov, DHS Under Secretary for Science and Technology. “More frequent and severe weather events will increase the likelihood of power outages all over the country. Harnessing grassroots innovators to help us address climate resilience in this challenge can further enhance our mission to protect everyday Americans.”      

The Challenge is open to U.S. citizens, permanent legal residents and businesses incorporated in and maintain a primary place of business in the United States. Visit Challenge.gov for the full rules and directions on how to enter. All submissions are due by August 8, 2023.

The Challenge will take place in two stages. In the first stage, contestants will provide a written or video submission describing how their solution meets the judging criteria. Up to 15 finalists will receive $10,000 and advance to stage two. In the second stage, finalists will compete with their advanced solution for the grand prize of $400,000, a runner-up prize of $200,000, and up to two honorable mention prizes of $50,000.

DHS established the first-ever Climate Change Action Group (CCAG), which is comprised of senior officials from across the Department, to focus on promoting resilience and addressing multiple risks that include flooding, extreme heat, drought and wildfires. The CCAG oversees the implementation of the Climate Action Plan and guides DHS’ approach to managing the climate crisis.

Climate Change Action Group

The DHS Climate Change Action Group is a coordinating body comprised of the Department’s senior leadership that drives urgent action to address the climate crisis and reports directly to the Secretary. Announced by Secretary Mayorkas on April 22, 2021, the Climate Change Action Group will unite, refocus, and elevate the Department’s cross-functional efforts to tackle the climate crisis.

The group will drive action across the following six priorities:

Analyzing, on an ongoing basis, the impacts of climate change on DHS missions, assets, and personnel;

Adapting DHS operations, assets, and missions to account for the climate crisis via risk- based strategies;

Coordinating DHS-wide sustainability operations to mitigate additional harm;

Recommending specific, concrete steps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions;

Recommending specific, concrete steps to promote resilience and adaptation to reduce the multiple risks posed by the climate crisis; and,

Recommending organizational and resource realignments as necessary to support the Department’s activities to address the climate crisis.

Every DHS Component and office will work together to tackle the challenges posed by climate change, which affect our operations, plans, business processes, programs, and strategies.  Just as importantly, our engagements with partners across the homeland security enterprise will also reflect the seriousness with which we approach the risks posed by climate change. 

The climate crisis poses a significant threat to both DHS operations and the American people. It is vital for the Department to provide leadership and take proactive measures to minimize its environmental impact across the United States and globally.

What We Are Looking for:

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is looking for innovative back-up power solutions that will help critical facilities continue to operate during electrical outages. Winning solutions will be affordable, easy-to-use, and environmentally friendly power sources that can provide on-site power generation for critical facilities that provide essential services to communities across the United States. This Challenge is seeking to identify and catalyze existing cutting-edge technologies with a Technical Readiness Level (TRL) of 6 or higher that can be used to continue essential facility operations in an event of a power failure or disruption lasting more than 36-hours. TRL refers to the method for determining the maturity of technology.  

This is particularly important to National Critical Facilities (NCF) that support essential community lifelines services (basic needs like emergency services, urgent healthcare, and food/water). 

These technologies also should be capable of working with on-site renewable power generation including alternative energy sources such as solar Photovoltaics (PV) arrays and small-scale wind power or operating as part of a virtual power plant or similar concept and be able to coordinate with other distributed energy resources.

This Challenge is part of the DHS effort to implement a proactive approach to climate change adaptation and resilience. This is the second in a series of DHS prize competitions to address hazards posed by climate change. This Challenge will support DHS’s mission on climate change resilience and adaptation, and work with the energy sector and other critical infrastructure owners and operators to find solutions for back-up power generation during a disaster.

The Reason Why:

Most Americans may not think of critical infrastructure on a regular basis—that is, until it is not working.  A power outage during a storm or limited access to healthcare facilities after a ransomware attack are real life reminders of the role critical infrastructure plays in daily lives.  Keeping the nation’s critical infrastructure and essential services safe and secure is important to our national security, economy, and overall way of life. Critical infrastructure spans everything from telecommunications and chemical facilities to local healthcare providers and financial institutions and much more. Critical infrastructure is the backbone of many essential services, and all infrastructure is dependent on power to function well. Critical infrastructure and its supporting systems keep our country and our economy running. 

Much goes into securing our critical infrastructure and understanding the impacts of climate change is a major consideration. One of the key components is ensuring that anchor institutions, or essential community service provider facilities continue to function even during a power disruption. Promoting national resilience against the many threats associated with climate change is a DHS priority. Climate change will increase the likelihood of power outages nationwide. Depending on what type of facilities experience a power outage, the implications of a power failure can endanger lives and safety of Americans. Critical facilities that support community essential services often rely solely on electricity for power and lack adequate on-site power generation and energy storage to operate during a power outage.

Fossil fuel-powered emergency (back-up) generators are the most commonly used solutions to supply backup power during facility power disruptions. Most fossil fuel-powered back-up generators run on gas, diesel, natural gas, or propane, all of which have debilitating effects on the climate, producing substantial greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, environmental and noise pollution that impacts community public safety, health, and environmental security, and have fuel delivery and storage requirements that pose additional safety concerns, especially under extreme weather conditions. Battery-powered storage has emerged as an alternative to fossil fuel generators offering a variety of societal benefits such as reducing utility bill payments, storing energy from solar panels for later use, and providing back-up power during limited power disruptions. Significant issues exist with battery solutions such as supply-chain and manufacturing risks, reliability, cost, and end-of life considerations that may impact a stakeholders’ willingness or ability to deploy them, and energy storage capacity limitations (12-24 hours of backup power).

This also includes:

•   Reliance on foreign and volatile supply-chains for extraction of materials and manufacturing components and systems 
•   Safety and reliability concerns stemming from fire and explosion risks associated with these systems 
•   Stationary, energy storage systems that compete with rapidly growing electrified transportation sector for battery materials and components such as materials used in cells 
•   Emissions and waste produced over the lifetime of systems spanning from materials extraction through end-of-life disposal 
•   Non-ideal solution long duration storage (10+ hours) due to high cost or limited technical capacity with existing consumer battery-powered backup solutions.

These issues are especially acute for owners and operators that are responsible for providing and maintaining critical societal services. In addition, the U.S. will benefit from clean energy storage solutions that can overcome key challenges such as sourcing minerals and materials that are commonly available in the United States (U.S.) developing highly reliable systems that minimize safety concerns and align with decarbonization and emission reduction goals.

Important Dates to Keep in Mind: 

Open to Submissions:  You can enter the Clean Power for Hours Challenge starting Friday, April 21, 2023 at 3:00 p.m. EDT (04/21/2023 03:00 PM EDT)

Close to Submissions:  You have until Tuesday, August 8, 2023 by 8:00 p.m. EDT (08/08/2023 08:00 PM EDT)

Finalists:  We will announce the Finalists in August 2023

Prize Winners:  We will announce Prize Winners in February 2024

(Dates are subject to change.  We will announce changes on this website and through social media)

Prize total:

$850,000

Prize phases:  This Challenge is in two stages. 

Finalists

In Stage 1 the judges will choose up to fifteen Stage 1 Finalists to advance to Stage 2.  Each Finalist will receive $10,000.  Take a look at the submission guidelines, Challenge Rules, Stage 1 judging criteria and the two possible Use Cases. If you are chosen as a Finalist, you will automatically advance to Stage 2.

Prize Winners

During Stage 2, we will hold a live demonstration of your solution and a second judging process. Afterwards, the judges will choose Prize Winners.  All of the judging criteria in State 1 plus additional Stage 2 judging criteria will be considered.

We will announce:  

Grand prize winner: $400,000

Runner up winner: $200,000

Up to two Honorable mentions: $50,000

Non-monetary prizes:

We also may consider winning submissions for future opportunities such as assistance with mentors to refine or advanced proposed solutions; connections to technology accelerators or other innovation development programs; connections to existing developers and/or manufacturers; and/or, opportunities to speak at conferences with broader security audiences.

HLS.Today

Source HLS.Today: DHS.GOV

“A veritable umbrella against enemy unmanned aerial vehicles is being set up on the islands and in critical locations around the country, according to reports, which say the plan has been implemented over the last two months in complete secrecy,” wrote Vassilis Nedos, the Diplomatic-Defense correspondent for Kathimerini on July 1.

The new defence system uses Israeli technology to hamper the flight capability of enemy unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), which could involve interference in the flight plan stored in a UAV.

“The purpose is to “blind” threatening drones, so they cannot complete their mission,” wrote Nedos.

A drone that was grounded using Rafael’s ‘Drone Dome’ system. (The Times Of Israel)

According to Nedos, the system could effectively counter well-known Turkish-made drones like Bayraktar TB2 and even the more sophisticated ones like ANKA-S.

He further noted that the new anti-UAV system has features similar to those of Israel’s Drone Dome system but is adapted to meet Greece’s specific requirements and the geographical terrain of the islands in the Aegean Sea and other border areas.

Israel’s Drone Dome System

Drone Dome is an end-to-end counter-Unmanned Aerial System (c-UAS) developed by Israel’s Rafael Advanced Defence Systems. The system provides all-weather, 360-degree rapid defence against hostile drones.

It comprises sensors and unique artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms to provide a more precise picture of the incoming threat, allowing the system to detect and identify specific threat elements more accurately and engage and neutralize the target faster and more efficiently.

It can neutralize drones by jamming their communications and GPS. It has an invisible 10-kilowatt laser for fully autonomous drones with which it can bring down threats up to 3.22 kilometers away.

Rafael is known to provide its clients with customized versions of the system, as it appears to have done in this case for Greece, according to Nedos.

According to the company’s claims, the UK has used the system during a G7 summit in Cornwall, England, to protect world leaders from potential threats.

Greece-Turkey Tensions

Greece has a long-running dispute with its neighbor and NATO ally, Turkey, over territorial claims in the Aegean Sea and energy exploration rights in the eastern Mediterranean.

The Aegean Sea, spanning over two lakh square kilometers, has more than a thousand islands, almost all Greek, and some within two kilometers of mainland Turkey or the Turkish west coast.

Ankara accuses Athens of violating treaties by maintaining a military presence on the Greek islands off the coast of Turkey. In contrast, Greece claims that Turkey has deliberately misinterpreted the treaties, adding that it is acting under international law to defend the islands against Turkish aggression.

Over the past few years, Turkey’s drone industry, products, and performance – especially the Bayraktar drones – in various operations and conflicts have resulted in Turkey emerging as a formidable drone power.

Turkey’s Akinci drone is armed with MK-82 bombs (Baykar)

The effectiveness and efficiency of Turkish-made drones have decisively influenced the outcome on Syria, Libya, and Azerbaijan battlefields in line with Ankara’s interests.

Moreover, in the ongoing Ukraine war, Turkish-made Bayraktars drones appear to have destroyed many Russian air-defense systems, helicopters, supply trucks, and armored vehicles, as per several accounts and evidence from the battlefield in the initial months of the war.

However, there have also been recent reports of the Ukrainian military’s reluctance to use TB2 drones due to their vulnerability to Russian air defense systems.

Ukraine-TB2 drone

File Image: A Ukrainian TB2 drone, armed with precision-guided weapons.

Nevertheless, Greece seems concerned about the challenge of Turkey’s large and advanced drone fleet.

In February, retired Greek General Evangelos Yeorgusis wrote an article describing how Turkey’s drones flying from the Evros (Meriç) River to the Greek island of Meis and Kastellorizo are causing a ‘headache’ for Greece.

Yeorgusis noted that Turkey’s TB2 drones carry out three to four flights at medium and high altitudes, along the entire length of the western coast, from Evros to Kastellorizo, to closely monitor the movements of Greek warships and defenses on Greek islands in the Aegean Sea.

The Hellenic Air Force (HAF) scrambles F-16s to intercept these drones, but Yeorgusis warned that if Turkey increases the number of drones and the number of flights, the “saturation of the Greek air defense will be a given.”

Around the same time Yeorgusis’s article came out, the leader of the nationalist Greek Solution party, Kyriakos Velopoulos, questioned the efficacy of advanced fighter jets like Rafale against many Turkish drones.

“What difference would it make if we buy 200 Rafale jets?” he asked. “Turks will surround us with 400 drones.”

Therefore, introducing new Israeli c-UAS technology may limit Turkey’s ability to use drones to monitor Greece’s military movements and perhaps could even provide an advantage in airpower to the HAF in a potential future confrontation with Turkey.

Source: Eurasian Times

The United States, United Kingdom, and Germany are deeply committed to supporting Ukraine as it defends itself against Russia’s unprovoked invasion. Russia has shifted its focus to the Donbas region, engaging in a systematic long-range rocket and artillery barrage against defensive Ukrainian military positions and civilian infrastructure. 

To help Ukraine defend its citizens and sovereign territory, the United States, United Kingdom, and Germany have committed to provide Multiple Launch Rocket Systems (MLRS) with Guided MLRS (GMLRSGuided Multiple Launch Rocket System) rockets. Ukraine has specifically requested this capability, which will allow the Ukrainian Armed Forces to engage the invading force with accurate fire at ranges of approximately 70 kilometers. 

The United States announced on June 1, 2022 that it would provide four M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) and GMLRSGuided Multiple Launch Rocket System munitions. On June 6, the United Kingdom announced it would donate three M270 MLRS launchers with GMLRSGuided Multiple Launch Rocket System munitions. 

And today, Minister of Defense Christine Lambrecht announced that Germany would transfer three M270 Mittleres Artillerie Raketen System (MARS) launchers at the Ukraine Defence Contact Group in Brussels, Belgium GMLRSGuided Multiple Launch Rocket System ammunition from Bundeswehr stocks. 

The transfer of these MLRS systems, and the associated training our three countries will provide to Ukrainian operators is crucial to Ukraine’s self-defense. The necessary training has already begun on the U.S. HIMARS and UK M270 systems for their deployment in the coming weeks, and training on the German MARS launchers will begin very soon so the systems and their Ukrainian crews can be deployed urgently and without delay. 

The transfer of these MLRS systems, and the associated training our three countries will provide to Ukrainian operators is crucial to Ukraine’s self-defense. The necessary training has already begun on the U.S. HIMARS and UK M270 systems for their deployment in the coming weeks, and training on the German MARS launchers will begin very soon so the systems and their Ukrainian crews can be deployed urgently and without delay.

Source: BMVG.DE

The massive spike in funding for Operation Lone Star comes amid an ongoing political battle between Texas’ Republican leadership and President Joe Biden’s administration over migration and the border.

“Texas will not sit on the sidelines as President Biden continues turning a blind eye to the crisis at our southern border,” Abbott said in the release.

The funding was approved by Abbott, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan, state Senate Finance Committee Chair Joan Huffman and state House Appropriations Committee Chair Greg Bonnen.

Describing the Biden administration’s border policies as “irresponsible,” Phelan added in the release: “As the humanitarian and security costs of this crisis continue to escalate, Texas is once again put in the position of doing the job the federal government refuses to do.”

Well-funded or not, Operation Lone Star has drawn plenty of critics. The operation has seen Texas Department of Public Safety agents and National Guard troops dispatched to the southern frontier, and last year, Abbott inaugurated part of the state’s own border wall, which only spanned some 900 feet in December.

On Thursday, the Texas Democratic Party blasted Abbott for “lying” about the border clampdown. “Texas Republicans continue to waste taxpayer dollars to fund their campaign to grab headlines instead of actually doing their jobs and supporting Texans,” state Democratic Party chairman Gilberto Hinojosa said in a statement.

“Abbott’s office is flat out lying when he cites statistics attempting to justify his reckless policies along the southern border,” Hinojosa added. “Just a few weeks ago, Abbott claimed that Operation Lone Star had seized over 887 pounds of fentanyl, which was later proven to be false.”

In February, the Texas Civil Rights Project (TCRP), the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Texas, Texas Fair Defense Project and other advocacy groups called on the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate Operation Lone Star’s migrant arrest program.

“Abbott’s office is flat out lying when he cites statistics attempting to justify his reckless policies along the southern border.” – Gilberto Hinojosa, Texas Democratic Party

The coalition of advocacy groups accused Abbott and Operation Lone Star of including “anti-immigrant extremists,” such as Kinney County Sheriff Brad Coe, who has blamed Hungarian-American billionaire philanthropist George Soros of bankrolling migration to the U.S. (The far right has long spread conspiracy theories about Soros, echoing anti-Semitic claims that Jews are behind immigration to western countries. Coe made the comments on far-right provocateur Steve Bannon’s podcast.)

Coe has also fielded criticism for his reported ties to the anti-migrant Patriots for America Militia, an armed vigilante group that has carried out patrols on the Texas-Mexico border.

Earlier this week, ProPublica, the Texas Tribune and The Marshall Project released a list detailing seven times the outlets claim Abbott and other Texas leaders have lied about Operation Lone Star.

Among the reportedly false claims Abbott and others have made are the claims that more than 700 gang members were arrested at the border, that the Border Patrol credited Operation Lone Star for preventing thousands of Haitian immigrants from entering the country and that some 887 pounds of fentanyl had been seized from people who had crossed into Texas, among others.

The news outlet fact-checked those claims, concluding that there was no evidence to back any of them.

During primary elections earlier this year, several Republican challengers blasted Abbott over the operation. Allen West, the former chair of the Texas GOP, blamed Abbott for a spate of National Guard suicides throughout the operation and payment delays to those deployed to the border, Texas Tribune reported at the time.

Retired Command Sgt. Maj. Jason Featherston, who oversaw the Texas Army National Guard between May 2020 and last November, warned in January that “morale is very low among the soldiers on the border,” the Tribune also reported.

“And when morale is low, soldiers do not extend and stay in the Army National Guard or the Air National Guard or the state guard,” Featherstone added.

In recent months, Abbott has been blasted over anti-migrant rhetoric that, at times, resembles white nationalist conspiracy theories.

After a white nationalist shot and killed 23 people in an El Paso Walmart in August 2019, citing a supposed “Mexican invasion,” Abbott and other Texas Republicans condemned the shooter’s rhetoric. But since Biden took office, Abbott and Lt. Gov. Patrick, among others, have repeatedly described the border crisis as an “invasion.”

In March, migrant apprehensions on the southern border hit a 22-year high, according to Customs and Border Protection.

Last month, rights groups condemned Abbott and other state governors for establishing the “American Governors’ Border Strike Force,” a coalition of Republican-led states that claim to be combatting human and drug trafficking.

But it’s not just Operation Lone Star that’s prompting scrutiny. When Abbott ordered state authorities to inspect trucks crossing the Texas-Mexico border, Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller described the move as an “economy-killing action” and “political theater.”

Another controversial move, Abbott’s decision to bus migrants from Texas to Washington, D.C., appeared to backfire when migrants thanked the governor for the free ride.

“I thank [Abbott] wholeheartedly because I was able to make it safe and sound and, even better, with good service and at no cost,” Víctor Rodríguez, who had been sent to the U.S. capital, told The Dallas Morning News. “I consider it true humanitarian aid.”

This week, Abbott appealed for private donations to continue sending migrants to D.C. via bus after conservative critics accused the governor of misusing taxpayer funds for the venture and “incentivizing” people to cross the border into Texas with the hopes of a free ride north, the Texas Tribune reported.

Source: Dallas Observer

During the discussion we got interesting insights in the latest technologies and experiences in the field of BVLOS and the successful use of AI.

“The development of the drone industry has received an additional boost in recent quarters – the pandemic limited the possibilities and needs of using manpower, many industries and services had fewer opportunities to use employees on site” – comments Sebastian Babiarz, Chief Operating Officer at Dronehub.

“A quick conversion to drone technology has been made. New applications of drones have appeared, the existing ones have gained popularity and widespread use” – adds.

The global UAM community reunited in Amsterdam again on March 29-31. Amsterdam Drone Week welcomed nearly 3.500 attendees, speakers and partners in-person and through the livestream from 79 countries. The meetings were an excellent platform to share experiences and thoughts. Sebastian Babiarz had the opportunity to boast about our HUUVER project (more here), which is highly rated among many experts.

Amsterdam Drone Week is the global platform for sharing knowledge on current air solutions, potential innovations and vital regulations. A top-level meeting point where all key players, big and small, commercial and non-commercial, from various industries, knowledge institutes and authorities, gather to co-create and co-operate.

Source: DroneHub