Officials from the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) said that the long-awaited $9 billion, multi-vendor Joint Warfighting Cloud Capability (JWCC) contract is set to be awarded by mid-December. JWCC is the successor fo the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure (JEDI) cloud contract that, despite its cool name, was tossed aside back in 2021.
The Pentagon looked ready to proceed back in April, with formal solicitations going out to Amazon Web Services, Microsoft, Google and Oracle. However, they decided to hit pause instead. JWCC is set up for individual task orders that are based on mission-specific requirements.
Sharon Woods, director of DISA’s Hosting and Compute Center, said, “the timeline of the contract is that the unclassified environment will be available 30 days after contract award, Secret is 60 days out per contract award, and then Top Secret is 180 days after contract award. Each of the vendors are in different levels of maturity, and so some vendors need to deliver more quickly than others. But those are the requirements under the contract.”
Contract Opportunities to Watch: Sypris
Sypris Electronics, LLC, a subsidiary of Sypris Solutions, Inc. received a follow-on award from a U.S. DoD prime contractor to manufacture and test embedded circuit card assemblies that will perform certain of the cryptographic functions for the Army Key Management System (AKMS). Production is expected to begin in 2023.
The AKMS is a fielded system that consists of three subsystems: local communications security management software (LCMS), automated communications engineering software (ACES) and the simple key load device. Under the umbrella of our nation’s Electronic Key Management System, the AKMS provides tactical units and sustaining bases with an organic key generation capability and an efficient secure electronic key distribution means.
The embedded circuit card assemblies to be produced by Sypris will perform the cryptographic functions for a ruggedized, portable, hand-held simple key load device that will be used to securely receive, store, and transfer data between compatible cryptographic and communications equipment. The device incorporates features that provide for the streamlined management of communications security key, electronic protection data and signal operation instructions.
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Cleared Opportunities
HawkEye 360 has a planned December launch. Their Cluster 6 next-generation satellites is scheduled to launch during a 13-day window that opens on December 7 aboard the inaugural Rocket Lab Electron flight at Virginia Space’s Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport within NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility. The satellites will enter an inclined orbit to boost revisits over the mid-latitude regions of the globe. This is the first of three dedicated Rocket Lab USA Inc. flights contracted by HawkEye 360.
The launch of Cluster 6 will mean HawkEye 360 will have placed 15 next-generation satellites into orbit within two years. This rapid pace will continue in 2023, with Cluster 7 anticipated to launch in February and Clusters 8 and 9 mid-year. Once Cluster 6 is commissioned, HawkEye 360 will be able to collect RF data as frequently as every hour anywhere in the world. The additional capacity and depth of RF GEOINT data will unlock further applications for customers, especially over high-demand areas.
“We’re proud to be a Virginia-based company, with Virginia-developed technology, launching out of the Virginia spaceport,” said HawkEye 360 CEO, John Serafini. “We selected Rocket Lab because of the flexibility it enables for us to place the satellites into an orbit tailored to benefit our customers. Deploying our satellites on Rocket Lab’s inaugural launch is a giant leap in Virginia’s flourishing space economy.”
