Air Force, Army Working on New Contracts to Expand Military Cyber Training

The U.S. Air Force and Army issued solicitations seeking industry support for new initiatives to expand the cyber training environment for U.S. service members, Fifth Domain reported Tuesday.

The Army is aiming to build new cyber ranges in Orlando and Fort Walton Beach, Fla., Charleston, S. C., and in Patuxent River, Md to increase cybersecurity training and certification events for its troops.

In a separate solicitation, the Army’s Cyber Center of Excellence is looking for industry and public input on new classroom, virtual training and hands-on exercises for its cybersecurity courses. To further expand the military’s capabilities, the Air Force also hopes to build new training, research and testing facilities at the service’s academy in Colorado as part of the CyberWorx project. The Air Force plans to provide $30M in funding for the first phase of the project. 

The Air Force Academy would also host the Department of Homeland Security’s Center of Innovation. The initiatives by the two service branches come after the Trump administration called on the Pentagon to be more aggressive in cyberspace.