Air Force considers digital signal processing for improved SIGINT and cyber intelligence
ROME, N.Y. — U.S. Air Force researchers are asking for industry’s help in enhancing today’s cyber intelligence and signals intelligence (SIGINT) capabilities by improving real-time digital signal processing to detect, identify, sort, track, prioritize, classify, and geolocate signals of interest automatically.
Officials of the Air Force Research Laboratory Information Directorate in Rome, N.Y., have issued a solicitation (FA875019S7002) for the Cyber/SIGINT Collection, Processing Techniques, and Enablers project.
The objective is to protect U.S. and allied command and control, intelligence gathering, and tactical networking capabilities, and to support battlespace awareness for the warfighter.
Military researchers see improvements in digital signal processing as key enablers for signals intelligence and cyber intelligence.
Researchers are looking for new ways to intercept, acquire, access, exploit, process, and locate covert signals and network data with real-time processing to improve the extraction, identification, analysis, and reporting of enemy tactical information.
The project also seeks to develop algorithms to help identify, collect, process, exploit, and geolocate, and manipulate enemy electronic communications signals in a moderate-to-dense co-channel environment potentially with significant Doppler effects. Proposals should focus on open-architecture solutions with scalable technologies.
The automation of SIGINT is a major goal, and focuses on information extraction; digital signal processing; and automation enhancements. Information extraction takes information from broadband signals to identify signals of interest. Signal processing removes noise and interference. Automation enhancements, meanwhile, use signal processing technologies to automate the manipulation of signals of interest for storage and transmission.
In addition, the project seeks the ability to characterize cognitive software-defined radios from aircraft, ground vehicles, or infantry warfighters.
Total funding for this project is about $100 million, and will be divided among several contractors over about three years. Individual awards will be for about four years and be worth from $250,000 to $4.5 million apiece.
Companies interested should submit white papers by 29 Jan. 2019, by 28 Jan. 2020, and by 26 Jan. 2021. Email unclassified white papers to the Air Force’s Douglas Smith at [email protected].
Submit classified white papers by post to Douglas Smith to AFRL/RIGB, 525 Brooks Road, Rome, N.Y. 13441-4505. For questions or concerns contact Douglas Smith by phone at 315-330-3474, or by email at [email protected].
More information is online at https://www.fbo.gov/spg/USAF/AFMC/AFRLRRS/FA875019S7002/listing.html.
John Keller | Editor
John Keller is editor-in-chief of Military & Aerospace Electronics magazine, which provides extensive coverage and analysis of enabling electronic and optoelectronic technologies in military, space, and commercial aviation applications. A member of the Military & Aerospace Electronics staff since the magazine's founding in 1989, Mr. Keller took over as chief editor in 1995.
