The US Navy risks outsourcing control of its drones

On the same subject

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  September 11, 2018 | International, C4ISR

  DISA chooses 20 small businesses for big IT contract

  By: Daniel Cebul The Defense Information Systems Agency has selected 20 small businesses for the opportunity to work on a range of information technology services for the Department of Defense, intelligence community and other federal agencies, according to a Sept. 10 announcement. The contract could run as long as 10 years and has a maximum value of $17.5 billion. The ENCORE III small business set-aside suite makes 20 small companies eligible to compete for contracts to provide services in 19 performance areas. Those areas range from requirements analysis to cloud professional services and enterprise IT policy planning. “One of the key advantages of leveraging the ENCORE III vehicle is that mission partners are able to team with us to determine the best acquisition strategy for their task,” Steve Francoeur, ENCORE III contracting officer, said in a press release. “Together, we are able to determine whether a best-value-trade-off or lowest price technically acceptable approach fits the mission requirement.” The announcement follows DISA's award of the ENCORE III full and open large business suite in March when another 20 businesses became eligible for task orders on the contract. https://www.c4isrnet.com/newsletters/daily-brief/2018/09/10/disa-chooses-20-small-businesses-for-big-it-contract

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  September 13, 2018 | International, C4ISR

  DISA opens a new operations floor in Utah to boost resiliency

  By: Daniel Cebul WASHINGTON — The Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) has opened a second operations watch floor to help operate and secure global information-sharing and command and control capabilities, according to a Sept. 12 press release from the agency. The organization opened the new floor July 15 at Hill Air Force Base in Utah. The center is now known as DISA Global West. The original operations watch floor, DISA Global Operations Command, headquartered at Scott AFB, Illinois will now be known at DISA Global East. Opening a second watch floor improves the survivability and redundancy of global network operations, the DISA statement said, and allows for what's described as 24/7 “Active-Active” operations. “Active-Active” means that DISA is continuously available to provide operational and security capabilities, even if one of the two operation centers goes down. This added layer of redundancy is viewed as critical in an increasingly hostile cyber environment. “In a world where our cyber adversaries are becoming more and more sophisticated in their abilities to infiltrate networks and interfere with services, Active-Active operations allows DISA Global to reduce continuity risks and make the Defense Information Systems Network and DISA services more agile and responsive,” said Laura Williams, the agency's Active-Active program manager. While dividing the work force between locations introduces new difficulties to operations, the agency is confident the move will improve resiliency without compromising capability. “It's always a challenge when you have a geographically separated work force,” said Army Col. Lisa Whittaker, DISA Global commander said in the release. “But we are a tremendous team coming together for this effort. The teammates that work at DISA Global West are closely integrated with those at DISA Global East. They work in the same divisions, have the same leadership, and use the same tools, techniques, tactics, and procedures on a daily basis.” One reason teammates are able to stay on the same page despite being over 1,300 miles apart is the agency's use of an Enterprise Virtual Watch Desk, which provides organizations across the agency a common picture of the operational network. https://www.c4isrnet.com/disa/2018/09/12/disa-opens-a-new-operations-watch-floor-in-utah-to-boost-resiliency

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  September 26, 2024 | International, Aerospace

  Space Command leader calls for better domain awareness tools by 2027

  The ability to maneuver through and understand what’s happening in space will be crucial to future military operations, Gen. Whiting said this week.