BURLINGTON, Mass., 21 July 2006. BAE Systems has received a contract from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to develop the next generation in wireless tactical network protocols for the U.S. military.
The objective of DARPA's Control-Based Mobile Ad-hoc Network (CBMANET) contract is to research, design, develop, and evaluate a new protocol stack for networks of autonomous mobile communication devices referred to as mobile ad-hoc networks, or MANETs. Within a MANET, each node operates as an end-system and as a router capable of forwarding traffic and forming a network free of any fixed infrastructure.
CBMANET will improve tactical network performance, such as throughput and latency, by an order of magnitude relative to current state-of-the-art practices.
The contract includes a base award worth $7.78 million over 18 months, with the potential of growing to $13.3 million over 30 months, if the option is fully exercised.
The CBMANET program will culminate in field demonstrations at the Fort Dix/Lakehurst Naval Air Station in New Jersey. The Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command San Diego is the contracting agent.
