Army chooses Iron Bow to switch-out old SONET and ATM networking with IP-based upgrade

ROCK ISLAND ARSENAL, Ill., 29 April 2016. U.S. Army communications experts are looking to Iron Bow Technologies in Chantilly, Va., to upgrade the Army's old SONET- and ATM-based telecommunications networking equipment in South Korea with modern Internet Protocol (IP) gear.

Officials of the Army Contracting Command in Alexandria, Va., announced a $10.4 million contract to Iron Bow this week to replace the Army's Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) and Synchronous Optical Network (SONET) infrastructure at the Army's Camp Humphreys near Anjeong-ri and Pyeongtaek, South Korea.

Iron Bow experts will replace ATM and SONET equipment at Camp Humphreys with an Internet Protocol (IP)/Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) equipment.

The Army Contracting Command-Alexandria awarded the contract on behalf of the Army Contracting Command at Rock Island Arsenal, Ill.

Iron Bow will integrate the new IP-based telecommunications equipment into the global U.S. Department of Defense Information Systems Network (DoDIN), which is operated and maintained by Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA).

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The DoDIN is the core global enterprise network of the U.S. military, Army officials say. It comprises DOD-owned and -leased telecommunications networks, subsystems, and operations support.

The DoDIN carries transmission of voice, data, imagery, and all video at all security classification levels employing cyber-security measures to address known threats, officials say.

SONET and ATM have been in use since the 1980s, and have been in the process of being replaced by IP-based technologies over the past decade.

On this contract Iron Bow will do the work Chantilly, Va., and should be finished by April 2019. For more information contact Iron Bow Technologies online at www.ironbow.com, or the Army Contracting Command-Rock Island at www.acc.army.mil/contractingcenters/acc_ri.