NAVY PLANS DEPLOYMENT OF NEW SEA-BASED WIRELESS NETWORK
U.S. Navy intends to step up consultations with industry to develop sea-based wireless communications network, effort that will decrease agency’s need to transmit voice and data messages via multiple systems. Vice Admiral Richard Mayo, commander of Naval Network Warfare Command (NETWARCOM), said Wed. at Network Centric Warfare conference in Arlington, Va., that “industry absolutely has to be involved” to develop such direct ship-to-ship wireless capability.
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Navy “intra-battlegroup” communications systems currently rely on links to terrestrial nodes so naval vessels can stay in contact, he said. But rather than communicating directly from one ship to another, messages first must be relayed to military satellites, which then deliver transmissions to their intended recipients -- technical process that must take place even if sea vessels are only 1,000 ft. apart, he said.
Wireless system development is “going to be one of the first things we do” in FY 2004 as part of Navy’s overall communications modernization effort, concept known as ForceNet, he said. Space & Naval Warfare Systems Center Command (SPAWAR), which is agency’s lead unit for communications technology projects, will work in tandem with NETWARCOM to develop this segment of ForceNet “campaign plan,” Mayo said. SPAWAR and NETWARCOM sometime this spring hope to release draft plan that will include details of needs to accommodate future upgrades of new system.
Navy recently held preliminary meeting with industry to discuss wireless project, but is likely to schedule broader “industry day” in March to spell out needs and solicit ideas, officials said. Mayo emphasized that while Navy would leave it to industry to develop open standards for initiative, issue of whether govt. or industry would lead systems integration efforts for project “has yet to be resolved.”