Emergency Services: Up to $900M from US NAVFAC

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In September 2011, US Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Pacific in Pearl Harbor, HI awarded a new emergency engineering and infrastructure umbrella contract to 4 firms. Up to $900 million could be up for grabs among the 4 qualifying firms, over a 5 year period (base year + 4 option years), ending in September 2016 at the latest.

This is an indefinite-delivery/ indefinite-quantity multiple award contract for the purchase of “short-term facility support services with incidental construction” in support of natural disasters; humanitarian efforts; the full range of military actions; and incumbent breaks in service at various locations throughout the world. NAVFAC has issued similar contracts before: a $500 million contract that ran from 2005-2009 came in handy a few times, in response to disasters like hurricane Katrina. This one could involve work on:

Cyberwar: Pentagon Takes On Cyber Enemies, Other Agencies

Taking on the Cyber Enemy

In response to the growing threats to US military and civilian networks, the Pentagon has unveiling its first formal cyber strategy.

This follows a series of events over the last few years that have escalated cyber attacks against networks and infrastructure to warlike events. For example, an unidentified foreign national penetrated the internal networks of the Department of Defense (DoD) with an infected thumbdrive in 2008. In 2009, a virus known as Stuxnet, suspected of being the product of Israeli-US government collaboration, shutdown an Iranian nuclear power plant. And in 2011, defense contractor Lockheed Martin suffered a major cyber attack that was suspected of being carried out by the Chinese government.

While the Pentagon has struggled to combat these threats, it has also had to fight some within its own ranks, as well as other agencies, for authority in cyberspace. This article focuses on the growing cyber threat to US military and civilian infrastructure and the efforts being made by the Pentagon to deal with these threats.

• Stuxnet and Beyond
  
• The China Connection
  
• The Best Defense is Offense
  
• Attribution: The Devil’s in the Details
  
• Cyber Turf Wars
  
• Integration Efforts
  
• Future War
  
• Key Contacts
  
• Additional Reading
  

Digital Raven: Hand-Launched UAV Goes Binary

RQ-11B Raven

The RQ-11 Raven is a 4.2-pound, backpackable, hand-launched UAV that provides day and night, real-time video imagery for “over the hill” and “around the corner” reconnaissance, surveillance and target acquisition.

Each Raven system typically consists of 3 aircraft, 2 ground control stations, system spares, and related services. The digital upgrades are still designated RQ-11Bs, but they enable a given area to include more Ravens, with improved capabilities. The secret? Using L-band spectrum more efficiently.

• Ravin’ bout Ravens: Current Models, and Proposed Upgrades
  
• Contracts and Key Events [updated]
  
• Additional Readings
  

It’s Better to Share: Breaking Down UAV GCS Barriers

US “Chair” Force?

UAVs have played a crucial role in gathering intelligence in the US military’s wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. There are thousands of UAVs gathering and distributing valuable data on the enemy, but each system uses its own proprietary subsystem to control the air vehicle as well as receive and process the data. Yet commanders need access to information gathered by all types of UAVs that are flying missions in their area of operation.

Recognizing this shortcoming, the Pentagon began an effort in 2008 to break down the proprietary barriers between UAV systems and create a single GCS that will fly all types of drones.

This free-to-view DID Spotlight article examines the problem of proprietary UAV systems and efforts to break down barriers to sharing vital UAV-generated information.

Up to $791M to Support the USAF’s Intranet, 2011-2018

The USAF’s Global Combat Support System is their internal web portal, supporting over 800,000 registered users and usinga services-oriented I.T. architecture to deliver everything from information to mission applications and collaboration tools. See this Power Point presentation for more. Lockheed Martin has been GCSS-AF’s prime contractor since 1996, and a recent contract worth up to $791 million could extend that to 2018.

Under the recent award, Lockheed Martin is responsible for maintaining the portal’s underlying IT infrastructure, while extending it with new applications, data services, and infrastructure improvements. The initial contract is for 3 years, with 4 more 1-year options, and most work will take place at Maxwell AFB, AL. Supporting operations and engineering locations will be found at Hill AFB, UT; Wright-Patterson AFB, OH; and Owego, NY. The ESC/HIIK at Maxwell AFB, AL, manages this contract (FA8771-11-D-1006). See also Lockheed Martin.

BCTM/E-IBCT: FCS Spinout Ramps up, Then Breaks Up

BCTM B-Kit in Hummer

Concerns about cost overruns, vehicle design, and contract structure prompted the Pentagon to cancel the US Army’s Future Combat System (FCS) program in June 2009.

Instead of a single FCS contract, the Pentagon directed the Army to set up a number of separate programs to undertake parts of the FCS program. One of those programs is the Brigade Combat Team Modernization (BCTM) Increment 1. The BCTM Increment 1 capabilities – which include ground robots, UAVs, ground sensors, and vehicle (B-Kit) network integration kits – were planned to be fielded to up to 9 Infantry Brigade Combat Teams beginning in 2011. Now it’s more like 2015 for the 1st brigade, and it will happen without most of the original components.

• BCTM/ E-IBCT Increment 1
  
• Contracts and Key Events, FY 2007-2011 [updated]
  
• Additional Readings
  

CHS-4: Up to $3.7b more Electronics and IT from General Dynamics

In late August 2011, General Dynamics C4 Systems Inc. received the Command Hardware Systems-4 contract, as a follow-on to its CHS-3 and CHS-2 work from 1995-2011. Items covered under this maximum 5-year, $3.7 billion contract include rugged local area networks (LAN), server platforms, communication gateways, routers, laptops, faxes and various ancillary equipment including vehicle mounts, cables, and operational transit cases. The military can also order system integration, product-testing services, end user support and program management.

CHS-4 is a firm-fixed-price, cost-plus-fixed-fee, level-of-effort, indefinite-delivery / indefinite-quantity contract, so it may not spend all $3.7 billion between now and Aug 26/16. The 10-year CHS-3 contract, issued in 2003, is actually still in force; this will allow for parallel orders, as was also the case for CHS-2 and CHS-3.

Chinese Controversy 2? US Army Buying Lenovo Computers

Tabula Rasa?

On Aug 24/11, the Tobyhanna Army Depot in Tobyhanna, PA announced over $20 million in contracts for 12,263 computers and tablets, to be delivered by the end of November 2011. No eyebrows were raised over Dell’s $7.5 million contract for 354 Latitude E6520 computers and 6,295 Dell OptiPlex small form factor computers (W91QUZ-06-D-0006), but a $13.6 million contract to Iron Bow Technology in Chantilly, VA may attract more scrutiny.

Iron Bow is asked to deliver 5,096 Lenovo tablets; 217 Lenovo think pads; 520 Lenovo think centre computers; 261 Fujitsu computers; and 40 Wyse computers (W91QUZ-06-D-0010). Because the Chinese government owns a significant share of Lenovo’s parent firm, Lenovo computers have been a source of controversy in the past. The US State Department was forced to backtrack on a 2006 purchase of 16,000 computers, pledging to keep them off of networks that handle classified government messages and documents. Iron Bow refused to comment on the deal, or on any security measures they might be able to undertake.

Request for Proposals Round Up, Mid-August 2011

Federal Business Opportunities (FBO) has recently disclosed the following Requests for Proposals (RFP), modifications and notifications:

• The US Air Force releases a Statement of Work, Questions and Answers and additional documents in relation to the purchase and installation of a Lawful Intercept (LI) capability for the Government of Iraq (GOI). LI will provide the GOI with enhanced communications intelligence to support a range of security operations.

The Virtual Armed Forces: US Military Turns to Virtualization

USS Abraham Lincoln
going virtual

The US Department of Defense (DoD) and the individual services are turning more and more to virtualization to improve the efficiency and flexibility of their IT networks. This technology allows multiple virtual machines with different operating systems to run side-by-side on the same physical machine. The main benefit is a decrease in needed hardware, space, and power to perform the same IT operations, thus saving money and weight on military IT systems and platforms.

At the same time, virtualization raises security concerns because traditional IT security products, such as firewalls, do not work in the virtual environment.

• Virtualization: What Does It Mean?
  
• DISA Out in Front
  
• GD’s TVE Project
  
• Navy’s Virtual Strike Force
  
• Air Force Goes Virtual Early
  
• Security Challenges/Benefits
  
• Key Contacts
  
• Additional Reading