Digital Government
Intercepts
QUICKLY ENABLED. The 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit managed to move its satellitebased Joint Task Force Enabler system, which provides NIPRNET, SIPRNET and Joint Worldwide Communications System access for deployed forces, into Kosovo from Macedonia almost as quickly as the grunts themselves. The 2
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Comtech wins Army battlefield communications contract
The Army awarded Comtech Mobile Datacom Corp. a $418 million contract today that will provide commanders the ability to precisely locate and communicate with battlefield support vehicles, such as ammunition and fuel trucks, anywhere in the world.
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Hacker groups target Navy sites
In the wake of attacks on the FBI World Wide Web sites earlier this mont
Digital Government
Cyberattacks spur talk of 3rd DOD network
As part of a strategy to defend its unclassified networks against relentless cyberattacks, the Pentagon may establish a new network to handle electronic commerce and other interactions with the public while cutting off all other existing connections to the Internet. The proposal follows an increase
Digital Government
Navy faces IT training, support woes
(This is the fourth in a series of articles looking at DOD efforts to bring new technology into the battlefield.) The Navy has hit a few bumps in translating the grand vision of networkcentric warfare embodied in its Information Technology for the 21st Century project into gritty operational reali
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Nets aid Kosovo force
The Defense Information Systems Agency plans to insert rapid, highpower, commercial communications links in Kosovo and Macedonia to extend the Defense Department's longhaul communications network to support the peacekeeping effort in the Balkans. The U.S. European Command (Eucom) also has started
Digital Government
Intercepts
A REAL ASD/C3I AT LAST? The White House, freed of the pesky distractions of the past year (Monica, impeachment, etc.), has finally nominated Art Money, the longestterm senior civilian official in history, as assistant secretary of Defense for command, control, communications and intelligence. If e
Digital Government
DOD nears resolving MAN conflicts
The Pentagon has edged closer to resolving a longrunning turf battle between the four services and the Defense Information Systems Agency over control and management of metropolitanarea networks (MANs), with a top Defense Department official indicating the services could soon control their MAN de
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Contractors' software 'crap,' says top DOD IT official
The Pentagon's top information technology official sharply criticized, in the plainest possible language, the quality of software that IT contractors currently supply to the Defense Department.
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DOD preps for possible cyberattacks brought on by Y2K
The Pentagon has started to develop plans that would shut back doors that hook its global networks to the Internet in case cyberfoes try to use any Year 2000 computer date code snafus to mount a cyberattack.
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DOD begins move to software-based security
The National Security Agency took over program management of the Defense Department's softwarebased, mediumassurance computer security program last month from the Defense Information Systems Agency, a key task as the Pentagon rolls out softwarebased security systems throughout DOD.
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Navy praises new SPS, but critics remain
While some users continue to criticize the Defense Department's $326 million Standard Procurement System, a key piece of the Pentagon's 'paperless contracting' program, top Navy officials have praised the latest version of the software. Elliott Branch, the Navy's executive director of acquisition a
Digital Government
COMSAT wins $112M Navy pact for global net circuits
Communications Satellite Corp. last week won a $112 million contract to provide the Navy with the global communications circuits vital to the service's 'networkcentric' warfare strategy. The fiveyear contract calls for COMSAT's Mobile Corp. subsidiary to provide the Navy with 64 kilobits/sec pipe
Digital Government
Pentagon renovation takes the long view
Information technology advances at such a fast pace with today's technology obsolescent in 18 months most IT managers probably have not bothered to add 'longrange planning' to their lexicon. But longterm planning definitely stands as a priority for Col. Robert Kirsch, the IT project manager f
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Army to equip soldiers with 'electronic umbrella' system
The Army plans to provide U.S. forces poised for deployment to the Balkans with more than 40 sophisticated, computerbased systems that could provide troops in Kosovo with an 'electronic umbrella' capable of neutralizing incoming artillery, rocket and mortar shells. The House Armed Services Committ
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Intercepts
THE KOSOVO COMM BATTLE. Now that the air campaign in Yugoslavia has ended, I anticipate a fierce ground war in Kosovo, with the combatants this time being the three major U.S. comm companies (and possibly European carriers) looking for a piece of the substantial network that will support a very lon
Digital Government
SAIC to acquire Boeing IT services group
Science Applications International Corp. ended months of speculation today when it announced plans to buy Boeing Information Services, the Boeing Co., subsidiary which provides the federal government with information technology and integration services.
Digital Government
House panel boosts military IT funding
The House Armed Services Committee last month beefed up funding for key military information technology projects and information security programs, and it passed language that could derail the Army's outsourcing plans for a large program designed to modernize its logistics systems. In its fiscal 20
Digital Government
IDI gears up Portable-3
Hoping to catch the peak of the summer buying season as well as an opportunity to provide systems to U.S. forces slated for deployment to the Balkans, Intelligent Decisions Inc. plans to jumpstart its Army Portable3 contract as quickly as possible. Although the Army Small Computer Program Office
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