Josh Salmanson, a former NCI vice president, has been named chief architect and vice president of the business development and operations business at ECS. He will support ECS' efforts to transform platforms for the government and commercial sectors and brings 25 years of business leadership, sales and technology experience to his new position, the company said Thursday.

Naval Sea Systems Command expects to release a final solicitation for conceptual designs of a large unmanned surface vessel for the U.S. Navy during the fourth quarter of the government's 2019 fiscal year.

VMware (NYSE: VMW) is in talks to acquire all of Pivotal Software's (NYSE: PVTL) outstanding Class A common shares for $15 per share in cash. San Francisco-based Pivotal said Wednesday its and VMware's controlling stockholder, Dell Technologies, filed a "Schedule 13D/A" with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

NICE (Nasdaq: NICE) has secured a potential 10-year, $137M contract to help the Federal Aviation Administration implement a software platform to manage transportation incident data and investigations. The company said Thursday it will update FAA's debriefing platforms at 770 agency facilities worldwide.

Leidos (NYSE: LDOS) has won a potential six-year, $46.5M contract from the U.S. Air Force to develop, test and integrate geophysical data processing platforms for the U.S. National Data Center. The company will also help configure and maintain subsystems located at Patrick AF Base in Florida as part of the U.S. NDC Operations Support and Studies II contract, the Department of Defense said Tuesday.

Linda Zecher, who previously served as corporate vice president of the worldwide public sector business at Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT), has joined the board of directors at cybersecurity firm Tenable. “Linda’s expertise in strategic technology investments and business operations, especially in untapped and emerging markets, make her an exceptional addition to Tenable’s board,” said Amit Yoran, chairman and CEO of Tenable and former Wash100 Award recipient.

Lindsay Weissbratten, formerly director of human capital at the Institute for Building Technology and Safety, has been named chief human resource officer of Siemens' U.S. federal subsidiary. “Lindsay brings an action-oriented portfolio of demonstrated results over more than two decades from aerospace and defense, commercial software and nonprofit companies,” said Tina Dolph, president and CEO of Siemens Government Technologies and a 2019 Wash100 Award recipient.

Ed Caso and Justin Donati, both analysts at Wells Fargo Securities, reported that government services providers are increasingly taking note of potential revenue opportunities in the space domain.

U.S. Transportation Command has awarded a pair of contract modifications worth $374.2M combined to Columbia Helicopters and CHI Aviation to support rotary-wing airlift missions within U.S. Central Command's area of responsibility.

Kathryn Sullivan, a retired NASA astronaut and former head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, has joined the board of managers at Accenture's (NYSE: ACN) federal arm. “We welcome her experience and insight as we continue to evolve our company and help our clients stay ahead of their changing mission needs," said John Goodman, chief executive of AFS and a 2019 Wash100 winner.