Digital Government
Vendors showcase high-tech WIN wares
Potential suppliers for the Army's Warfighter Information Network (WIN), a multibilliondollar project to upgrade all aspects of battlefield communications from fiberoptic cable to widebandwidth routers used last week's Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association/TechNet '96 (AFCE
Digital Government
NOAA names ship after Brown
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration launched its newest research vessel last month and named it in honor of former Commerce Secretary Ronald Brown, killed in a plane crash in Bosnia April 3. NOAA originally intended to name the 3,250ton, 274feetlong ship "Researcher" but change
Digital Government
Intercepts
DISN hornets' nest. The infighting over the multibilliondollar Defense Information Systems Network continues, with the board here at Intercepts Central lighting up with more gossip, rumor, innuendo and the rare fact than my processors can handle.
Digital Government
Paige champions Web tools
Commercial tools and technologies developed to easily tap into information on internets, intranets and the World Wide Web offer "an unprecedented way to change the way [the Defense Department does] business," according to Emmett Paige Jr., the assistant secretary of Defense for command, control,
Digital Government
Lawmakers urge DOD to back integrated bid
The Senate Governmental Affairs and Armed Services committees have asked the Pentagon to explain why it will not accept a single integrated bid for its multibilliondollar Defense Information Systems Network (DISN), a position long advocated by AT&T. The Defense Information Systems Agency has repea
Digital Government
Intercepts
Still learning. My Bosnian remote antenna site has picked up strong signals that the muchhyped DARPA/DISA commercial Bosnian C2 network still has its share of problems. They're still having big problems with commercial power in Sarajevo and not enough backupgenerator capacity. The lesson learned
Digital Government
Air Force halts PC sked orders
The Air Force last week nixed plans by users to buy Desktop V "killer" PC packages that vendors planned to offer on the General Services Administration schedule while protests on the megadeal are being resolved. In a memo dated May 31, the service directed all major commands "not to procure off
Digital Government
Army unveils battlefield communications strategy
The Army has kicked off a multibilliondollar project to revamp its battlefield communications systems, a project that calls for replacing or upgrading virtually every piece of the Army's battlefield communications infrastructure, from cables to radios to switches to satellite terminals. The new Wa
Digital Government
Airborne ops centers to get $20M-plus comm upgrade
The Air Force plans to upgrade the communications systems on its fleet of four E4B Boeing 747 aircraft that serve as National Airborne Operations Centers (NAOC), under a $20 millionplus program that will see each of the planes equipped with advanced commercial switching and telephone systems. The
Digital Government
AT&T brings Nimitz crew, families closer
AT&T Government Markets has developed an FTS 2000based interactive voiceresponse system that the USS Nimitz supercarrier used during a recent deployment to help close the information gap between the 6,000 crew members and their families. Capt. Alfred Harms, the Nimitz's commanding officer, said A
Digital Government
Tech glitch shuts out Bosnia e-mails
Last week cartoonist G.B. Trudeau treated readers of his "Doonesbury"comic strip to a fictional Internet exchange between troops in Bosnia and the folks at home. "Doonesbury" depicted a fictional Navy Lt. Tripler, identified as a "NATO IFOR (Implementation Force) morale officer," effortlessly
Digital Government
Sysorex: Desktop V pricing unrealistic
The heavily censored protest filed by Sysorex Information Systems Inc. against the Air Force's Desktop V contract released last week by the General Services Administration's Board of Contract Appeals offered some intriguing, if incomplete, insights into the winning solutions proposed by Hughe
Digital Government
ELVIS to tour with GCCS
The Defense Information Systems Agency plans to distribute World Wide Web browser software, dubbed "ELVIS," that will allow "almost ubiquitous access" to the common operational picture carried on the Global Command and Control System (GCCS). Unlike commercial Web browser software, which present
Digital Government
Vendors use protests to sell more PC wares
Air Force buyers will not have to wait long to get Desktop Vlike pricing and technology, despite protests that have halted the procurement, because several firms are putting together what analysts call "DT V killer" packages. These companies intend to market PCs aggressively to Air Force users d
Digital Government
INTERCEPTS
Army turn at J6? It looks like the Joint Chiefs of Staff will tap an Army general to replace Vice Adm. Arthur Cebrowski, who moves back to the Navy as director of Space and Electronic Warfare a job he once held not even long enough for the ink on his business cards to dry before zipping off to t
Digital Government
Contract-a-year plan boosts PC competition
ORLANDO, Fla. The Army has decided to dramatically ratchet up the competition for its standard PC contracts and plans to award a new twoyear contract every year, according to officials of the Army's Small Computer Program (SCP) office. The new procurement policy will apply to all future desktop
Digital Government
Vendors add Pentiums, desktops to Army pacts
ORLANDO, Fla. Vendors vying for a piece of the $300 millionplus Army PC market kicked off the summer selling season last week, introducing upgrades to all the key standard contracts managed by the Army's Small Computer Program (SCP). The vendors unveiled the new product lineups at the SCP's sem
Digital Government
HCNS puts security funds near half-billion mark
Defense Department spending on information security could hit more than half a billion dollars between now and 2001 as a result of language inserted into the 1997 Defense authorization bill by the House Committee on National Security (HCNS). The committee also included what it called "substantial
Digital Government
NISMC chief speeds technology to the fleet
"The folks in the rear often don't send the right gear" is a complaint Rear Adm. James Davidson, commander of the Naval Information Systems Management Center (NISMC), has grown accustomed to in his decadeslong career in the Naval Aviation Supply Corps. But thanks to input from his daughter, an A
Digital Government