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JTRS Universal Transceiver
The Joint Tactical Radio System (JTRS) Cluster 1 program moved forward with the award of a contract to complete the design of the universal transceiver, a key component of the JTRS-compliant software-defined radio system. The JTRS is a family of software programmable radios that will provide the military with voice, data and video capability through a common software communication architecture, ensuring interoperability with existing and future systems. The Boeing Company, Chicago, has selected Rockwell Collins, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, to complete the design work. JTRS will be awarded in multiple clusters that will be integrated on selected maritime airborne, fixed-station, ground-mobile, manpack, handheld and space platforms. Rockwell Collins anticipates more than $2 billion in contracts over the life of the program.
 
Flight School XXI
In the ongoing transformation of U.S. Army aviation, Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC), El Segundo, California, will provide simulator-based flight training and support to the U.S. Army Aviation Center at Fort Rucker, Alabama. Known as Flight School XXI, the effort will serve as a foundation for improving Army aviation training. CSC will assist the Army in maximizing the use of high technology training methodologies and virtual flight simulators to enhance training effectiveness and reduce costs. CSC will provide, manage, operate, maintain and upgrade a suite of virtual flight simulators for Army helicopter flight training. The value of the contract, which is for a 12-year base period and one eight-year option period, is estimated to be more than $1.1 billion. CSC’s Flight School XXI team includes Flight Safety International, Link Simulation, NLX Corporation, Intelligent Decision Systems and ISERA Group LLC.
 
Support for Transformation
The U.S. Army has awarded a $500 million contract for enterprisewide services and solutions, including total life-cycle support. NCI Information Systems Incorporated, Reston, Virginia, will provide a spectrum of solutions to support the Army transformation and network-centric enterprise integration initiatives. The award is for a three-year base period and two, two-year options on the indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity prime contract. The Army Small Computer Program at Fort Monmouth, New Jersey, sponsors the contract. Subcontractors include BAE Systems, Bearing Point, DigitalNet, General Dynamics, Lockheed Martin, Titan, AnviCom, Arrowhead, Cisco Systems, CNSI, Confluent, Integic, ISS Managed Objects, Microsoft, Multimax, North Carolina A&T State University, Oberon, Oracle, Phacil, Sysorex and Vitronic.
 
Stockholders Approve Reorganization and Merger
Handheld computing and communications innovator, Palm Incorporated, has spun off its subsidiary, PalmSource, acquired Handspring and merged Handspring Incorporated with Palm Solutions Group to form palmOne. PalmSource develops and licenses Palm operating systems. Palm Solutions Group designs, manufactures and markets handheld devices. Handspring makes smart phones based on the Palm operating system platform. The reorganization is aimed at providing clarity of mission and focus, to increase speed of response to technology change, increase potential licensees for the Palm operating system and provide more direct access to investors. The merger is expected to deliver a broader portfolio of mobile products and bring Palm’s brand and distribution channels to Handspring’s Treo product line and wireless carrier relationships. PalmSource is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, and palmOne is in Milpitas, California.
 
Military HR Records Management
One of the largest and most complex enterprise-resource planning initiatives is underway. The Defense Integrated Military Human Resource System is to be the single authoritative source of personnel information on individuals and units across the entire U.S. Defense Department. Under a $281 million, nine-year contract, Northrop Grumman Information Technology, Herndon, Virginia, will be responsible for the development and implementation of the fully integrated personnel and pay capability for more than three million military personnel deployed globally. The system will collect data on every aspect of a military service member’s career. It will retain and maintain that data in a single, comprehensive record, and service members will have remote, self-service access to pay and personnel information. Most of the work will be performed in New Orleans and is expected to create 200 new jobs. The company already has more than 6,000 employees in Louisiana. Team members include Accenture, CACI and the University of New Orleans.
 
Intelligence System Upgrade
Aiming to transform the U.S. Defense Department's Distributed Common Ground System (DCGS) into an integrated element of the military’s weapons systems, the U.S. Air Force Electronic Systems Center, Hanscom Air Force Base, Massachusetts, has awarded a $157 million contract. Raytheon Company, working with Lockheed Martin, BAE Systems and General Dynamics, will upgrade the system to provide seamless interoperability across the joint services and the intelligence communities. The 10.2 upgrade will integrate multiple intelligence systems into a single worldwide network-centric intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance enterprise. The contract, valued at approximately $360 million over the life of the program, includes a year-and-a-half base period with options for 29 Air Force and 39 U.S. Navy systems. Raytheon is headquartered in Lexington, Massachusetts.
 
Night Vision Research
To improve warfighter capabilities and promote technology transfer to the private sector, the U.S. Army Communications-Electronics Command, Fort Monmouth, New Jersey, has hired Alion Science and Technology, McLean, Virginia, and 28 subcontractors. They will provide high technology engineering support services to explore and develop new technologies, including night vision, electro-optical, electronic sensors, countermine and survivability systems. The High Technology Research, Development and Engineering Services Omnibus Contract is valued at $120 million.
 
Systems Integration Order
To enhance the legitimate flow of people and commerce across U.S. borders, Computer Sciences Corporation, El Segundo, California, will assist the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement by maintaining and improving the systems that process travelers’ information. The bureau, formerly known as the Immigration and Naturalization Service, awarded the $88 million, seven-year task order.
 
Acquisition Agreement
Symantec Corporation, Cupertino, California, will acquire PowerQuest Corporation. The companies will combine deployment, imaging, provisioning, storage management and disaster recovery technologies to form an enterprise solution for managing, protecting and recovering servers, workstations, laptops and handhelds. PowerQuest pioneered an innovative way of using imaging technology to build, protect and recover servers, workstations and laptops. Known as active state management, the architecture uses imaging and partitioning technologies as its foundation. PowerQuest’s V2i Protector complements Symantec’s existing line of anti-virus products and will provide a second line of defense against computer viruses and worms. The transaction is expected to close by the end of 2003.
  
Attack Platform of the Future
A demonstration of miniature guided-parafoil technology is the next step toward converting unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) into effective strike platforms. The recent availability of lightweight submunitions has made it possible to mount weapons on UAVs; however, delivering munitions on target from slow-moving but high-flying UAVs remains a challenge. STARA Technologies, Mesa, Arizona, has developed global-positioning-system-guided parafoils that, unlike conventional free-falling parachutes, autonomously fly toward a target while descending from the UAV. This will make it possible for UAVs to select targets with their surveillance equipment and then program STARA’s units to accurately deliver submunitions to these targets. The U.S. Army Armament Research Development and Engineering Center, Picatinny Arsenal, New Jersey, awarded the contract.
 
Fiber Optic Gyros
KVH Industries, Middletown, Rhode Island, has received the first production order for its new fiber optics-based inertial measurement unit (IMU). The company’s military-grade fiber optic gyros will be used as part of the guidance system in the U.S. Navy’s next-generation anti-submarine warfare weapon, the Mark 54 lightweight torpedo. IMU technology employs a three-axis configuration of KVH’s digital signal processing fiber optic gyro integrated with three accelerometers. The unit measures motion and acceleration precisely in three dimensions, which is critical for navigation of torpedoes and smart bombs. Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems, Tewksbury, Massachusetts, the sole source for the Navy’s Mark 54 lightweight torpedoes, awarded the subcontract.
 
Government-Grade Network
GuardNet, the U.S. Army National Guard’s network modernization and bandwidth expansion program, is underway with the award of a $36 million contract. The project involves migrating the Guard’s current MCI-provided ATM services to Sprint’s government-grade Peerless IP Network at 58 sites throughout the United States and its territories. The Peerless IP Network has no physical connectivity to the public Internet, creating a closed-user-group environment and offering increased security for government customers. Work on the all-digital fiber optic network is valued at $36 million over five years. Sprint Government Systems Division, Herndon, Virginia, will perform the modernization work. The National Guard will retain network management functions. Under a separate, 36-month contract, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Washington, D.C., will begin using the government-grade Sprint Peerless IP Network at 59 sites across the country. 
 
Visitor Identity Verification
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has purchased 1,000 optical stripe read/write drives and biometric verification systems for the Visitor and Immigration Status Indication Technology Program. The drives and software systems will be deployed at ports of entry around the United States for operation on existing platforms. They will read the encoded data on any of more than 13 million permanent resident and border crossing cards, authenticate the biometric data stored on the cards and alert inspectors to the presence of possible counterfeit cards. Information Spectrum Incorporated, a wholly owned subsidiary of Anteon International Corporation, Fairfax, Virginia, is providing the equipment.
 
Testing a New C² System
SRA International Incorporated, Fairfax, Virginia, will provide independent verification and validation software testing for the Air Mobility Command’s (AMC’s), Scott Air Force Base, Illinois, new command and control (C²) system, called the Modernized Global Decision Support System. The AMC uses C² systems to provide global planning, scheduling, execution management and monitoring of its forces during operations. The system provides information on airlift and tanker status and movement around the world. The task order has an estimated value of $30 million over seven years.
 
Weapon Datalink Architecture
Networked in-flight communication for precision-guided weapons using a software communication architecture that is compliant with the U.S. Defense Department’s Joint Tactical Radio System (JTRS) policy is under development. Rockwell Collins, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, has been hired to lead the U.S. Air Force’s weapon datalink architecture program (WDLA), formerly known as Banshee. JTRS is the open architecture, software-programmable radio system that will be the joint service standard for all new tactical communication systems. The WDLA implementation will enable secure, mission-specific communication protocols and parameters to be reprogrammed quickly. The contract’s ceiling is $23.4 million, and the first delivery order is valued at $5.4 million.