Officials of the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center (SPAWAR SSC) Atlantic in North Charleston, S.C. announced plans Monday to award a purchase order on a sole source basis to Crystal Group to upgrade rugged servers used in the CANES program with new technology.
Crystal Group provides the company's RS112 1U, RS265 2U, and RS375 3U rugged server models for the submarine portion of the CANES program, Crystal officials say. The value of the upcoming contract has yet to be negotiated.
CANES will consolidate and modernize shipboard network systems to improve operational effectiveness and affordability across the fleet, Navy officials say. CANES serves as the bridge to the future of Navy afloat networks, consolidating existing legacy and stand-alone networks, providing infrastructure for tactical applications, systems, and services.
CANES represents a critical component of the Navy's modernization planning by upgrading cyber security, command and control, communications, and intelligence systems afloat. The increased standardization will reduce the number of network variants by ship class across the fleet, SPAWAR officials say.
CANES ultimately will be deployed on 180 ships, submarines, and land sites by 2022. Crystal Group is the designer, manufacturer, and distributor for the servers used in the CANES program, Navy officials say in an announcement issued Monday concerning the server repair.
The components of these servers are specific to each model number and have been designated with Crystal Group part numbers. THese servers have undergone many hours of testing within the CANES network and been approved in a specific, managed configuration, Navy officials say.
No other server or internal components of that server can be changed with additional CANES engineering testing and an engineering change order, and it is critical that Crystal Group be the sole source for these repairs so as not to adversely affect the entire CANES network, officials say.
Related: Navy asks Progeny Systems to upgrade decision-support system for submarine warfare
The Crystal RS112 rugged 1U server uses the Intel Ivy Bridge, Sandy Bridge, or Haswell microprocessors, offers two or four rugged hard disk drives, and meets MIL-STD-810 for resistance to shock, vibration, and other environmental extremes. It measures 17.5 inches wide, 20 inches deep, and 1.75 inches high, and weighs 15 to 21 pounds.
The Crystal RS265 2U rugged server uses the Intel Ivy Bridge, Sandy Bridge, or Haswell microprocessors, offers as many as 10 rugged hard disk drives, and meets MIL-STD-810 for resistance to shock, vibration, and other environmental extremes. It measures 17.5 inches wide, 30 inches deep, and 3.5 inches high.
More information on this upcoming purchase order is online at https://www.fbo.gov/notices/fc40021825e9842da8aea302538c9f8d.
For additional information contact Crystal Group online at www.crystalrugged.com, or the SPAWAR Systems Center Atlantic at www.public.navy.mil/spawar/Atlantic.
Learn more: search the Aerospace & Defense Buyer's Guide for companies, new products, press releases, and videos
