US ORNL laser test
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Readers who follow the tech press may be familiar with the concept of quantum computing. Computers use binary bits: on/off, yes/no, represented by 0 or 1. A quantum bit, or qubit, can be 1, or 0… or both. Whereas 111 = 7 in binary, and each number is a single choice among all the possibilities in the number of binary digits, 3 qubits can hold all 8 possibilities (0-7), which means you can do calculations on all of them at once. The more qubits used, the more computation, so 32 qubits theoretically gets you 2 to the 32nd power computations (about 4.3 billion) at once – much more power than conventional computing, and it keeps on rising exponentially.

It’s worth noting that quantum computing has limits, and areas where it will not be suitable for computing tasks. They are not fully understood yet, but have been shown to exist at the theoretical level. So far, all we can say is that certain kinds of problems will be solved much, much more quickly. The uses of such a system for searching large domains of information, cracking codes, creating codes, or running simulations that include the quantum level as a number of modern physical and medical science applications do, are clear. As an additional benefit, quantum cryptography methods benefit from quantum principles whereby eavesdropping is not only incredibly difficult, it will create noticeable interference.

The USA’s DARPA is interested, of course, and they’re handing out contracts…

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IqAF King Air 350-ISR
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The Ottawa Citizen’s defense reporter David Pugliese reports that the US military is about to spend $100 million to upgrade the facilities at Kandahar, Afghanistan, in order to accommodate up to 26 aircraft for “Task Force ODIN” in Afghanistan. At first glance, this might seem like just another infrastructure play – unless one realizes that Task Force ODIN (Observe, Detect, Identify & Neutralize) may be the second-most underrated fusion of technology and operating tactics in America’s counter-insurgency arsenal.

Task Force ODIN was created on orders of Gen. Richard A. Cody, the Army’s outgoing vice chief of staff. Its initial goal involved better ways of finding IED land mines, a need triggered by the limited numbers of USAF Predator UAVs in Iraq, and consequent refusal of many Army requests. Despite its small size (about 25 aircraft and 250 personnel) and cobbled-together nature, Task Force ODIN became a huge success. Operating from Camp Speicher near Tikrit, it expanded its focus to become a full surveillance/ strike effort in Iraq – one that ground commanders came to see as more precise than conventional air strikes, and less likely to cause collateral damage that would create problems for them. From its inception in July 2007 to June 2008, the effort reportedly killed more than 3,000 adversaries, and led to the capture of almost 150 insurgent leaders.

With Secretary of Defense Gates paying particular attention to improving ISR capabilities, replication in Afghanistan was inevitable. The coming construction at Kandahar marks the beginning of that effort…

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CACI International Inc. recently announced a prime contract with a ceiling value of $452 million, in order to continue providing mission support services to the U.S. Army Intelligence and Security Command (INSCOM) under the GENESIS III contract. the contract is awarded for one base year and 4 option years, and will significantly increase both the size and scope of CACI’s business with INSCOM.

The GENESIS III program includes engineering support for ground and aerial intelligence systems include Signals Intelligence (SIGINT), Imagery Intelligence (IMINT), Electronic Intelligence (ELINT), Human Intelligence (HUMINT), Measurement and Signature Intelligence (MASINT), and Open-Source Intelligence (OSINT) systems. The GENESIS program is designed to help the Army control and integrate data from its myriad of collection systems, and ensure that these systems and facilities are developed, deployed, repaired and maintained at the highest state of readiness.

CACI will provide facility engineering and maintenance support for ISR facilities, including relocating and closing sites when required, supporting environmental assessments, and taking care of associated systems like power generation and physical security systems. New work may also be required, including engineering and building portable electronic intelligence systems for ground and airborne use. Work is performed around the world, including “hostile areas.” FBO solicitation | CACI release.

Trident Technology Solutions, of Fairfax, VA received a maximum $49.9 million indefinite-delivery/ indefinite-quantity contract. Trident will design an Information Sharing Environment (ISE) for the Air Force, Department of Defense (DoD), Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and U.S. Intelligence Community (IC) tha incorporates multi-level security and “encompasses all aspects of information sharing including file sharing text chat, audio and video teleconferencing, blogs, and wikis.” At this time $868,281 has been obligated by the Air Force Research Laboratory/RIKF in Rome, NY (FA8750-08-D-0206).

Ironically, at press time, the Trident Technology Solutions web site and the parent firm site for Trident Systems, Inc. were both unavailable.

As Ferrari racing fans are very aware these days, industrial espionage that goes far beyond the bounds of ethical competitive intelligence is alive and kicking. This is even more true in the aerospace industry, whose national security implications often feature national intelligence organizations undertaking industrial espionage – in some cases, even against allied countries. China is most frequently mentioned in this context, with good reason, but Russia and France have also built reputations in this area.

A recent case in Europe shines a brief light on some of these goings on – and on some classic techniques used in the field. Deutsche Welle reports that former Eurocopter executive “Werner G.” allegedly met with a Russian SVR intelligence agent several times between 2004 and 2006 in Germany, Austria and Croatia, handing over unclassified technical manuals, files and CD-ROMs in exchange for EUR 13,000 (about $20,500). In a modern twist, classic techniques like dead drops and visual signals were bypassed in favor of anonymous webmail accounts to arrange meetings.

Remember this acronym: MICE. Money. Ideology. Compromise. Ego. Werner G. was reportedly in debt, and hoped his contact would help him gain business for his engineering consultancy. He clearly falls into the “money” category, as opposed to the Ferrari scandal which was primarily an “ego” example. His activities may also seem to come very cheap, but this too is normal when dealing with intelligence professionals. As is the fact that none of the requested documents were classified. This is often how it starts, with deliberately low-grade requests and pay. This achieves 2 things: (1) It fails to relieve the need for money, ensuring that the fish remains hooked; and (2) it establishes a firm hold, since later requests for secret documents can be backed up by the threat of exposure for clearly illegal activities that have already been committed.

The Capt. & The Sheikh
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Defense Industry Daily’s mandate is clear, and summed up well in our motto “daily news for defense procurement managers and contractors.” In most cases, our coverage limits itself to the events and issues around contracts that have already been issued, and/or key issues of doctrine and policy that are related to defense procurement. We also include reports from the field that bring home useful information about equipment performance, and serve as a reminder of what’s really important: usefulness to the people on the front lines.

Sometimes, news from the front lines also highlights important trends and force structure issues that go beyond the performance of any one system. “(Lt. Col. David) Labouchere of Mesopotamia,” which covered that British commander’s successful mobile/Bedouin approach in Iraq, was one. Now Noah Shachtman of WIRED’s award-winning defense blog Danger Room has written another. In the wake of the discussions in defense departments and ministries around the world concerning “network-centric warfare,” events like Israel’s recent Winograd Commission post-mortem of the 2006 war in Lebanon, and the Nov 28/07 security pact involving 6,000 Sunnis in Hawija, Noah’s article offers important food for thought to policy-makers and procurement managers alike. In his words…

Ramadi turnaround
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“It’s an attempt at explaining why we’ve seen such a drop in violence in Iraq in recent months, and why it took so long to see a shift. My short answer: the U.S. dropped its somewhat techno-centric approach to prosecuting the war—and started focusing on Iraq’s social, political, tribal, and cultural networks instead…. For the story, I scored a rare opportunity to spend time with a U.S. “psychological operations” team, getting into the heads of the people of Fallujah; hung out with an Army colonel who worked his tribal connections to bring stability to one of Iraq’s roughest towns; spent time with the heads of a controversial program to embed anthropologists into combat units; and interviewed General David Petraeus, the U.S. commander in Iraq.”

“How Technology Almost Lost the War: In Iraq, the Critical Networks Are Social – Not Electronic” is worthwhile reading as one contemplates the future of net-centric warfare as it is currently sold – and what it might be turning into.

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SAIC in San Diego, CA was awarded on Sept. 25, 2007, a delivery order amount of $13.6 million as part of a $64.6 million cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for operations and maintenance of the Biometrics Automated Toolset and Detention Management System. See this DID article for updated links and background, covering biometrics technology and the ways in which the BAT system has become an offensive asset for US forces in Iraq.

Work will be performed in Iraq/Afghanistan (80%), and Arlington, VA (20%), and is expected to be complete by Dec. 16, 2008. Bids solicited via the World Wide Web on Aug. 20, 2001, and 2 bids were received by the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command in Huntsville, AL (DASG60-02-D-0006).

Click for dart
board size
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Back in 2003, General Dynamics won the Intelligence Information, Command and Control, Equipment and Enhancements (ICE2) contract to support and maintain critical intelligence and command and control systems and networks for U.S. defense and intelligence operations worldwide, as well as related government departments.

A typical site supported through the ICE2 program could be outfitted with commercial-off-the-shelf data-handling equipment, command and control (C2) equipment, local area networks, wide area networks, secure and non-secure video systems, communication devices and intelligence exploitation equipment. The equipment at these sites is used to process information of varying security classifications, and many of the sites are sensitive facilities. The sites provide intelligence data to the National Command Authority and various civilian agencies and departments, including the Army, Navy, Air Force, Defense Intelligence Agency, Unified Commands, Marine Corps, Air Force, Coast Guard, National Imagery and Mapping Agency, and the Departments of State, Energy, and Treasury.

ICE2 replaces the Intelligence Information Processing and Production (I2P2) contract; I2P2 and ICE2 are both managed under the Single Service Logistics Support Manager (SSLSM) program at Robins Air Force Base, GA, and General Dynamics was the 26-year incumbent on the SSLSM contracts. Now the contract’s value has been increased to $2.25 billion…

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In Afghanistan, there are often overlaps between the people involved in narcotics trafficking, illegal weapons and terrorist activity. Drug lords aren’t always Taliban allies, but opium trafficking is a critical source of funds for the Taliban/al-Qaeda. The US Air Force is the lead service for counter-narcotics detection and monitoring, and supports the deputy assistant secretary of Defense for counter narcotics through Air Combat Command. Unfortunately, existing intelligence gathering and sharing capabilities in Afghanistan were limited, making it difficult to share data with U.S. and coalition partners, or strengthen relations with the local counter-narcotics police.

In late 2004, therefore, the 350th Electronic Systems Group at Hanscom Air Force Base began working with its small-business partner Cambridge Communication Systems to create the counter narcotics-terrorism Intelligence Fusion Center, a commercial off-the-shelf-based system designed to capture, share and disseminate counter narcotics-terrorism intelligence data. Information gathered by Global Positioning Systems, human intelligence and coalition partners furnish the IFC’s database, which is specially tailored for the counter narcotics/terrorism mission. “This contractor had a proven track record in this arena, and a small business, set-aside contract was the fastest way to get the capability to the field,” said Col. Steven Webb, 350th Electronic Systems Group commander.

Since its deployment, the system has been used in efforts that seized more than 45 tons of drugs (mostly opium) with a street value of more than $1 billion, and boosted the related arrest rate by 75%. The IFC has supported the identification and break up of narcotics and weapons smuggling rings operating within Afghanistan, but led by suspects from Nigeria, Thailand, Ivory Coast, Pakistan, Zambia and South Africa. Additionally, the system’s use in cooperation with the Afghan police produced more than 80 SIM cards (subscriber identity modules, a portable memory chip in cell phones)e. The cards, sent to the USA’s crypto specialists at the National Security Agency for exploitation, are currently providing the best leads for identifying and breaking up new smuggling rings outside of the country. See USAF Link article.

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These contracts are from Special Operations Command’s Psychological Operations Program Office (PMP). That branch of the United States Special Operations Command (US SOCOM) Intelligence and Information Systems (IIS) Program Executive Office requires engineering and technical support services to build, field and sustain Psychological Operations systems and other designated IIS-PMP projects and programs in accordance with USSOCOM requirements. The 5-year ordering periods will be complete October 2011.

As for the rest… we’ll just have to leave you guessing. There is one major item worth noting, however – both of these war-critical, 5-year, $260 million contracts have been issued to registered Alaska Native Corporations under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971 (ANCSA).

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