Networked System Enhances EW and Cyberdefense

[buglerbilly]

Oct 19, 2011

By Andy Nativi
Genoa



Italian electronics specialist ELT Elettronica has developed a dedicated command-and-control (C2) system that improves electronic warfare (EW) capabilities in a network-centric environment and simultaneously resists cyberattacks.

The Loki ELT/950 NSM (networked system manager) coordinates and exploits passive and active networked sensors and continuously checks network security. If an incoming threat is identified, it automatically suspends operation of the suspect element until an operator intervenes.

Loki was a god in Norse mythology whose powers included the ability to adapt to different environments.

Elettronica envisions Loki as a distributed presence across network nodes and platforms. Some of its elements function as dormant spares that would be activated if the main components of an EW system become compromised and quarantined or otherwise unavailable. This is intended to provide a robust EW management infrastructure that would survive attacks, including cyberattacks. If a Loki C2 unit goes down, it can be automatically disconnected and replaced.

The company developed Loki for military use, primarily ground operations, but says a scaled-down version would be applicable to homeland security. A demonstration is being discussed with Italian security organizations as well as the Italian army, which is conducting a broad network-centric modernization effort called Forza Nec. Elettronica is the Forza Nec design authority for the EW element. Loki could become part of Forza Nec, since the EW component includes a tactical C2 system with data-fusion center.

Distributing EW sensors and effectors and exploiting opportunity sensors across a network would lead to improvements over a conventional platform-based EW system. Elettronica says traditional functions would be performed with better results and new techniques would be available for static and dynamic scenarios.

Loki consists of a lightweight unit with processing board and real-time software that can be easily installed on different platforms.

The operational concept is based on the Boyd OODA (observe, orient, decide and act) loop concept, which states that an opponent’s actions can be countered by observing his cycle of decision-making, rapidly anticipating it and defeating it.

Loki does this in an automated environment. In the observe phase, the system performs automatic data-fusion, exploiting passive sensors including electronic support measures (ESM), laser- and missile-warning systems, communication and intelligence systems, optronics and active sensors such as radar or lasers in a pattern of distributed electronic surveillance. In this phase, Loki, which is responsible for distributed management of the EW element, can suggest to a C2 operator where and how best to deploy ESM and radar assets in space and radiofrequency domains to reduce interference and increase intercept probability.

In the orient phase, Loki uses all the sensors in different ways to create a situational picture, establishing which enemy platforms are present in an area, their identity, location and function.

In the decide phase, Loki selects the most appropriate and distributed response against identified threats, accounting for scenario geometry and suggesting EW techniques for the act phase.

In the act phase, Loki synchronizes actions of cooperating platforms to carry out complex, distributed EW.

For cyberdefense, Loki identifies suspect behavior in networked platforms. If an intrusion is detected, algorithms verify the identity of the suspect platform and, if necessary, remove it from the network while alerting EW management. (A low false-alarm rate is claimed.) Loki can detect a compromised platform by monitoring data-flow integrity, timing, quantity and other characteristics. Suspect behavior triggers additional security challenges to refine the analysis. The system provides a security layer when a network is compromised, identifies and insulates a threat when a breach occurs and reconfigures the network to operate while bypassing insulated nodes.

All actions are recorded and stored for analysis, as well as to craft procedures, techniques and fine-tune system logic in a machine-learning approach.

Loki is also capable of managing offensive cyberoperations, using different electronic effectors and conducting malicious attacks. Elettronica does not disclose details of this capability. The concept, however, is said to be similar to the one at the heart of the U.S. Suter system, which was designed to penetrate and attack enemy communication systems and radar.

Elettronica is testing Loki in a numerical rig using a real-time distributed simulator of a wireless EW network. The simulator provides scenarios, characteristics of radio devices and propagation, routing protocols and threats to the network. These tests will permit Elettronica to finalize the design of Loki’s human-machine interface, which will not be a simple visualization tool but an element of the decision process.

Photo: USAF

[buglerbilly]

MILCOM 2011: USAF calls for improved network integration by air, land and sea

09 November 2011 - 14:57 by Andrew White



Commander of the US Air Force (USAF) Electronic Systems Center, Lt Gen Charles Davis, outlined the 'gut issues' facing the Department of Defense (DoD) in the wider management of systems and networks.

Speaking at the MILCOM conference in Baltimore on 9 November, Davis asked what the USAF needed to do in order to counter 'millions' of network attacks each month.

'Armed forces around the world cannot conduct a single military operation without the network. The system is under attack millions of times a month and offensive operations are [now just] as important as defensive,' he told delegates.

'We are only a few short years away from the point where a few well designed key strokes can create the same effect as any kinetic weapon - conventional or nuclear - in our inventory,' Davis warned.

Offering his thoughts on a resolution, Davis described the linking of space, airborne and terrestrial network layers as an 'end-to-end' imperative. However, he conceded: 'We are having a very difficult time making that type of connection a reality. Is it really one network or a system of systems?'

He called for the integration of network capabilities across ground, air and space; improvements to the effectiveness of infrastructure and application integration; and the definition and evolution of cyberspace network capabilities to support the warfighter and users.

Referring to the USAF networks, which comprise some 850,000 users and more than 1.4 million endpoints, Davis admitted that protection of such a system was 'almost impossible' to defend. 'We keep adding structures, routers, firewalls and security protocols,' he stated.

Finally, Davis called for the USAF to provide a testbed for evolving government reference to cyber network systems and the integration of the private sector into air force operational planning cycles.

'We need a seamless networked environment to accelerate the development, evaluation and delivery of capabilities to the warfighter. In my experience, those networks are no longer networks- they are now weapon systems that need to be treated like a weapon system,' he concluded.

[buglerbilly]

Northrop Grumman network selected for US Army evaluation

11 November 2011 - 14:48 by the Shephard News Team



A wireless network developed by Northrop Grumman has been selected by the US Army to participate in the second Network Integration Evaluation (NIE), underway at White Sands Missile Range.

According to a company statement issued 10 November 2011, their Advanced Meshnet Technology (AMT) solution uses popular hand-held devices to give soldier situational awareness and battle command capabilities.

The company said:‘AMT forms a very high-speed network that provides enhanced situational awareness, communications and command and control capabilities to dismounted soldiers, commander's vehicles and company-level command posts at the last tactical mile. It works in conjunction with FBCB2 (Force XXI Battle Command Brigade and Below), a key situational awareness and command-and-control system developed by Northrop Grumman and used by US and coalition forces.’

According to Northrop Grumman more than 100,000 FBCB2 systems have been deployed worldwide, and the next-generation, software-enhanced version of FBCB2, FBCB2 Joint Capabilities Release (JCR), began fielding to operational units in January 2011. The AMT adds to this by extending the network to the edge, ‘down to the dismounted soldier in the fight’, with a reliable, secure and interoperable design making it a ‘true mission command enabler’.

In developing AMT, Northrop Grumman and its teammates adapted commercial technologies for tactical environments. Mobile ad hoc networks, or MANETs, like AMT can be quickly deployed, because any device, piece of equipment or platform on the Meshnet can serve as a node for accessing information; and soldiers will use 'battle smart' Android phones that support full-motion video, text-based chat, file transfer protocol and voice over Internet protocol and provide a complete platoon and company headquarters network for dismounted soldiers down to the rifleman level.

The company said,‘Connected in this MANET through AMT, every soldier, command post and vehicle becomes a high bandwidth node. AMT also interfaces with legacy networks, including the Harris Falcon III AN/PRC-117G tactical radio system, Warfighter Information Network – Tactical, Blue Force Tracking and Joint Tactical Radio System, which allows C2 and situational awareness messages to be exchanged in variable message format. AMT handsets can also operate on current 3G cellular networks and are adaptable for future 4G LTE systems. This multinet capability means the system can operate in any environment including fixed forward operating bases or while conducting mobile operations outside the range of a fixed infrastructure.’

The October-November NIE is one of a series of semiannual evaluations designed to rapidly advance the Army's tactical networks.

[buglerbilly]

Commanding Troops 'On The Move' During NIE

(Source: U.S Army; issued November 15, 2011)

WHITE SANDS MISSILE RANGE, N.M. --- The Army is evaluating the mission command-on-the-move capabilities that allow Soldiers to communicate vertically and laterally through voice and data in a tactical operational environment.

The testing and evaluation of the network components, or technologies and system capabilities, is occurring through a series of semi-annual network integration evaluation exercises, at Fort Bliss, Texas, and White Sands Missile Range, N.M.

More than 3,800 Soldiers from the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division, are operating both systems under evaluation and systems under test and employing them in various realistic combat scenarios in operationally-relevant terrain designed to replicate the environment in Afghanistan.

"We have multiple tasks out here. We are evaluating 15 to 20 rapid-equipment-fielding items, of which some are network and some are not, and they are intended to go right into theater in Afghanistan and other places," said Col. Daniel Pinnell, commander of 2nd BCT, 1st AD.

"On top of that, we have a longer term project to work for the Army, which is this data and voice network intended to be fielded from the individual Soldier up through the brigade command post -- brigade tactical network, both voice and data," Pinnell said.

The data and voice network will operate and meet different requirements in different types of fights, Pinnell added.

"I may use the same software or applications on each one of the devices in any type of conflict or environment, but what I'm asking of it may be completely different," said Pinnell.

An example Pinnell gave was that of a typical major theater of war between two near-peer competitors.

"Certainly, in the major combat operations phases of that operation, I'm not paying very close attention to personalities," he said. "I'm not collecting biometrics, by and large; I am not doing a lot of detailed pattern work on a population or an area. I am enemy focused, formation focused."

"My questions will be different," Pinnel explained. "I'll still use the same device at the Soldier level to help me understand where I am, where my peers are, where I am being told the enemy's been observed, and what he's up to. But I'm doing it for different reasons, and I'm looking at different cues to help me make my decisions on what to do."

"That's the same from individual Soldier all the way through brigade commander," he continued. "If the data and voice network works as intended -- if we get the throughput in security on it and the applications that we've envisioned -- it's going to be able to meet those needs."

Two fundamental priorities of the current NIE 12.1 are, first, for commanders to be able to command and control while they're moving, and, second, to pull information out of the network and get it to a Soldier level, said Brig. Gen. Randal A. Dragon, commanding general for the Brigade Modernization Command, Army Capabilities Integration Center, under the Army's Training and Doctrine Command.

Radios and hand-held devices are made available down to the level of the individual dismounted Soldier, added Dragon.

"You can look back in history and think about how we commanded on the move," said Dragon. "At one time we used messengers or runners. We've used flags while we were moving formations. We've used radios to be able to talk to one another. In this digital age, we're now able to pass information rapidly -- large quantities of information to create a common picture so that commanders can command effectively and get their Soldiers to the right place at the right time."

During NIE 12.1, Soldiers from 1st Battalion, 35th Armored Regiment, 2-1 AD, used hand-held communication devices to evaluate mission command-on-the-move capabilities in a simulated scenario in which platoons of Soldiers were searching for high-value targets in a suspected improvised explosive device factory.

Sgt. Ryan Moore, a team leader from C Company, 1-35 AR, said he used the Rifleman Radio system that is designed to give voice communication through everybody in the team-- from the highest to the lowest level in the platoon.

"I think it's important for Soldiers, because it gives each Soldier an overall situational awareness and it takes out a few steps," said Moore. "As opposed to having to get up from where my position is -- say if I'm dug in somewhere, and run over and check on a Soldier or pass information on to a Soldier -- if he's got a radio I can call him and tell him what's going on, or he's monitoring the radio, so he's hearing the same traffic that I am."

Sgt. William Wilson, a team leader also from C Company, used the wearable computer systems, Wireless Network After Next and Nett Warrior, in a mock raid scenario.

"Basically what that was supposed to allow us to do was to better shoot, move and communicate," said Wilson. "And to give a firsthand view for all the Soldiers on the ground; that way they can keep up to speed on the operation in every phase."

Wilson said the systems are designed to accelerate the flow of information, giving Soldiers the added advantage to respond.

"The faster that we know everything, the better we can be in reacting to all the changes that can happen on the battlefield," Wilson said. "The Nett Warrior allows us to help populate from a bird's-eye view [using] satellite imagery. It helps us populate basically the maps giving current check points, and things such as that."

Moore said he believes the Army should pursue technology that facilitates fire and maneuver and survival in close combat. The systems should allow Soldiers to access key information anywhere, at all times and all the way down to the small unit and Soldier level, he said.

"It goes back to the basics of what we all do -- shoot, move and communicate," said Moore. "All this equipment lets us do that faster. There's no shooting flares in the air to signal things anymore. I can call somebody, and everybody knows; we're all on the same page at the same time."

[I]-ends-

[buglerbilly]

Army concludes second Network Integration Evaluation

November 18, 2011

By Claire Schwerin, PEO C3T





WHITE SANDS MISSILE RANGE, N.M. (Nov. 18, 2011) -- The Army has concluded its second Network Integration Evaluation, moving closer to deploying an integrated battlefield network after collecting valuable Soldier feedback on the latest tactical communications technologies.

The three-week event, known as Network Integration Evaluation, or NIE, 12.1, represented the first time that all of the components of the Army network to be fielded in fiscal year 2013 were united and evaluated in a realistic operational environment. Soldiers at the lowest echelons were brought into the network, communicating through text messages, digital photos and chat rooms.

Company commanders made quick decisions using information received in real time while moving around the battlefield. New hardware and software was integrated for the first time outside of a lab, and put to the test in mountainous desert terrain that mirrors the communications challenges in rugged places such as Afghanistan.

"We are getting a great look at connecting the Soldier to the network, and a fantastic look at mission command on the move -- for the first time in an operational setting," said Col. John Morrison, director of the Army G-3/5/7 LandWarNet-Battle Command Directorate. "For the first time we've got everything talking together, so now we can establish an integrated network baseline. It's just been phenomenal."

The second in a series of semi-annual field exercises designed to rapidly integrate and mature the Army's tactical network, NIE 12.1 involved 3,800 Soldiers of the 2nd Brigade, 1st Armored Division evaluating dozens of systems in operational scenarios. Soldier feedback and test results from the NIEs are directly shaping the makeup of the Army's network Capability Set 13, which will begin fielding to up to eight brigade combat teams in fiscal year 2013.

Additional brigades will receive the latest network assets as part of Capability Set 14.

Those capability sets will include greater bandwidth to transmit voice, video and data across the battlefield, as well as the ability to bring situational awareness and mission command information down to the dismounted Soldier.

NIE 12.1 was also host to the Joint Tactical Radio System, or JTRS, Rifleman Radio program of record test. This radio, which is carried by platoon, squad and team-level Soldiers for voice communications, can connect with handheld devices to transmit text messages, GPS locations and other data. Soldiers with 2/1 AD also informally evaluated more than 45 other systems, including solutions proposed by industry to meet the Army's identified network capability gaps.

"Getting information technology to the field in a rapid fashion is what we're trying to do here," said Col. Dan Hughes, the Army's system of systems integration director. "Some of the systems that are here are systems that industry paid their money for, that they built, that they brought out, and are in the hands of Soldiers probably five to six years before they would be in the hands of Soldiers if we had gone through the regular (process). And they're getting feedback immediately."

That feedback, ranging from rave reviews to harsh criticism, will inform the Army's decisions about what equipment to purchase and make part of the next capability set, as well as how some gear could be improved with certain changes.

That was the case with Nett Warrior, a Soldier-worn mission command system that 2/1 AD Soldiers deemed valuable but too bulky during the first NIE event. Those results informed Army leadership to revise the requirement, which resulted in a slimmed down version and a reduction of procurement costs for the device. This new version that leverages commercial technology debuted at this NIE and provided dismounted combat leaders with essential information, such as digital maps, text messaging and the GPS locations of friendly forces.

"With a radio you can tell them where you're at, but with this they don't even have to ask," said Pfc. Philip Kerr, one of the Soldiers using Nett Warrior in mission threads here. "If there's ever a situation where I'm down here and I can't see the other side of a town, I can pop it up on a (digital) map. I can then see where everyone else is at, and that can be very valuable in case something goes wrong."

The Nett Warrior devices connect to the network via the Rifleman Radio and its Soldier Radio Waveform. They run Joint Battle Command-Platform, or JBC-P, software, the future version of the widely fielded Force XXI Battle Command Brigade and Below/Blue Force Tracking, known as FBCB2/BFT, system, which allows units to track friendly forces and exchange messages in order to synchronize operations and avoid fratricide. The software will host applications developed by the Army and third parties -- similar to the "apps" marketplace used on the Apple iPhone or Google Android operating systems.

"We want to take the same capabilities that we have in our vehicles, in our command posts, in our aircraft, and provide them to the dismounted Soldier, specifically at the team leader through platoon leader level," said Maj. Anthony Douglas, assistant product manager for Blue Force Tracking -- Software. "Right now, Soldiers in Afghanistan are using (legacy) radios and hand and arm signals to communicate with each other."

The current version of FBCB2, known as the Joint Capabilities Release, or JCR, for its interoperability with the Marine Corps, earned positive Soldier feedback for its new chat function. JCR Chat works like an online chat room within FBCB2, allowing users to instant-message in real time over the BFT 2 satellite network.

"It's super easy to use -- anybody that's been on a chat room before knows how to use it," Staff Sgt. Cody Moose said. "You can have multiple chat rooms, too. We use it for every mission."

The Soldier input and system data collected during NIE 12.1 will be reviewed by a triad consisting of the Brigade Modernization Command, the Army Test and Evaluation Command and the System of Systems Integration Directorate under the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics and Technology, or ASA(ALT).

The next event, known as NIE 12.2, will take place in the spring and further solidify the Capability Set 13 network. The six-week event will include the formal operational test for the Warfighter Information Network-Tactical, known as WIN-T, Increment 2, the Army's on-the-move, satellite-based communications network, which was informally evaluated at NIE 12.1.

WIN-T Increment 2 is a major upgrade to the tactical network backbone that will extend satellite communications to the company level, allowing Soldiers to communicate seamlessly through voice, data, images and video -- even in complex terrain that can break line-of-sight radio connections.

[buglerbilly]

Army Troops Slam New Combat Smartphone

By Carlo Munoz

Published: November 23, 2011



WHITE SANDS, NM: After weeks of testing at the Army's vast facility here a private summed up the service's newest iteration of the so-called Nett Warrior communication system in one phrase: "It ain't ready."

Soldiers with the 1st Heavy Combat Brigade, 2nd Armored Division 2/1 Armored spent several weeks at the Army's latest network integration exercise here putting Nett Warrior and other communication systems through their paces. Nett Warrior was so flawed it might well end up getting American soldiers hurt or killed if put into the field, five soldiers told me. The Army plans to ship out the first iteration of Nett Warrior to Afghanistan next year. The system being sent overseas in October will be a less-capable "bridge" version of Nett Warrior, Army spokesman Paul Mehney said. The full version of the system should hit the field sometime in 2014.

The Nett Warrior system is based on an "end user device," which is essentially an Android or iPhone-like smartphone. Tied to the Army's Rifleman handheld radio, the system lets soldiers link into the massive command and control networks used by the Army. Troops use applications installed on the smartphone to call in fire support missions, plan and coordinate operations and track friendly forces -- all with the swipe of a finger.

The Army tested two of these "apps" here: a tracking system designed to locate friendly forces on the battlefield and a digital interpreter so soldiers can communicate with locals in Iraq and Afghanistan. Both apps failed to make the cut, our plain-spoken private said. Troops who were standing next to each other showed up kilometers apart from each other on Nett Warrior, the private explained.

The digital interpreter app did not recognize specific dialects and slang worlds used in rural Afghanistan. The system's connection to the Army network dropped out repeatedly, leaving soldiers out of contact from other parts of the unit. When Nett Warrior was online the bandwidth was so restricted that soldiers had to wait minutes before the apps would start working. Those minutes may seem inconsequential on a test range in New Mexico with no one shooting at you. They can seem very long in a firefight in the mountains of Afghanistan.

That said, I asked a sergeant what he would do if he had top rely on Nett Warrior in battle. Without a word he took the smartphone device, slipped it into the carrying case attached to his flak vest and closed the top.

The harsh feedback soldiers offered came as no surprise to Col. Dan Hughes, the Army's chief systems integrator. Hughes said that's exactly the kind of feedback the Army wants. "We're in the walk phase right now" he said regarding the Army's progress on Nett Warrior and other net-centric systems. Flaws found during events like the NIE gives the Army time to fix those problems before they hit the battlefield, Hughes said. "You always find something [wrong] so why not find it earlier [in the process]," he added. The unit's gripes about Nett Warrior came because many soldiers were comparing it to the performance they get from their own smartphones, according to Hughes. "Their expectations are [high]," he said, but added that Nett Warrior is not and will not be an Army-built "smartphone."

Another group of soldiers from 2/1 Armored said they hoped the Army will heed their warnings on the immaturity of new networked communication systems, particularly Nett Warrior. "They probably won't," said another sergeant, spitting for emphasis.

[buglerbilly]

Army evaluates company command posts at NIE 12.1

December 2, 2011

By Amy Walker, PEO Command, Control and Communications-Tactical


Soldiers recently finished evaluation of three variants of the "Company Command Post Node" as part of Network Integration Evaluation 12.1. One of the three primary variants of the CoCP evaluated during NIE 12.1 was the Caiman mine-resistant, ambush-protected, or MRAP, tent-based CoCP. That variant provides Soldiers mission-critical command capabilities onboard the MRAP vehicle. When the mission becomes more stationary, Soldiers can employ the system's tent to maximize the CoCP capabilities.

ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Md. (Army News Service, Dec. 2, 2011) -- Soldiers recently finished evaluation of three variants of the "Company Command Post Node" as part of Network Integration Evaluation 12.1.

The three-week evaluation, which ended Nov. 19, helped demonstrate the ability of each of the systems to deliver communications capability to those in the lowest echelons of the Army -- the Soldiers who physically execute the Army's mission "at the tactical edge."

"I see the company as a massive intelligence and information-gathering point," said Capt. Scott DeWitt, who previously served as a company commander with 2nd Brigade, 1st Armored Division. The 2/1 AD was the unit involved in the Network Integration Evaluations, or NIEs. "It is the point where you are going to disseminate your orders, and they are going to get executed at the final tip of the spear -- the squad level."

Among the key priorities evaluated during the various NIEs is the role of the Company Command Post Nodes, or CoCPs, in "mission command on-the-move." Extending the network to the individual Soldier is also a priority.

"Extending the network down to the individual Soldier is a priority in the Army," said Maj. Brian Mack, CoCP trail boss at NIE 12.1. He said the CoCP is an important part of providing Soldiers at the tactical edge the ability to both send and receive data.

One of the three primary variants of the CoCP evaluated during NIE 12.1 was the Caiman mine-resistant, ambush-protected, or MRAP, tent-based CoCP. That variant provides Soldiers mission-critical command capabilities onboard the MRAP vehicle. When the mission becomes more stationary, Soldiers can employ the system's tent to maximize the CoCP capabilities.

A second variant is called the "Trailer Mounted Support System-Medium." This tent-based system is mounted in a trailer, and includes an 18-kilowatt generator and an environmental control unit. The system is integrated with critical mission command systems that take advantage of a SIPR/NIPR Access Point, or SNAP, terminal to provide satellite connectivity.

The third variant system evaluated was an industry-provided option that may provide possible solutions to current mission requirements.

Inside the CoCP, company commanders can utilize critical collaborative mission command applications that were previously only available at levels above battalion. Included among those applications is Tactical Ground Reporting, which gives Soldiers the ability to collect, share and analyze patrol data in a central database.

"Synthesizing all of these things together into one element gives you the ability to have company-level situational awareness in a unified package," said Capt. Joseph D. Perry, a company commander within 2/1 AD evaluating a prototype Company Command Post during the current NIE.

"With this I can interact and provide feedback to my battalion commander, my battalion staff on the move, and command my company on the move, utilizing real-time SA (situational awareness) and providing real-time intelligence up and down the chain," Perry said.

During the next evaluation, NIE 12.2, which will happen in the spring of 2012, the Army will be evaluating two new variants of the CoCP, based on solutions chosen by the Department of the Army.

The ultimate command post variant fielded in the Army's future capability sets must be scalable to support the many different operations executed by a dismounted, airborne, or mechanized company element.

"The company command post solution is evolving and 12.1 is just another iteration of that evolution," said Lt. Col. Carl Hollister, product manager for Command Post Systems and Integration. "We don't yet know what the 100-percent answer will be. But whatever the final solution may be, it is key, particularly to a company, to provide a fully-integrated command post package that is sustainable with a training package that goes along with it."

[buglerbilly]

Harris extends US Army wideband networking

22 December 2011 - 16:15 by the Shephard News Team



Harris Corporation has announced that it has integrated wideband networking capabilities that that successfully connected dismounted soldiers to senior commanders within a Brigade Combat Team at the recent US Army Network Integration Evaluation. This is the first time such networking capabilities have been provided between two separate tactical networks.

According to the company, Harris deployed a two-channel Falcon III AN/PRC-117G vehicular system that transmitted voice and wideband data between the networks — analogous to a call or text message that moves from one carrier’s cellular phone to another. The system consisted of two AN/PRC-117G radios connected to each other in a vehicular amplifier adapter.

Soldiers at the NIE 12.1 also integrated the AN/PRC-117G with the new AN/PRC-152A wideband handheld radios to extend networking connectivity from brigade to the tactical edge. The extended system resulted in wideband communication services that covered all of White Sands, an area of 3,200 square miles.

Harris said the AN/PRC-152A was used to send voice, data, and position location information from the dismounted soldier over a backbone Adaptive Wideband Networking Waveform (ANW2) network. The AN/PRC-152A is the first NSA Type-1 certified handheld radio to offer wideband networking as well as standard legacy waveforms.

The two-channel AN/PRC-117G vehicular system at NIE 12.1 simultaneously operated two wideband waveforms. One radio operated the JTRS Soldier Radio Waveform (SRW), for communication from platoon levels through to company commands; the other radio ran ANW2 and transmitted voice and data from company to battalion and brigade. The Harris system moved information between the SRW and ANW2 networks, allowing for seamless communication across the battlefield, from platoon level to battalion and back.

According to Harris, once the data reached the ANW2 network, it was populated over the Army’s Warfighter Information Network-Tactical, providing a common operating picture from the foxhole to the brigade headquarters. Applications used over the Harris Falcon III radios were TIGR, file transfer, chat messages and email. During NIE 12.1, the Harris radios were deployed in rucksacks, vehicles, aerostats, fixed wing aircraft and RAID towers.

The Army also evaluated two additional wideband radio products from Harris: The Highband Networking Radio (HNRe2), which provides an IP-based network with links capable of throughput rates up to 27 Mbps, for VoIP, video and C4I services, and the RF-7800W High-Capacity Line-of-Sight radio, which delivers quick-to-deploy, point-to-point or point-to-multipoint wireless Internet Protocol infrastructure. During the NIE, the HNRe2 delivered nine nodes of critical communications — including IP transmission of ISR data — using terrestrial and airborne assets to establish a backbone network from brigade down to company echelons. The Army used the RF-7800W radios to provide remote video feeds to command posts, battalions and headquarters installations as well as an alternative data link between key nodes.

[buglerbilly]

Pressure Mounts for U.S. Army to Buy Network Gear

By KATE BRANNEN

Published: 12 Jan 2012 15:39

As the U.S. Army begins preparations for another Network Integration Evaluation (NIE), participating companies remain upbeat but are growing concerned that they might not see a return on their research and development dollars.

At the direction of the Army's vice chief of staff Gen. Peter Chiarelli, the Army began conducting NIEs in July as a way to get network gear into soldiers' hands faster. The idea for the exercises was born out of Chiarelli's frustration that commercial technology was rapidly outpacing the Army's programs of record, especially when it came to information technology. Meanwhile, soldiers in Afghanistan were in desperate need of better communications gear.

Industry welcomed the new approach and was happy to see the Army open to new ideas and willing to bring down the barriers to entry that giant programs such as Future Combat Systems and Joint Tactical Radio System had created.

Held at White Sands Missile Range, N.M., the events also bring together stakeholders from across the service, including roughly 300 Army acquisition officials from 11 program executive offices. Companies that have invested millions of research and development dollars to support the project must pay their own way to participate in the evaluations. So far, two NIEs have been completed, with another scheduled for this spring and a fourth planned for the fall.

But industry officials are beginning to wonder what they are going to get for their investment.

"They have to prove to industry that there is a path from being a program under evaluation to getting a contract award," said an industry official, who asked to speak on background.

The frustration is mounting.

"Everyone understands the value of the process and what it's attempting to accomplish," another industry source said. "The concern is, as we try to help the Army see what the art of the potential is, are the R&D dollars going down a path of no return?"

In addition to procurement decisions, companies are also waiting on feedback from this fall's NIE, during which the Army evaluated roughly 50 different gadgets.

Some inside industry are saying that if the Army indicates that it does not intend to buy anything out of that exercise, some companies will have to reconsider participation.

"There is the potential for a good deal of frustration and a good deal of disgruntlement," another industry source said. "The ultimate impact at the end of the day is that it may end up costing the Army the ability to leverage industry research and development dollars."

With Chiarelli slated to retire at month's end, industry officials are beginning to worry the process may be hitting some serious roadblocks as its champion is leaving.

Feedback Mostly Positive

The Army held an industry day Jan. 11 at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md., to discuss plans for the fourth NIE, which will take place this fall at White Sands. The Army released a sources-sought notice the previous day for the exercise, outlining just what kind of technologies the Army wants to focus on this fall.

The notice indicates eight specific gaps the Army wants to address, including a multichannel tactical radio, in-garrison mission command training and improved operational energy.

Interested companies have three weeks to submit white papers, which the Army will use to make its first round of decisions for who gets to participate this fall.

For the most part, industry participants still think the Army's new experimental approach is the right idea.

Even with the frustration, industry sees the NIE as "a breath of fresh air and a move in the right direction. I think everybody agrees that what they're attempting to do makes all the sense in the world," an industry source said.

Dennis Moran, vice president of government business development at Harris and a retired Army two-star, said his company continues to be "very positive on the NIE process."

Harris is one of the few companies that has already benefited financially from the NIEs. Following the first exercise, the Army awarded Harris a $66 million contract to Harris to buy its AN-PRC 117G radios.

Moran described the process as transparent, saying the "feedback loop is wide open between the government and industry."

Jeff Feinberg, vice president of advanced networking at Raytheon BBN Technologies, which participated on a team with DARPA during the last NIE, also said it was "a good experience overall."

In addition to being able to show off technology, it also provided an opportunity for companies to learn about the operational environment, from the effect of desert sandstorms to the limited space inside the vehicles to seeing the amount of sensory input the soldiers already get, Feinberg said.

"I've never seen a learning environment like NIE," said Bill Clingempeel, a retired Army colonel who directs strategy and technology for Northrop Grumman's battle management business. "It is probably the best ever, in terms of bringing the necessary people together with all of the equipment and creating an environment where you can have a lot of epiphanies. There are things you never would have the opportunity to integrate, if you didn't have the equipment on the ground, working out the technical issues and bugs."

Nolen Bivens, vice president of Army Agile Acquisition for General Dynamics C4 Systems, was also positive, saying he's seen the process continuously improve.

The Army is intent on making it smoother, easier and more transparent every step of the way, said Erin Deronghe, division chief of portfolio integration management at the Army's System of Systems Integration (SoSI) Directorate.

Deonghe's team is trying to lay out the calendar of events more clearly so that companies know when they'll be notified on whether or not they got in.

"Industry will see a lot more detailed process information in this sources-sought notice," Deronghe said. "We're doing a much better job at communicating with industry about every step of the source-selection process."

The team also wants to know what industry thinks. It intends to solicit feedback formally through an after-action report it will send out Jan. 13.

The feedback should come in time for the Army to shape the way it evaluates candidates for the fall's NIE, Deronghe said.

More Transparency, Please

More transparency will be welcomed by industry participants.

"If this is going to be how you get products into the Army in the future, it's a big thing to be told, 'No, you can't come,'" one industry source said.

How a company is selected to participate is one thing, but industry also wants to know what criteria the Army will use when it comes time to decide what to buy.

"I think that's a problem the Army is trying to solve, but I haven't seen it solved yet," the industry source said.

Several industry officials said they also want better context for the soldiers' feedback.

On the equipment surveys, it may only ask whether the system works, but it doesn't always ask why if it doesn't work.

Because each gadget is linked into the greater network architecture, it can be difficult for a soldier to determine which system was responsible for equipment failure.

"How do you not lose points for things like that?" one industry official said.

While complaints and questions like these are common, the biggest issue remains the Army's long-term strategy: What is it going to buy and when?

According to one industry source, part of the problem is linking this new agile acquisition process back into the clunky, arduous way the Pentagon normally does business. It becomes a legal issue.

Getting requirements and purchases approved at the Pentagon requires a lot of testing and several layers of oversight, a process that does not easily accommodate something like the NIE, several people said.

"To try to break through that ice is excruciating, from what I'm hearing," one industry official said. "They're having meeting after meeting after meeting on how to do this and still meet the intent of the law."

Some worry the Army charged out of the gate with the NIE without having these procedural questions answered.

It is clear to everyone that the service is learning quickly as it goes, but some ask whether it's fast enough.

"How long do they go before they finally get the process right and if they go too long, is it too late?" an industry official said. "That's the mindset that every company is dealing with right now."

A company's patience with the process also depends on the size of the company.

Bigger companies can afford to wait it out, but the smaller companies cannot afford to keep participating if there is no potential for return on their investment.

The clock is ticking.

One industry official said if the Army does not indicate that it will buy something out of the NIE that took place in October and November, some companies may begin to opt out.

Deronghe said they received the assessments from Training and Doctrine Command for the last NIE just before Christmas and that her team is working to get those out by the end of January.

Chiarelli's Departure

As industry begins to demand more answers and some procurement decisions, the NIE's biggest advocate and the man credited with keeping the process on track is leaving.

"Many observers are worried that the process will lead nowhere once Chiarelli has retired," said the Lexington Institute's Loren Thompson. "He was the big force behind the NIE and it's not clear his successor will stay on the same course."

Gen. Lloyd Austin will take over as vice chief at the end of the month.

The Army hasn't done enough NIEs for them to be truly institutionalized, Thompson said.

"I'm afraid the NIE will look like an idea whose time has past with the departure of Chiarelli, and the Army will end up with no real solution to its tactical communication needs."

Moran disagreed, saying he thought the process had enough support and structure behind it that it could live beyond specific leadership or personalities.

He said Chiarelli's role has already diminished in a good way.

"He's instituted the guidance, it's in the Army campaign plan, you hear other leaders talking about it," Moran said. "I don't see any reduction in emphasis on this as the new vice comes in."

Moran said he plans to meet with Austin soon to articulate industry's support.

[buglerbilly]

MAINGATE radio successfully demonstrated

12 January 2012 - 16:58 by the Shephard News Team



Raytheon’s Mobile Ad hoc Interoperability Network GATEway (MAINGATE) radio system has successfully demonstrated tactical networking capabilities during US Army exercises, providing soldiers with reliable battlefield information.

The system was used during the Expeditionary Warrior Experiment (AEWE) at Fort Benning, the system provided the backbone for wideband networking; and performed as an alternative to the cancelled Ground Mobile Radio program during the Network Integration Evaluation (NIE) at Fort Bliss, Texas, simultaneously providing multiple channels of real-time video, situational awareness, chat and other applications.

According to a Raytheon press release, during the exercises, soldiers at the squad level reliably received multiple unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) video feeds and other high-bandwidth data services from the battalion to the tactical edge. MAINGATE provided needed capacity for reliable connectivity among cellular networks, hand-held radios and the Warfighter Information Network - Tactical (WIN-T) system. It also allowed soldiers to integrate information across battle command systems and sensors.

MAINGATE is comprised of a high-throughput radio that uses the Next Generation Mobile Ad Hoc Networking Waveform and a gateway that enables seamless battlefield connectivity. MAINGATE is a mature, off-the-shelf system in production today, with more than 100 units currently deployed in theatre. The non-proprietary waveform provided 10 times more network capacity and supported four times more nodes than competing radios at the NIE. And, it exceeds wideband networking requirements in the upcoming Mid-Tier Networking Vehicular Radio solicitation.

[buglerbilly]

One Cloud To Rule Them All: An IT Dream

By Colin Clark

Published: January 17, 2012



The Navy and Marines have a network. The Army has its knowledge online. The Air Force wanted to be the cyber czar. The Joint Staff has a network. NSA has a really big network. And then there's the Department of Homeland Security and everyone else in government. Everyone has a network.

How do you make them effective and protect them? One experienced network guy who thinks big thoughts for the Defense Information Systems Agency (fondly known as DISA) has a dream about all the military networks. He'd like to see "one IT infrastructure" for the Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force and Joint Staff. Tony Montemarano is DISA's head of strategy and he was speaking before at least 1,000 people attending a lunch sponsored by AFCEA about DISA.

Now Montemarano certainly didn't stand up and advocate this position or say it was likely to happen, but you could hear the yearning in his voice as he made his statement. And he received the only applause the DISA panel attracted during its hour-long presentation today.

In search of my own dream, I asked the panel if they could describe why cloud-based systems are more secure than traditional networks. After all, many lawmakers (or defense journalists) don't really understand the cloud, let alone how it is secured. You are putting all your good stuff in one place, so wouldn't it be easier to read it or steal it since you've now got everything sitting there waiting to be plucked?

I got a great answer from David Mihelcic, DISA's chief technology officer: "It's simple. Put all your eggs in one basket and watch it very carefully." I spoke with the DISA panelists a bit after lunch and the cloud works this way, basically. All data sits in one virtual place. All computers that make up the networkcan be monitored and patched for security problems at once, as quickly as possible. You don't have to worry about whether a security officer is going to update the machines he monitors, perhaps leaving a breach through which a determined hacker might find a route in. It gets done, automatically. And you only have one point of access so you so watch it like a hawk.

There was no mention today of cost savings from moving to the cloud, but the head of Cyber Command (and director of the national Security Agency), Gen. Keith Alexander, said in October at Geoint that the intelligence community expects to save up to 40 percent by moving to the cloud.

[buglerbilly]

Ares

A Defense Technology Blog

Pentagon Office Rips Army Modernization Plans

Posted by Paul McLeary at 1/20/2012 12:42 PM CST



Last week, about 300 defense industry reps headed up to sunny Aberdeen, Md. to listen to the Army explain what technologies it’s looking to incorporate into the next installment of its biannual Network Integration Evaluation (NIE) down at Ft. Bliss, Tx.

The NIE, in short, drops an entire Army brigade bristling with new communications and sensor gear into the field for several weeks worth of operational testing, pitting them against an opposing force in a series of counterinsurgency, stability, and peer-on-peer scenarios.

While the tests have drawn nothing but praise from Army leaders and the defense industry, a report released earlier this week by the Pentagon’s Director of Operational Test and Evaluation (DOT&E) takes a somewhat dimmer view, complaining that the service should “be cautious about inserting too many untried, experimental systems into the NIEs” because previous tests have “stressed the Army’s evaluation capacity” with too many different technologies.

In last November’s NIE, the Army put 25 different “systems under evaluation”—which are not formal acquisition programs of record—into the hands of solders doing the operational testing. The report claims that testing so many new systems at once leads to “problems with data collection,” as well as blowing up the test unit’s “capacity to integrate and train Soldiers on new devices. It also complicates evaluation by not establishing a clear baseline of network structure and performance from which to measure improvement.”

Might all be true, but one the reasons for the NIE’s existence is to see how creative soldiers can get with a all kinds of new communications and surveillance equipment while quickly separating what works from what doesn’t. You can call it the King of the 80 Percent Solution, but the point is to get less expensive gear in the hands of soldiers quickly. And if something better comes along, so be it. Since all of the equipment was developed on the industry’s dime, and is already “mature,” that means the Army didn’t spend any money to develop it.

Indeed, one of the Army’s main talking points is that the NIE reduces costs across the board, from development to testing. But the Pentagon isn’t so sure. The report also says that “it is not evident that NIEs will reduce test costs,” since the last set of tests in November ran about $67 million. What’s more, many of these systems tested “provided redundant communications capabilities,” which “altered the expected usage and mission profiles of the systems that were under test, complicating the evaluations.”

Even given all that, the Pentagon apparently wants to Army to push the NIE concept even further. The report stresses that the NIE should expand its focus from fixed sites to placing “a greater emphasis on scenarios that require mission command-on-the-move and the establishment and maintenance of mobile, ad hoc networks. Both of these are desired Army network characteristics that have not been demonstrated to date.”

Well, good news! (Kind of.) In a solicitation issued last week for “NIE “13.1” coming up this October and November, the Army says it’s looking for a Multi-Channel Tactical Radio (to replace the cancelled Ground Mobile Radio, which got the axe last year), along with capabilities like: Mission Command on the Move; Low-Cost-Low-SWaP Tactical Cross Domain Solution; Aviation Extension; Small Form Factor, Modular Transit Case SATCOM Terminal and Baseband; and Improved Operational Energy.

In English, the Army says it’s looking for more communications solutions to plug into the network that the NIE is developing.

But the report has positive things to say about the test, as well. The Army is lauded for taking “positive steps in integrating threat information operations, such as electronic warfare and computer network operations” in the exercise, and the DOT&E recommends building upon these efforts to ensure that the opposing force in future operational tests has a “robust information operations” capability, as well.

[buglerbilly]

Network modernization business practices allow Army to trim costs

February 1, 2012

By Army News Service staff


A 2nd Brigade, 1st Armored Division Soldier demonstrates a Warfighter Information Network-Tactical Increment 2 computing system and mission command on the move applications at the Network Integration Evaluation 12.1. The NIE effort has resulted in significant cost savings from the restructure of Army programs and the consolidation of test practices.

WASHINGTON (Feb. 1, 2012) -- Facing an environment of emerging fiscal constraints, the Army is using its Network Integration Evaluation efforts, part of the Agile Acquisition Process, to force a shift from Research, Developmental, Technical and Engineering efforts to the procurement of mature network capability that will be fielded starting in 2013.

This effort has resulted in significant cost savings from the restructure of Army programs and the consolidation of test practices.

The year-old Network Integration Evaluation, known as NIE, effort has driven decisions to send certain systems to the field, revamp others to better meet Soldier needs and terminate several programs that lacked merit, leading to significant cost savings and avoidance. Consolidating the evaluations with the 2nd Brigade, 1st Armored Division at White Sands Missile Range, N.M. and laboratory assessments at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md., has also saved more than $7.9 million to date in test costs versus testing networked systems individually.

Much of the cost savings and avoidance stems from program adjustments made after NIE results prompted the Army to re-assess planned purchases or revise requirements. Examples include the cancellation of the Early Infantry Brigade Combat Team effort (including the Network Integration Kit) and the Mounted Soldier System program, and the restructure of the Nett Warrior and Joint Tactical Radio System, or JTRS, Ground Mobile Radio efforts.

Other savings result from risk reduction efforts, including robust laboratory and integration assessments prior to formal operational tests and the alignment of major network programs of record into an integrated "capability set."

Synchronized fielding of capability sets every two years will allow the Army to buy the right amount and type of gear for the brigades that need it first, then incrementally modernize it -- instead of spending resources on technology that may be out of date by the time it is needed.

"In the Nett Warrior situation, the formal requirement didn't match up with what users were saying they needed to get the job done," said Col. John Morrison, director of the Army G-3/5/7 LandWarNet-Battle Command Directorate. "The NIE gave us the opportunity to get the technology right, and to save significant time and money in the process."

Nett Warrior is a Soldier-worn mission command system that 2/1 AD Soldiers deemed valuable but too bulky during the first NIE event in June 2011. Army leadership quickly restructured the Nett Warrior program to take advantage of the latest commercial technology, and a slimmed-down version of Nett Warrior received positive reviews at NIE 12.1 in November. These changes yielded more than $800 million in cost avoidance and resulted in a more usable end product for the dismounted Soldier, to be delivered to more units on a faster timeline.

Another major programmatic change related to the NIE is the termination of the Joint Tactical JTRS Ground Mobile Radio, or GMR. Soldiers at NIE 11.2 desired the GMR's communications potential but criticized its size, power consumption and startup time.

When a decrease in the planned purchase quantity of GMR radios triggered a rise in unit cost and a subsequent Nunn McCurdy Breach, the Department of Defense decided not to re-certify the program, thus clearing a path for the Army to pursue lower cost, mature alternatives within the available radio market.

The Army is now using the Agile Process to procure a GMR replacement, known as the Mid-Tier Networking Vehicular Radio, or MNVR. This Non-Developmental Item, known as NDI, effort aims to procure available radios that transmit information using high bandwidth, non-proprietary waveforms such as Wideband Networking Waveform, or WNW, and Soldier Radio Waveform, or SRW, to move voice, video, data and images across the force in real time. The Army will leverage NIE 13.1 in the fall to test potential MNVR solutions and determine which will be fielded for Capability Set 14.

"We know the waveforms, not the hardware, are the key to this capability," said Col. Dan Hughes, director of the Army's System of Systems Integration Directorate. "We can now go back out to industry to get those waveforms on hardware that is cheaper and can be delivered to the Soldier faster. This is what this adaptive process is all about, making sure we provide the Soldier the most technically advanced, easily usable and cost-effective capability quickly."

The Army will now use Capability Set Management, an adaptive and agile process, to sync network development and fielding with the Program Objective Memorandum cycle, thereby ensuring that the right amount of funding is in place at the right time for all components of the Capability Set. By fully aligning fiscal resources, development and fielding, the Army ultimately will field a greater depth of capability to more formations than was possible before.

Capability set fielding will be accomplished through the Agile Process, the Army's new quick-reaction acquisition methodology to address defined capability gaps and insert new technologies into the overall network at a lower cost. Industry participation in the NIE and Agile Process is growing steadily, a key factor as the Army shifts from developing its own network technology to leveraging industry innovation.

More than 40 industry technologies will be included as part of NIE 12.2 in April-June.

"Starting next year we will field the network as an integrated capability, and it makes sense to evaluate it that way," Morrison said. "The operational and financial benefits of the NIE will continue to build as we make this new model our established way of doing business."

The NIE events themselves are also evolving. NIE 12.2 will operate in a classified environment with secure data connections and will connect evaluation units to a higher-division headquarters, being represented by the 101st Airborne Division operating out of Fort Campbell, Ky. 2/1 AD operations at White Sands will require the brigade, battalion and company command posts to "jump" or move in uncooperative and unpredictable environments, and quickly establish network connectivity.

A battalion-sized opposition force will be employed in dynamic scenarios with hybrid threats, including conventional forces, insurgents and members of the local population.

"From a test perspective, the NIEs are a very effective way to simultaneously measure individual system performance and validate the integrated network architecture in a robust operational environment," said Maj. Gen. Genaro Dellarocco, commanding general of the Army Test and Evaluation Command. "While there are certainly challenges in evaluating so many systems at once, we believe there is little downside to quickly putting promising capabilities in Soldiers' hands. We are confident in our test methods and that these synergies will save the Army significant dollars over time."

Launched in June 2011, the NIEs are semi-annual evaluations designed to quickly integrate and mature the Army's tactical communications network -- the service's top modernization priority. The events assess new network capabilities from government and industry with an operational brigade combat team to determine whether they perform as needed, conform to the network architecture and are interoperable with existing systems.

If a certain system is deemed in need of further development, for example, it can participate in a subsequent NIE before a final procurement or fielding decision is made.

"We intend to buy commercial technologies that represent the best capability at the best cost to the taxpayer," Hughes said. "We're going to compete to bring the prices down to a point where capabilities are commodities that fill our needs. The Agile Process will ultimately streamline acquisition so it is more incremental and more affordable."

[buglerbilly]

Soldiers prep for onset of second increment of Army network

February 13, 2012

By Amy Walker, PEO C3T





FORT BLISS, Texas (Feb. 13, 2012) -- In preparation for the upcoming Warfighter Information Network-Tactical, or WIN-T, Increment 2 operational test, Soldiers recently began training on the system's new equipment, setting the stage for the arrival of an on-the-move network that reaches all the way down to the company level.

"WIN-T Increment 2 will provide a number of transformational capabilities for the Army's tactical communications network," said Lt. Col. Robert Collins, product manager for WIN-T Increments 2 and 3. "This training is the first step in readiness for the operational test and our first opportunity to thoroughly train the Soldiers and give them all the right field tests to be able to operate and deploy the network."

Soldiers began the 10-week New Equipment Training, or NET, in January in advance of the WIN-T Increment 2 Initial Operational Test and Evaluation, known as an IOT&E, scheduled for May. The NET is being held at multiple locations including Fort Bliss, Texas, with the 2nd Brigade, 1st Armored Division and Fort Campbell, Ky., with the 101st Airborne Division.

The WIN-T Increment 2 IOT&E will be held in conjunction with the Army's Network Integration Evaluation, or NIE 12.2, where it will be participating as a System Under Test, known as SUT. The analysis and test results from this strenuous three-week IOT&E will be used in the Full Rate Production Decision, scheduled for the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2012.

"The IOT&E will be the first opportunity to make an assessment of the suitability and effectiveness of the WIN-T Increment 2 system with an operational unit," Collins said. "It gives the Army valuable feedback to make any needed doctrinal, material or training improvements before the system is fielded."

Similar to a home Internet connection, WIN-T Increment 1 provides Soldiers with high-speed, high-capacity voice, data and video communications to units at battalion level, with Soldiers having only to pull over to the side of the road to communicate. WIN-T Increment 2 introduces numerous additional capabilities including an on-the-move communications network that reaches down to the company echelon for the first time.

Since the WIN-T Increment 2 network is self-forming and self-healing, it provides a new level of flexibility to support changing mission requirements. Not only does it add on-the-move communications capabilities down to the company level, but it will also allow combat net radio and data networks to be extended beyond-line-of-sight. An initial Network Operations, or NETOPS capability will also be fielded to facilitate the planning, initialization, monitoring, management and response of the network. Additionally, the WIN-T Increment 2's "colorless core" will provide an enhanced level of communications security.

"The power of WIN-T Increment 2 lies in its integrated terrestrial and satellite communications or SATCOM network," said Col. Edward Swanson, project manager for WIN-T. "Being able to command the battlespace securely and effectively while on-the-move, despite terrain obstructions, will transform how the Army operates and significantly increase mission success."

WIN-T Increment 2 is a major upgrade to the tactical communications backbone and a critical piece of Capability Set 13, which is the first integrated group of network technologies out of the NIE process that will be fielded to up to eight brigade combat teams starting in fiscal year 2013.

"[WIN-T Increment 2] makes everything accessible on the go, so it doesn't lock you down to one area,'" said Spc. Allison Ferrone, a Soldier from 2/1 AD at NIE 12.1. "If you're out on a mission and you need to relay information back, you can do that. Even if you need to get briefed from people at the Tactical Operations Center, you can get that information to you, and it's real time."

NIE 12.1, which wrapped up in November 2011, gave the Army a unique opportunity to evaluate WIN-T Increment 2 in an operational environment about six months before its IOT&E. Soldiers took the system for a test drive to evaluate its performance and provide valuable feedback well before the normal test cycle, enabling the Army to smooth out any rough edges and better prepare it for the formal operational test in the spring, said Col. Dan Hughes, director of Systems of Systems Integration for the Army.

"[PM WIN-T] is still going to go through its normal development, testing piece, but they've got a really good snapshot up front," Hughes said at NIE 12.1. "Every time you do [an operational test] you always find something. Why not find it earlier in the process?"

NIE 12.1 provided many valuable lessons-learned from Soldier input, enabling PM WIN-T to address and provide solutions prior to the IOT&E. The event also underscored the importance of performing as much of the network planning, integration and engineering as possible prior to the IOT&E to reduce risk and provide the foundation for a successful test.

"The NIE served as a good framework to bring a number of things together, to be able to assess how the various configuration settings, applications and other entities will behave within the construct of the network," Collins said.

NIE 12.1 provided the first opportunity in which WIN-T Increment 2 was installed and evaluated on Mine Resistant Ambush Protected, or MRAP All Terrain Vehicles. The system was evaluated on the MATVs last fall instead of High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicles, and going forward it will be also installed on Strykers and Bradley fighting vehicles, officials said. They said these vehicles pose unique challenges, including size, weight and power, or SWaP constraints, as well as considerations for other C4ISR equipment.

Lessons learned in 12.1 will impact the way Point of Presences, or POP, and Soldier Network Extensions, known as SNE, are integrated into the platforms. The POP is the primary WIN-T Increment 2 configuration item that will be installed on the tactical combat platforms of select personnel at division, brigade and battalion echelons. It enables mobile battle command by providing secret-level on-the-move network connectivity.

Meanwhile, the SNE will extend the network down to the company level for the first time. Using its on-the-move satellite communication systems, the SNE will be used to heal and extend lower-echelon tactical radio networks for geographically separated elements blocked by severe terrain features. NIE 12.1 also uncovered the need for an auxiliary power source for POPs and the SNEs to keep the vehicle's communications equipment running without wasting fuel.

The importance of training was also highlighted at NIE 12.1, especially considering that unlike WIN-T Increment 1, Increment 2 equipment will be maintained by non-signal corps Soldiers, so training needs to be user-friendly and simple to perform. In the same light, as the complexity of the network continues to increase, Network Operations for senior signal officers managing that network needs to be simplified, Swanson said.

"Every evaluation, every test brings us another step closer to putting WIN-T Increment 2 into the hands of the deployed Soldier on the battlefield," Swanson said. "Once there, it will provide our forces with an invaluable edge."

[buglerbilly]

Army to Buy Radios Following Network Integration Evaluation

(Source: US Army; issued February 21, 2012)

ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Md. --- In its first procurement action resulting from the Network Integration Evaluations, or NIEs, and Agile Process, the Army is issuing a "sources sought" notice for a single-channel, vehicle-mounted radio.

Running the Joint Tactical Radio System, or JTRS Soldier Radio Waveform, known as SRW, the radios will transmit information between the squad- and team-level JTRS Rifleman Radio and the Army's larger tactical communications network. They will act as a conduit for voice and data between the dismounted Soldier, his unit and higher headquarters, increasing situational awareness and reducing fratricide.

The Army plans to buy approximately 5,000 of the vehicle-mounted radios, also known as SRW Appliqué. Recently conducted Network Integration Evaluations confirmed an operational need for these single-channel radios.

"This procurement illustrates how the NIEs and the Agile Process allow the Army and industry to work together to quickly fulfill our network hardware and software capability gaps," said Col. Dan Hughes, director of the Army's System of Systems Integration Directorate. "This is the first formal procurement action for commercial technologies as the Army continues to mature the Agile Process and align existing acquisition policy with our new way of doing business."

The Agile Process is the Army's new quick-reaction acquisition methodology to address defined capability gaps and insert new technologies into the overall network at a lower cost. This approach will accelerate the pace of network modernization to a rate unachievable by traditional acquisition strategies.

Procurement and fielding of the radios will be managed by the Army's Product Manager for Network Systems, assigned to the Program Executive Office for Command, Control and Communications-Tactical, or PEO C3T. The sources sought notice was posted on the Federal Business Opportunities website at https://www.fbo.gov/.

"The last NIE was an excellent chance to look at how single-channel, vehicle-mounted radio solutions align with the Army's network modernization plans," said Lt. Col. Troy Crosby, product manager for Network Systems. "Soldier feedback and test data indicate that these solutions will meet operational needs as a vital communications link to the tactical edge."

The Army plans to field Rifleman Radios as part of Capability Set 13, the first integrated group of network technologies that will be fielded to up to eight brigade combat teams starting in fiscal year 2013. The two-pound radio, which is carried by platoon, squad and team-level Soldiers for voice communications, will also link with handheld devices to transmit text messages, GPS locations and other data. Through SRW, it connects lower echelon Soldiers to one another and back to their leaders at the company level so they can rapidly exchange information.

The vehicle-mounted SRW Appliqué radio procured under the Agile Process will provide the conduit for this information to higher echelons within the brigade. It is intended as an interim solution until the two-channel, vehicle-mounted component of the JTRS Handheld, Manpack, Small Form Fit, or HMS, family of radios is approved for fielding. The Rifleman Radio is also part of the HMS program.

The NIE is a series of semi-annual evaluations designed to further integrate and mature the Army's tactical communications network, and accelerate and improve the way network technologies are delivered to Soldiers. Two NIEs have already taken place at White Sands Missile Range, N.M., with the next event scheduled for April-June 2012.

In preparation for a Request For Proposals, or RFP, the sources sought was issued Feb. 17 and responses are due by March 1. The government anticipates contract award end of August 2012 with first equipment deliveries starting in October 2012 and ending in February 2013.

-ends-

[buglerbilly]

NIE leadership stresses outreach to industry

February 24, 2012

By Claire Schwerin, U.S. Army


A Soldier demonstrates Nett Warrior, a Soldier-worn mission command system that is under evaluation at the Network Integration Evaluations. Brig. Gen. Randal Dragon, commander of the Brigade Modernization Command, described recent changes to Nett Warrior as an example of the Army taking action to restructure requirements based on Soldier feedback and industry advancement.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (Feb. 24, 2012) -- The Army is removing barriers to small business participation and speeding up the feedback cycle in order to better facilitate industry participation in the Network Integration Evaluations, senior leaders said Feb. 23 during the Association of the United States Army Winter Symposium and Exhibition.

Leaders of the triad of organizations running the Network Integration Evaluations, known as NIEs, spoke at the Association of the United States Army Winter Symposium and Exhibition during a panel titled "The Agile Capabilities Lifecycle Process."

Leaders of the NIE Triad -- the Brigade Modernization Command, Army Test and Evaluation Command and System of Systems Integration Directorate under the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics and Technology -- stressed the critical role of industry partners in the Army's new approach to delivering integrated tactical communications technologies.

Summarized as "buy less, more often," the new strategy requires the Army to partner with industry to quickly develop, test and purchase capabilities that will incrementally modernize the network.

In response to industry feedback following the first two NIEs, the Army is now taking several steps to ensure participating companies see a tangible return on investment, the Triad leaders said. These efforts may include new dedicated funding to purchase and evaluate prototype systems developed by small businesses that cannot afford to produce large quantities on their own, as well as more quickly providing companies with assessment reports and Soldier feedback on their systems' performance.

The Army is also starting to buy technologies under the NIEs and Agile Process, the Army's new quick-reaction acquisition methodology to address defined capability gaps and insert new technologies into the overall network at a lower cost. In its first procurement action resulting from the NIEs and Agile Process, the Army issued a "sources sought" notice Feb. 17 for a single-channel, vehicle-mounted radio. Recently conducted NIEs confirmed an operational need for these radios.

"We're buying equipment at the end of this NIE process to make our network better incrementally," said Col. Dan Hughes, director of the System of Systems Integration Directorate. "The NIEs will continue to give industry the opportunity to inform the Army's requirements and Requests for Proposals, and gain valuable Soldier feedback for their systems in an operational context."

One example of the Army taking action to restructure requirements based on Soldier feedback and industry advancement occurred with the Nett Warrior program, said Brig. Gen. Randal Dragon, commander of the Brigade Modernization Command.

Nett Warrior is a Soldier-worn mission command system that users deemed valuable but too bulky during the first NIE event in June 2011. Army leadership quickly restructured the Nett Warrior program to take advantage of the latest commercial technology, and a slimmed-down version of Nett Warrior received positive reviews at NIE 12.1 in November.

These changes yielded more than $800 million in cost avoidance and resulted in a more usable end product for the dismounted Soldier, to be delivered to more units on a faster timeline.

"That's a clear example of where we can bring in commercial solutions to meet requirements that we have, and do it cheaper and quicker," Dragon said.

Systems selected to participate in the semi-annual NIEs are evaluated by the 2nd Brigade, 1st Armored Division during realistic operational scenarios at White Sands Missile Range, N.M., and Fort Bliss, Texas. Following the exercises, the Triad combines user feedback and test data to assess capabilities and determine their implications across doctrine, organization, training, materiel, leadership, personnel and facilities, known as DOTMLPF.

This information is reported to participating companies so they can gauge their technologies' performance and make any necessary adjustments. Following the next NIE 12.2 in May, those reports will be delivered within a matter of weeks, much sooner than for previous NIEs, the leaders said.

"We are making that feedback loop as fast as we can," Hughes said. "If you invest to come into the NIE, we should be able to get you that report fast enough so it's relevant for you."

The reports will still provide the thorough test details industry requires, said Maj. Gen. Genaro Dellarocco, commanding general of the Army Test and Evaluation Command.

"There is a huge concentration on doing quality products quickly to meet the timelines," he said.

The Army also provides information to industry at an earlier stage in the Agile Process. Prior to receiving a field tryout with Soldiers, network capabilities must pass through the laboratories at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md., for technology evaluation, assessment and integration.

The lab assessments inform the Army's choices on what systems will participate in the NIE and provide detailed "score cards" to industry on how their technologies performed and what could be improved in the future.

[buglerbilly]

Ares

A Defense Technology Blog

Army's Modernization Program Hits Some Bumps

Posted by Paul McLeary at 2/28/2012 12:47 PM CST



Just before the Army’s AUSA convention kicked off last week, the service issued a sources-sought notice for a single-channel, vehicle-mounted radio, marking the first time that the Army will actually spend money on something that was tested during the biannual Network Integration Evaluation (NIE) at Ft. Bliss, the cornerstone of the Army’s modernization project. The service anticipates a contract award—or awards—by September, with first equipment deliveries beginning in October 2012 for 5,000 radios.

Despite this success and the fact that the Army loudly trumpets the NIE process every chance it gets, “there are some growing pains,” according to Col. Dan Hughes, director of the Army's System of Systems Integration Directorate. (The NIE tests have been around only since last July, but the Army has been working on the modernization program in much the same form since 2008.)

Many of those growing pains were catalogued in a report released in January by the Pentagon’s Director of Operational Test and Evaluation (DOT&E), which said that the service should “be cautious about inserting too many untried, experimental systems into the NIEs” because previous evaluations maxed out the Army’s evaluation capacity with too many different technologies.

But putting a variety of technologies in the hands of a brigade, and connecting everything to the service’s developmental network, is what the NIE is all about. Army leadership says that it allows them to see what works, and what doesn’t, very quickly. “If we test in isolation any more, shame on us,” Hughes said, adding that the program has received a “tremendous amount of support from senior leadership.”

The “frictions” in the program, as Hughes refers to them, are partially due to the uncomfortable transition from “the old way of doing business,” which included long developmental timelines that didn’t make use of new—and often better, or at least cheaper—commercial applications.

Gen. Robert Cone, head of the Army’s Training and Doctrine Command, identified other frictions in the program. In a frank exchange with reporters, he said that the NIE is in some ways not meeting “the expectations of the industrial base, and we’re going to have to address that … it’s going to take compromise by both parties.”

Part of the problem is that the program requires industry to submit white papers that can cost up to $250,000 to produce, in order to have its already mature technology considered for inclusion in the next evaluation. This “requires industry to step up to the table and make an investment without the military making a commitment that we’ll buy something,” Cone said, adding that “the question is, how do we come together on a middle ground that they will continue to participate?”

Cone said that while the Army recognizes what industry brings to the table “in terms of their knowledge of what is possible, how do you merge that into writing a requirement, determining an adequate testing strategy and an adequate acquisition strategy?”

The White House’s fiscal 2013 budget request asks for $214 million to fund the NIE, which is an indication that the Pentagon and the White House are willing to give the Army some time to iron out the bugs. As for the defense industry, as Hughes put it, “we’re learning as we go along.”

[buglerbilly]

Ares

A Defense Technology Blog

Army Looking to Ft. Bliss Yet Again

Posted by Paul McLeary at 3/20/2012 7:00 AM CDT



As the Army gears up to conduct two more Network Integration Evaluation (NIE) events at Ft. Bliss this spring, and again this fall, it is busily running radios and other communications gear through its brand-new modernization labs at the Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland. And the defense industry is busily trying to supply them.

Hosting reporters at the Aberdeen facility recently, Army officials said that they had received 145 different White Papers from industry for non-developmental, mature technologies for inclusion in the spring test, a number the service slashed to only fifteen once it started to pack up the gear to send to Ft. Bliss. Moving forward quickly, a whole new slate of technologies arrived at the Aberdeen labs in late March for testing—and culling—before the winners are sent to Ft. Bliss for operational evaluations for the NIE that scheduled to take place in September.

Echoing assessments I heard at the AUSA show last month, Col. John Morrison, of the Army LandWarNet/Battle Command shop, said that the NIE is “a maturing process,” since it was only last fall that the service was fully able to integrate industry into the planning process. Still, he admitted, “we know we've got to improve our feedback mechanisms to industry.”

Earlier this month the Army also released to industry its network integration baseline against which contractors can measure how well their own technologies match up to what the service is looking for before even submitting White Papers to the process. That way, industry will know exactly the specifications is gear needs to have in order to be able to plug in to the Army’s WIN-T communications network and integrate with other technologies. “We’re already deep in planning what we want to get accomplished” in the tests this fall Morrison said, adding that now that the Army has developed its network baseline, it is able to “make changes at the margins” as opposed to the wholesale changes it has undergone in its modernization programs since the demise of the Future Combat Systems program in 2009.

[buglerbilly]

Army gears up for next Network Integration Evaluation

April 2, 2012

By Claire Schwerin, U.S. Army



FORT BLISS, Texas (April 2, 2012) -- From training Soldiers to installing radios on vehicles, Army personnel are engaged in intense preparations for this spring's major field exercise for the tactical communications network.

With the Network Integration Evaluation, or NIE, 12.2 scheduled to take place from May 1 to June 8 at Fort Bliss and White Sands Missile Range, N.M., the Army is now laying the groundwork through up-front integration activities. Over the past two weeks, the NIE Project Manager Current "Trail Boss" teams loaded and verified equipment for more than 40 different networked systems on 350 vehicles using realistic mission threads.

"Those threads serve as system checkouts, as well as network checkouts, to ensure those vehicles are ready to go and be delivered to the unit," said Maj. Naim Lee, one of the trail bosses assigned to the Army's System of Systems Integration Directorate, or SoSI. "We debug and resolve all of the issues we can prior to actually handing it to the Soldiers so they can successfully complete missions."

That is a change from the two previous NIEs that took place in 2011, when a shorter timeframe and fewer personnel prevented as much advance troubleshooting, officials said. Now, the Army has formalized the NIE process and stood up an Integration Motor Pool dedicated to installing and validating network gear for several months prior to the start of the event. The service has also created "Golden Vehicle" designs to standardize the configuration of different combinations of network equipment on various platforms.

"It's not like an assembly line, but pretty close to it, to where it's step by step so we're not missing anything," said Rich Dauz, a SoSI integration engineer.

SoSI, the Brigade Modernization Command, known as BMC, and Army Test and Evaluation Command form a triad of organizations that execute the NIEs, a series of semi-annual field exercises designed to quickly integrate and mature the Army's tactical communications network.

NIE 12.2 will be the most significant such exercise the Army has conducted, equipping the 3,800 Soldiers of the 2nd Brigade, 1st Armored Division, with the entire network architecture of Capability Set 13 -- an integrated package of vehicles, network components, and associated equipment and software that will be fielded to Army brigade combat teams beginning in fiscal year 2013.

These technologies will for the first time deliver an integrated voice and data capability throughout the brigade combat team formation down to the tactical edge, even while moving across the battlefield.

"The network is an enabler for just about everything you're doing," said Col. John Morrison, director of the Army G-3/5/7 LandWarNet-Battle Command Directorate. "We're trying to provide those tools to our operational commanders and our operational leaders so they can execute their mission."

The NIEs collect Soldier feedback on system performance in realistic operational scenarios, allowing the Army to make informed decisions about what equipment to send to the field. The events are also forcing positive changes to Army acquisition practices through the Agile Process, which allows the service to more quickly procure commercial technologies to meet defined capability gaps.

The NIEs and Agile Process also allow for revised requirements based on user needs, such as when Army leadership quickly restructured the Nett Warrior program to take advantage of the latest commercial technology following user feedback at NIE 11.2.

"The first Nett Warrior that we were working with was bulky and outdated," said Staff Sgt. Juan Barajas, of 2/1 AD, who described the new smartphone-like system he will use in NIE 12.2 as "a lot easier to use (and) a lot easier to carry."

"They're actually listening to the suggestions we're giving them," Barajas said.

Barajas joined users from several 2/1 AD maneuver companies last week for training sessions on Nett Warrior, which is a Soldier-worn mission command system that connects with a tactical radio to provide dismounted leaders with increased situational awareness and mission-related "apps." Soldiers who had not experienced the system previously said they found it easy to learn and looked forward to using it during the NIE.

"As far as our scout missions, I'll be able to see where my dismounted patrols are and in case we are engaged in a firefight, I'll be able to maneuver them and see exactly where they are maneuvering to," said Staff Sgt. Cyril LeBoeuf, 2/1 AD. "I'll be able to see where the enemy's at and I'll be able to maneuver my unit a lot faster."

Training for the NIE is conducted not only on individual systems, but also on an integrated basis so Soldiers can get the most use out of the capabilities. That approach is producing lessons-learned that will be valuable as the Army begins to field and train brigades with Capability Set 13, said Brig. Gen. Randal Dragon, BMC commander.

"Even though we train the Soldiers and we prepare them on an individual system, what we see in the evaluation is the integrated capability -- the integrated training challenge, the integrated benefit that we get as opposed to the standalone systems," Dragon said. "From a training perspective I think (the NIE) will help guide the force, will help provide the specific task editions and standards that need to be developed, formalize those and get those into Soldiers' hands."

After training and integration activities are complete, the next step for NIE 12.2 will be communications exercise, or COMMEX, activities in April, after 2/1 AD formally takes possession of the involved vehicles and systems. For the first time, NIE 12.2 will connect 2/1 AD to a higher-division headquarters, being represented by the 101st Airborne Division operating out of Fort Campbell, Ky.

NIE operations from 2/1 AD at White Sands will require the brigade, battalion and company command posts to "jump" or move in uncooperative and unpredictable environments, and quickly establish network connectivity. A battalion-sized opposition force will be employed in dynamic scenarios with hybrid threats, including conventional forces, insurgents and members of the local population. Following the NIE, the BMC will consolidate Soldier feedback and test data into thorough assessment reports that guide the Army's decisions about the future network.

"This NIE will be the first time we have really deployed the tactical network that we intend as part of Capability Set 13 on an entire BCT scale," Morrison said. "That is a fundamental shift in how we've ever evaluated something before. The Army's going to get a great look at the entire Capability Set 13 architecture so we can make smart decisions."

[buglerbilly]

Officials worry Army’s NIE is too expensive

By Michael Hoffman Thursday, April 5th, 2012 2:16 am



NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Officials inside and outside the Army have started to question if the Network Integration Evaluation is worth the $260 million price tag it cost to run it last year.

Army leaders stood up the evaluation two years ago to test and develop the service’s new battlefield radios – the service’s top modernization priority. The service has since held the NIE up as an acquisition success story following the 2009 cancellation of Future Combat Systems, a $160 billion program which included the radio network.

The NIE has already saved the Army money. Soldiers testing the Ground Mobile Radio highlighted the programs flaws and the officials canceled it shortly after the service released the NIE’s test results.

Army Lt. Gen. William Phillips, military deputy to the Army’s acquisition executive, said the NIE has accomplished much in its short history, but like every military program, it must keep a close eye on costs.

“There are folks who will look at it from a funding perspective too. And is the NIE costing too much? And some have,” Phillips said. “We have to do this. We can’t afford not to.”

The NIE is run twice a year at White Sands Missile Range, N.M., and Fort Bliss, Texas. Soldiers with 2nd Brigade, 1st Armored Division, test different components of the Army Network ranging from smartphones to command and control networks.

Army leaders must explain to Congress and those inside the Army that the costs to run the program are offset by the potential savings of figuring out what works and what doesn’t before systems reach the battlefield.

“The Army has to be able to continue to articulate that the cost of the NIE is this, and the cost benefit and savings are these,” Phillips said.

An Army spokesman explained that the Army had to pay more up front to stand up the NIE and officials expect the costs to shrink as the service learns to run it more efficiently.

Costs have already dropped in the NIE’s third year. The Army’s budget request for the NIE in 2013 shrunk to $214 million.

U.S. Army Test and Evaluation Command and U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command have found ways to more affordably collect and analyze data during the evaluation, said. Paul Mehney, an Army spokesman.

Officials have even cut costs before an NIE starts by holding more tests on systems that will eventually go to White Sands and Fort Bliss at the new laboratories at the Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md., Mehney said.

The NIE’s success in its first two years has brought with it additional scrutiny. Army and defense industry officials have said they worry the NIE could grow too big and lose its agile edge to test systems quickly.

“We don’t want to bite off too much and we don’t want to have too many programs that are out there. We have to be careful that we right size the number of systems we want to take out and put in the hands of soldiers. So they’re not overstressed and they can look at these systems so we get the best feedback possible,” Phillips said.

Read more: http://www.dodbuzz.com/2012/04/05/officials-worry-armys-nie-is-too-expensive/#ixzz1rDtzHZax
DoDBuzz.com

[buglerbilly]

Army Examining What Capabilities 'Make Sense' for Network of Future

(Source: US Army; issued April 10, 2012)

ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Md. --- The U.S. Army will assess capabilities and emerging C4ISR technologies as part of its efforts to shape the future network when its annual integrated capabilities event begins at Fort Dix, N.J., April 16.

Product Director Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance & Network Modernization's Event 2012 will focus on the future network -- near-term and several years out. Findings will be provided to senior leaders so they can make informed decisions in regards to shaping the Army's future force and network, officials said.

"Network modernization is an Army priority. Each year our goal is to stand up a fully integrated and instrumented architecture that provides quantifiable data regarding the technical performance of a system-of-systems network that leverages C4ISR capabilities across the spectrum," said Product Director Lt. Col. Quentin L. Smith, PD C4ISR & Network Modernization.

The event, which provides an opportunity for stakeholders from across the DOD to integrate and exercise future force capabilities, will also inform efforts to accelerate and recapitalize C4ISR technologies into the current force, thus supporting the Agile acquisition process.

"We help articulate the operational 'so what' of a provider's technology early in the process: where does it plug in, does it have potential, or does the technology provider need to go back to the drawing board to flush some things out, whether that's back at his lab or by collaborating with us," Smith said. "This is a non-attribution environment, not a pass/fail test; we're here to work things out collaboratively."

E12, scheduled to run April 16 - July 27, will examine the development of an integrated Brigade Combat Team network that utilizes future capabilities outlined by the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command, or TRADOC, for 2013-2014. The work will support initiatives to provide actionable intelligence at the squad level and improved situational awareness to dismounted Soldiers.

"You don't just wake up one morning and have a capability. That's why we are assessing these now to see what works and makes sense at various echelons," Smith said. "In the past, we've grown technologies then introduced them to the Soldier at the back end. If we are to effectively and efficiently shape the Army's future network, the S&T community at large needs to engage with each other and the Soldier up front, using current and future requirements. And that means testing should be involved as you go through the wickets of engineering a system, from the very beginning to the end."

E12 critical activities will include handheld and cellular technology at the tactical edge, emerging telemedicine technologies utilizing Current and Future Force network capabilities, radio-based combat ID, the assessment of emerging radio waveforms and the recapitalization of current force technologies such as the Single Channel Ground and Airborne Radio System, or SINCGARS.

The design for E12 assessments is based on guidance taken from the Army Science and Technology Master Plan, Army Modernization Plan 2012, Net Enabled Mission Command Initial Capabilities Document, Common Operating Environment Implementation Plan, and capability gaps from TRADOC. This allows PD C4ISR & Network Modernization to better scope the parameters for technology developers seeking to support Army requirements, Smith said.

"Broad requirements result in an abundance of money, and the technology developer can still miss, especially if he throws an existing technology from inventory at a gap. That's wasting their time and ours. The definitive data needs to be scoped up front so the technology can be tailored to better support the Soldier's need. If we do that, there is the opportunity to save a lot of money," Smith said.

Funded by the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics, and Technology, or ASA(ALT), PD C4ISR & Network Modernization is an R&D program within the U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command's communications-electronics center, or RDECOM CERDEC.

The program provides the Army with a relevant venue to assess next-generation technologies, to evaluate and validate technical progress, to facilitate technology maturation and transition to acquisition, and to perform risk mitigation and candidate assessment/selection for future Network Integration Rehearsal/Exercise events in support of the Army's agile acquisition process.

Major acquisition programs of record, such as Warfighter Information Network-Tactical Increment 2, the Rifleman Radio for Joint Tactical Radio System Handheld, Manpack, Small Form Fit and the Soldier Radio Waveform for JTRS Network Enterprise Domain, have leveraged PD C4ISR & Net Mod for risk mitigation and reduction to help achieve their milestone decisions.

The PD has also assessed the impact of Joint Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance and Sensor Fusion on tactical operations, evaluated the degree of interoperability between ISR and Mission Command systems across the current and future forces, advanced technologies used to collect data on mobile and ad hoc networks, and proved SRW scalability by conducting, at the time, the largest node demonstration of the waveform in the field.

"We provide a neutral environment where engineers can come together and integrate without the distractions of proprietary positioning. In doing that, we become a catalyst where government and industry engineers learn from one another," Smith said.

"Instead of developing in a vacuum with a primary contractor, leverage the S&T community at large, government and industry, to shape and mature that technology. If we partner and learn from one another, I think the success rate of putting a great technology into the user's hand goes up tremendously. Collaborative R&D on the front end will streamline processes, saving time and money on the back end."

Findings and insights from all assessments conducted during E12 will be captured and presented in a final report, which is a formal deliverable to senior leadership and key stakeholders, and will be made readily available to interested parties from across the Army and DOD enterprise. Immediate quick look data and feedback will be provided to applicable stakeholders throughout the course of the event, officials said.

-ends-

[buglerbilly]

Uncovering the colorless core of the Army's network

May 1, 2012

By Amy Walker, staff writer for PEO C3T



WHITE SANDS, N.M. (May 1, 2012) -- The name may sound like some super hero power taken from the pages of a comic book, but the "colorless core" is carrying the Army's network into the future, enabling Soldiers to send information across the battlefield securely and efficiently, even when on the move.

"Think of the colorless core as cloaking device for data," said John Kantonides, lead systems engineer for Warfighter Information Network-Tactical, or WIN-T, Increments 2 and 3. "It hides the data when we transport it across satellites and across line-of-sight links. It can't be intercepted because no one can see it."

WIN-T Increment 2, the second generation of the Army's tactical communications backbone, will provide an on-the-move colorless core, enabling commanders to command and control their units without fear of the enemy intercepting sensitive information.

"Network management and policies allow critical messages like call for fire and medevac to be processed ahead of others, and it is inherently sensitive data. The colorless core is going to provide the opportunity to protect that data and secure that backbone from intercept by enemy forces," said Lt. Col. Robert Collins, product manager, or PdM, for WIN-T Increments 2 and 3, which are assigned to the Program Executive Office for Command, Control and Communications-Tactical, known as PEO C3T.

The colorless core will be among the many capabilities to be assessed during the WIN-T Increment 2 Initial Operational Test and Evaluation, or IOT&E, scheduled for May. The WIN-T Increment 2 IOT&E will utilize a division slice worth of WIN-T Increment 2 configuration items, with the main effort to be held at White Sands Missile Range, as part of the Network Integration Evaluation, or NIE, 12.2. To truly stress and test the system, WIN-T Increment 2 nodes will also be spread across 2,000 miles of the United States and involve more than 4,000 Soldiers and civilians for the test.

The three-week IOT&E is the Army's record test to fully assess the suitability, survivability and effectiveness of the WIN-T Increment 2 equipment with an operational unit. It will provide the Army with valuable feedback to make any needed doctrine, organization, material or training improvements. The analysis and test results from the IOT&E will be used to support the Full Rate Production Decision scheduled for the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2012.

A successful decision would allow for the fielding of WIN-T Increment 2 to maneuver units across the Army.



"The WIN-T Increment 2 colorless core is going to offer a more efficient way for the IP [Internet Protocol] layer to be encrypted and traverse the network," Collins said. "So protection and optimizing the use of bandwidth will be two of the key features of the colorless core."

Much like a home Internet connection, WIN-T Increment 1 provides Soldiers with high-speed, high-capacity voice, data and video communications to units at battalion level, with Soldiers having only to pull over to the side of the road to communicate. WIN-T Increment 2 supplies a self-forming, self-healing initial on-the-move communications network that reaches down to the company echelon for the first time.

"While WIN-T Increment 2 is being designed to incorporate colorless core, it will also be introduced to WIN-T Increment 1 through the WIN-T Increment 1b upgrade," Collins said. "The 1b baseline will bring the colorless core technology to existing WIN-T equipment to improve capability and to ensure interoperability between the two increments."

Work has also been conducted on other systems that previously did not have colorless core requirements, such as SIPR/NIPR Access Point, known as SNAP, satellite terminals, to provide them with this capability and to increase interoperability within the network, Kantonides said.

In the past with WIN-T systems such as the Joint Network Node, unclassified and secret information were not encrypted in the same way. The Army only encrypted secret information, leaving unclassified information unencrypted. In 2007 the Defense Information Systems Agency decided that everything in the tactical arena should be hidden in a black core, now referred to as "colorless core," so that all data traffic moving among the core's components is encrypted from end-to-end.

"The reason it is called 'colorless' is that the Army often places color codes on certain security enclaves, with secret typically being designated as red and unclassified as black," Kantonides said. "In the colorless core, since you can't see the information, you don't know what color it is. No one knows whether it is secret or unclassified, so unclassified information is just as hard to obtain as secret."

In the WIN-T Increment 2 colorless core architecture, double protection is provided by encrypting the information twice, once at the network layer and then again at the link layer. The information must also then be un-encrypted twice.

For example, information sent from one WIN-T Increment 2 configuration item to another configuration item is sent in the same way, such as a Point of Presence, or POP, that only allows access to secret users, to a Tactical Communications Node, known as a TCN, that allows for both secret and unclassified users.



First an Inline Network Encryptor, or INE, is used to encrypt the information from the POP before it sent across the Wide Area Network, known as the WAN. Then the information goes into a router that decides the best path to send it. The router could possibly send the information to a line-of-sight Highband Network Radio or to a Net-Centric Waveform radio.

Once the radio receives the information, it puts a second layer of encryption on top of it. The double-encrypted information is then sent across the air to the second radio. The second radio un-encrypts the radio portion and sends the information to the new router. The new router sends it to the new INE, which takes off initial encryption and sends the information to the proper user.

"The main advantage of the colorless core is to hide the data to keep it safe," Kantonides said. "The colorless core prevents the enemy from being able to locate, view or intercept any of this information."

The colorless core makes it easier to add new transmission mediums within the WAN architecture. For example, when two vehicles such as TCNs are very close together, instead of using satellite communications, or SATCOM, they can just add a line-of-sight link between the two routers without worrying about the security of the data passing back and forth. If the two TCNs move apart, the connection can simply be disconnected.

Previously it would have been necessary to match security levels to communicate over line-of-sight, a far more difficult endeavor. So the Army will now be able to use less SATCOM and more line-of-sight, which is much cheaper, provides better throughput and less latency.

"The WIN-T Increment 2 colorless core capability is a key component in providing secure mobile communications to our forces," said Col. Ed Swanson, project mManager for WIN-T. "The colorless core capability guarantees the security of the information while providing additional operational flexibility to the network."

[buglerbilly]

US Army launches NIE 12.2

15 May 2012 - 15:56 by Scott Gourley in White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico



The US Army has kicked off the latest evolution of its Network Integration Evaluation (NIE) exercise at Fort Bliss, Texas and White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico.

Having requested information from industry sources in May and October 2011 for ‘mature’ solutions to enhance existing network systems capabilities to participate in the NIE 12.2 event, the army is this year concentrating on a ‘narrow set of specific, identified gaps in the current and evolving networked equipment solution set’.

Identified gaps included: a Multichannel Radio; Low-Cost- Low-SWaP [size, weight and power] Tactical Cross Domain Solution; Small Form Factor, Modular Transit Case Based Company Command Post; Tactical Router; and Improved Operational Energy.

The sources sought process led to industry white paper submissions and laboratory network validation at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, before the potential systems were delivered and integrated at Ft Bliss for field evaluation during the NIE event.

As of 6 April, NIE 12.2 was slated to focus on three Systems Under Test and 37 Systems Under Evaluation. NIE 12.2 SUTs include: Warfighter Information Network – Tactical (WIN-T) Increment 2; Joint Tactical Radio System (JTRS) HMS [handheld, manpack, small form factor] 2 Channel Manpack radio; and the JTRS Joint Enterprise Network Manager (JENM). WIN-T Increment 2 is also undergoing its Initial Operational Test and Evaluation during the NIE.

The 37 SUEs are grouped into the broad categories of aerial tier, soldier connectivity, network operations, mission command and ISR, multichannel radio, non-network assets, company command post elements, cross domain solutions, tactical routers, operational energy, and other.

The US Army’s 2nd Brigade, 1st Armored Division began deploying to White Sands in mid-April, where a week-long field communications exercise was followed by several phases of tactical operations running until the end of May. The operational scenarios place the brigade under the higher command of the 101st Airborne Division. The event is due to conclude on 8 June.

Industry observers emphasised the importance of this latest event to Digital Battlespace, describing how it would be the first time the army has employed every element of its ‘agile’ modernisation process ahead of the expected verification of Capability Set 13- a modernisation package that will begin fielding to at least five brigades beginning in October.

Meanwhile, the continuing success of the NIE process could see the programme expanded into the Capabilities Integration Evaluation (CIE) exercise in a year’s time.