Air Force awards multimillion-dollar secure communications contract to Wickr to provide digital encryption

June 25, 2020
Wickr's software secures things on a day-to-day basis, but in special circumstances enables users to create temporary secure operating environments.

HURLBURT FIELD, Fla. – The U.S. Air Force awarded a contract potentially worth $35 million to Wickr Inc. in San Francisco, a secure communications platform provider, the Defense Department announced June 1. C4ISRnet reports. Continue reading original article

The Military & Aerospace Electronics take:

25 June 2020 -- Under the two-year contract, the Air Force will use Wickr’s secure recall, alert, and messaging services. The cloud-based application will provide end-to-end encryption for file, video, chat, text, and voice services. Awarding the contract were officials of the Air Force Installation Contracting Center at Hurlburt Field, Fla.

The San Francisco-based company has a relationship with the Air Force through the service’s Strategic Financing program, which includes several internal innovation and small business outreach hubs. In April, Wickr won a contract for secure data as part of $550 million in awards the Air Force made to 21 companies.

Wickr’s software includes a federated network capability that enables a network administrator to create temporary environments for users to communicate with allies or family members without increasing risk.

Related: Navy asks ViaSat to modernize cryptography in MIDS-LVT secure communications networking for military systems

Related: U.S. military faces challenges of ensuring that digital encryption of mobile computers is a high priority

Related: Marine Corps picks HF radio systems from L3Harris that offer NSA Type-1 encryption for information security

John Keller, chief editor
Military & Aerospace Electronics

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