TAMPA, Fla., 25 May 2006. Fortress Technologies has been selected to provide the security component for the upcoming Coalition Operating Area Surveillance and Targeting System (COASTS) field experimentation program, taking place in Thailand. Led by the Naval Postgraduate School, one of the Department of Defense's institutions for postgraduate education and research, the COASTS program will demonstrate the value of wireless information exchanges to improve situational awareness across tactical, operational, and strategic domains.
The experiment will focus on the flexibility, mobility, durability, and scalability of 802.11 a/b/g and WiMAX wireless networks deployed in rugged terrain under adverse climatic conditions.
"Providing protection to U.S. citizens is not limited strictly within our own borders," says Mr. James Ehlert, COASTS program manager, Naval Postgraduate School. "The United States military must work cooperatively with other nations and our Coalition partners to ensure security at home and abroad. It is essential for us to conduct these types of exercises with our friends and allies in order to strengthen our information-sharing capabilities and techniques. COASTS will help us train, as well as demonstrate the value of technology in support of international counter-drug, counter-terrorism, and counter-insurgency operations. Paramount to the success of these missions is the ability to establish and maintain secure communications."
Fortress is providing its Defense Information Systems Agency's (DISA) Joint Interoperability Test Command (JITC) and FIPS 140-2 certified solutions to secure the deployable wireless networking testbed.
COASTS will present scenarios that require the U.S., Coalition, and Thailand participants to secure and share information wirelessly across multiple RF technologies to assist in the following:
-- Acquiring, integrating, and exchanging relevant activity information for a Joint Operations Area (JOA) - an area of land, sea, or airspace in which a joint force commander is conducting military operations to accomplish a specific mission;
-- Identifying and tracking emerging threats; and
-- Focusing limited surveillance and interdiction assets on most probable targets.
Other government sponsors of the COASTS field experimentation program include:
Thai Sponsors
-- Thai National Security Council
-- Defence Research and Development Office
-- Royal Thai Air Force
-- Interagency Intelligence Fusion Center, Chiang Mai
U.S. Sponsors
-- Office of the Secretary of Defense
-- U.S. Pacific Command Science Advisor
-- USAF Force Protection Battlelab
-- U.S. Coast Guard Monterey Station
-- U.S. Coast Guard Maritime Intelligence Fusion Center
-- NPS Maritime Domain Protection Research Group
-- Joint U.S. Military Advisory Group Thailand
-- Joint Inter Agency Task Force-West
-- U.S. Marine Corps Systems Command
-- Lawrence Livermore National Labs
