The Navy’s Tactical Networks Program Office (PMW 160) developed an inventive contract with industry that will benefit from private-sector expertise to influence the design of the Navy’s premier afloat network.

PMW 160, which is a part of the Program Executive Office Command, Control, Communications, Computers and Intelligence (PEO C4I), recently awarded the Consolidated Afloat Networks and Enterprise Services (CANES) Baseline Analysis of Alternates Services (BAAS) contract to Lockheed Martin. CANES is the Navy’s afloat Information Warfare Platform on ships and submarines. It uses commercial information technology (IT), networking hardware and core services software to deliver cyber-resilient, assured networking.   

BAAS, at its essence, enables an efficient broad-spectrum comparison across commercial off-the-shelf products and services to ensure the Navy gets what it needs for the best value. Through the new contracted effort, PMW 160 and Lockheed Martin will work together on CANES engineering design activities to perform market research, cost analysis, design descriptions and product evaluations to field network capabilities to the fleet faster and more affordably.

“The team was looking for a way to accelerate our engineering efforts and leverage Industry expertise,” said Capt. Kurt Rothenhaus, program manager, PMW 160. Rothenhaus noted, “One of our engineers, working with our contracts specialist, came up with this truly innovative approach in the BAAS to deliver commercial IT to the fleet.”

The program office and larger Navy derive three major benefits from contracting the BAAS work.

Bob Bradley, PMW 160’s chief management officer, said, “First, we partner with industry, leveraging their expertise in areas in which they do well. Second, we have the ability to conduct broad-spectrum continuous market research and predicative obsolescence management. Third, we streamline processes and reduce delivery timelines which will enable us to improve speed to capability.”

Amy Rickey, CANES production specialist, PMW 160, added, “The government often looks to industry for technical innovation. Our job was to find innovative ways to use industry’s expertise to deliver warfighting capability, and the BAAS contract accomplishes that goal.”

Program Executive Office Command, Control, Communications, Computers and Intelligence (PEO C4I) provides integrated communication and information technology systems that enable information warfare and command and control of maritime forces. PEO C4I acquires, fields and supports C4I systems which extend across Navy, joint and coalition platforms. More information can be found at http://www.public.navy.mil/spawar/PEOC4I/Pages/default.aspx

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