Dr. Shari Feth, MDA tech lead uses fun graphic at #SMD2021. In which the boater is the PM and the lumberjack is the technologist. 
Feth emphasizes that the program side should have a dual-hatted chief technology officer and dedicated plan to aid in tech transition. Programs lack incentives to evaluate new technologies without bridge planning and people.
In panel, SMDC tech lead Dr. Michael Zmuda discusses future threat environment: "synchronized" and "integrated" attacks; "it's not multidomain, it's all domain"; focus on winning cost equation.
Dr. Frank Turner, SDA: "Schedule is king. The train's gonna leave the station on time." 59 weeks to launch of Tranche 0 satellites.
Turner notes SDA is studying an optical datalink payload to host on commercial satellites.
RFP for Tranche 1 sats expected by end of month. PIRPL LEO IR sensor prototype launched on Cygnus last night, should be on station tomorrow.
"Remember we talk about reducing latency? You want to get the algorithms, the processing, the data fusion on orbit." POET demonstrator to do edge computing test soon.
Slide on Mandrake II and LINCS, SDA's experiments to demonstrate low-latency optical communications links.
Tranche 0: 8x WFOV satellites, 14x Transport-A satellites will have 4 optical links and KA up and down. 6x Transport-B satellites will have Link-16.
Turner believes the Tranche 1 satellite cost will be lower than Tranche 0, but a little higher than the $10M estimate. "We want to be the transition partner of choice" for DARPA, AFRL, other S&T orgs
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