Perspectives on Technology & Transformation

John Arquilla

MIT’s Technology Review interviews John Arquilla, one of the people who pioneered the idea of “The Revolution In Military Affairs” (aka. transformation, network-centric warfare). It notes:

“Yet what if the Pentagon’s big platforms weren’t merely the wrong weapon systems to fight present and future wars, but actually likely to bring defeat? John Arquilla, one of the military intellectuals who created and promoted the concept of “transformation” for the U.S. military, believes that may be the case. Arquilla teaches at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, CA, and is a RAND consultant and a Pentagon advisor. His publications include Networks and Netwars: The Future of Terror, Crime, and Militancy, [see also shorter paper], In Athena’s Camp: Preparing for Conflict in the Information Age and the forthcoming The Reagan Imprint: Ideas in American Foreign Policy from the Collapse of Communism to the War on Terror.”

Agree or disagree, he’s always worth reading. Here are a few more recent articles that tie into the Arquilla article’s points. or feature additional thought-provoking material and ideas which could impact military procurement down the road.

GD Subsidiary Wins First Task Order for $2.3B TEIS II US Army IT Support Contract

The U.S. Army has selected Signal Solutions, Inc., a subsidiary of General Dynamics Network Systems, to receive the first competitively awarded task order under the Total Engineering and Integration Services (TEIS II) indefinite delivery/ indefinite quantity contract.

TEIS II will be the sole contract used for mission support by the U.S. Army’s Information Systems Engineering Command (ISEC) – a subordinate command of the U.S. Army’s Communications Electronic Life Cycle Management Command (CELCMC) located at Fort Huachuca, AZ. Work will be performed at Fort Huachuca, the National Capital Region and at Army Information Systems Engineering Command customer sites worldwide. The Army has awarded a contract worth more than $2.3 billion to three systems integrator companies to provide omnibus IT services under TEIS II…

DID Improves its TIGER Coverage

M1 Abrams: Let’s Roll

A March 2006 global tank market report (2006-2016) by Forceast International notes the significant share of global spending covered by upgrades and maintenance agreements for advanced western tanks. The M1 Abrams receives particular mention in that respect, which is more or less inevitable given its comparative numbers.

Thanks to some assistance from Honeywell and the good people at Weber Shandwick, DID has upgraded its January core article covering US Army’s $1.4 billion TIGER (Total InteGrated Engine Revitalization) program for the AGT-1500 turbine. What distinguishes Honeywell’s performance-based approach under TIGER from previous contracts, and how does the program fit in with overall US Army plans for the M1 Abrams out to 2027? Read the improved DID article and see.

$17.4M to Lockheed for SWFTS Naval Battlegroup Interconnectivity

One combat fleet

Lockheed Martin Integrated Systems in Bethesda, MD received a $17.4 million cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for systems engineering and integration in support of Combat System Warfare Federated Tactical Systems (SWFTS). SWFTS is comprised of all submarine combat system subsystems, mainly consultation, command, control, communications, computers, and intelligence (C5I). This effort provides for the overall architecture integration of the subsystems to achieve a single total combat system for Naval Battlegroup interconnectivity.

Work will be performed in Manassas, VA (44%); Middletown, RI (12%); San Antonio, TX (8%); Groton, CT (7%); Woodbridge, VA (7%); Newport, RI (7%); Riverdale, MD (5%); Canton, IL (3%); Greensboro, NC (3%); Bethesda, MD (2%); North Waterford, CT (1%); Mystic, CT (1%), and is expected to be complete by December 2006. The contract was competitively procured and advertised on the Navy Electronic Commerce On-line website, with two proposals solicited and received. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., issued the contract (N00024-06-C-6272).