ARLINGTON, Va., 7 Sept. 2013. U.S. Army officials needed next-generation network computing technology for its Mounted Family of Computing Systems (MFoCS), to be installed on ground vehicles and weapons platforms. They found their solution at DRS Technologies Inc.’s Network and Imaging Systems group in Arlington, Va.
DRS won a U.S. Army contract to deliver a modular family of computers and display systems for the MFoCS, which will provide modular computing capabilities across military services. The indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity (IDIQ), three-year contract has a potential total value of $455 million.
Under the IDIQ contract, DRS will provide dismountable tablets, platform-computing servers, docking stations, interconnecting cables, installation kits, and three sizes of ruggedized, sunlight-readable, touch-screen display units for more than 40 types of ground vehicles and weapons.
The Army will field three levels of computing and display capability in three hardware configurations to meet Joint Force and Army requirements. The MFoCS family is interoperable with already fielded legacy systems, protecting investments in technology that provide distinct advantages in situational awareness, battlefield digitization, and mission command. The DRS solution will not only meet key Warfighter Information Network-Tactical requirements, but also integrate the fielded FBCB2 system, the current Joint Battle Command Platform.
This next generation of computing platforms also includes new technologies—including the Intel 3rd-generation Core i7 processor, expanded memory, greater storage, and enhanced information assurance—for improved processing and to efficiently run next-generation software applications, such as JBC-P, the Forward Observer System, and the Tactical Ground Reporting System.
The contract will support the Army PEO C3T and Program Manager Joint Battle Command Platform at theAberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland. Design and manufacturing of the systems will be performed by the DRS Network and Imaging Systems group in Melbourne, Florida.
The three-year contract, executed by the Army and available to the Marine Corps and other services, includes options for two one-year extensions.
The family of common computer and display technology will add capabilities while reducing the overall size, weight, power, and cost (SWaP-C) of the systems currently installed worldwide on U.S. military ground vehicles and platforms, officials say.
"This technology will provide our warfighters with a strategic advantage on the battlefield and builds on the DRS heritage of supplying cutting-edge network computing systems for the U.S. military," says William J. Lynn, CEO of DRS Technologies and former U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense.
Over the past decade, DRS has delivered more than 180,000 Force XXI Battle Command Brigade-and-Below (FBCB2) and 25,000 Movement Tracking systems for U.S. ground forces worldwide.
"U.S. warfighters deserve reliable systems and the latest in networking technologies to successfully conduct global operations in all types of environments,” says Mike Sarrica, president of DRS Network and Imaging Systems.
