by Mark Pomerleau
The Air Force issued a formal proposal before this calendar month for the Department of Defense’s long-awaited cyber weapon system, known every bit the Unified Platform, sources say Fifth Domain. DoD officials take away maintain said the Unified Platform is 1 of U.S. Cyber Command’s largest together with most critical acquisition programs to date. Industry officials take away maintain said it is necessary to bear cyber operations together with is critical to national security. Just every bit sailors rely on an aircraft carrier, pilots demand airplanes or soldiers demand tanks, cyber warriors require a scheme to which they launch their attacks. Pentagon leaders take away maintain said the Unified Platform volition theater offensive together with defensive tools, allow for command together with control, situational awareness together with planning. As Cyber Command looks to 2018, they volition await beyond manning teams together with instead focus on how to equip them.
But details on what the Air Force, which issued the asking on behalf of Cyber Command, wants inwards a Unified Platform are scarce.
Sources told Fifth Domain a formal asking for proposal was released through the General Services Administration’s premier enterprise Alliant Governmentwide Acquisition Contract vehicle, which “provides flexible access to customized information technology solutions from a large, various puddle of manufacture partners … [and] allows for long-term planning of large-scale programme requirements.”
Under this model, GSA completes much of the initial contracting legwork and, inwards this case, allows the Air Force to focus on the specific technical requirements, sources said. Companies compete to survive eligible for describe of piece of job orders nether the Alliant contract together with and then GSA selects contractors who compete against each other for private describe of piece of job orders on the finally program. This means, solely vetted companies would function on the program.
Alliant is also designed to streamline contracts for information technology projects only, eschewing or hence of the documentation together with financials inwards typical contracts enabling faster awards.
The Unified Platform proposal was solely released to companies on the contract almost ii weeks ago, sources said, together with is due inwards mid-July.
Today, each of the private services purpose their ain disparate systems, many of which are non linked together. The spokesman added that efforts are underway to review together with consolidate existing service together with Cyber Command’s platforms.
Unified Platform seeks to take away maintain the best of breed of these together with supply all cyber warriors a consolidated system.
“In concert amongst US of America Cyber Command together with all Services, the Air Force every bit Executive Agent is directing evolution together with deployment to ensure timely together with relevant full-spectrum capabilities for our cyber warriors,” an Air Force spokeswoman said.
An Air Force spokeswoman said that the Air Force’s Life Cycle Management Center volition serve every bit the scheme integrator together with volition Pb a multi-contractor, agile development/operations endeavor to launch together with expand the Unified Platform.
Currently, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon together with Booz Allen Hamilton are known to survive competing for the contract. Sources said other companies may also survive considering a bid.
The Air Force, inwards its query together with evolution budget for financial 2019, asked for $29.8 1 chiliad m for the Unified Platform programme this year. It requested $10 1 chiliad m for financial twelvemonth 2020 together with $6 1 chiliad m inwards financial 2021. The amount toll of the programme is non instantly clear.
The Department of Defense’s budget asking for financial 2019 describes a programme to develop such a war-fighting platform for Cyber Command.
Other companies are also working on Unified Platform prototypes inwards the interim.
Enlighten information technology Consulting, a Maryland based company, was awarded before this twelvemonth a sole rootage contract to supply a Unified Platform prototype, Duane Shugars, Enlighten’s vice president of operations, told Fifth Domain.
Enlighten is providing a capability Cyber Command’s cyber mission forcefulness is using inwards existent footing missions today inwards which they collect data, force it into their analytics to run together with part it for news fusion.
As the command continues to grow together with mature leaders take away maintain said it volition demand its ain infrastructure to bear operations. As late every bit 2015, laissez passer on off Pentagon officials acknowledged Cyber Command did non possess a robust articulation calculator network infrastructure capability, a robust command together with command platform together with systems to programme together with execute fast-moving, large-scale cyber operations.
Cyber Command volition demand its ain infrastructure together with platform to bear its mission course of written report from what it currently shares amongst the NSA.
During his confirmation procedure to Pb Cyber Command, Gen. Paul Nakasone said the scheme needs its ain infrastructure course of written report from the National Security Agency, which is currently co-located amongst Cyber Command together with has traditionally shared personnel together with infrastructure
“Operating nether the constraint of the news regime that principle NSA infrastructure together with tools would severely confine USCYBERCOM’s might to effectively back upwards wartime cyber operations,” he said.
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