ATCO...Military communications conference wraps up 15th year in San Diego
Thu Feb 3, 9:05 PM ET Local - San Diego Daily Transcript
Technology industry executives and engineers mingled with military officials at the San Diego Convention Center this week for "West 2005," an annual communications conference sponsored by AFCEA International and the U.S. Naval Institute.
The convention wrapped up its 15th year in San Diego on Thursday after three days of technology exhibitions, guest speakers and panel discussions on the future of military communications. Between 6,000 and 7,000 people attended the event, which featured 400 technology companies exhibiting their latest communications solutions. Exhibitors included 42 companies with headquarters or a presence in San Diego.
Defense conferences are especially valuable to technology vendors, particularly smaller companies, who often struggle to gain entrance to the maze of defense acquisition. While the Defense Department's official process for developing and buying equipment can take years, the showcase gives military leaders quick access to technologies that they may not be aware of and that, more importantly, are already developed and easily plugged into existing equipment.
Exhibitors showcasing their wares this week were pleased to find a higher than usual presence of active-duty military officers in attendance, according to AFCEA spokeswoman Tobey Jackson.
She said conference organizers made a concerted effort to reach out to military bases and commands in the region by taking advantage of the Defense Department's message traffic system accessible through public affairs. The system enables messages to be sent directly to sailors and Marines in the field and at sea, who may not otherwise have access to direct mail and conventional conference marketing materials.
Among the companies exhibiting were some of San Diego's largest defense contractors, including Cubic Corp. (Amex: CUB), General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Titan Corp. (NYSE: TTN - news) and Science Applications International Corp.
Cubic unveiled variants of its next-generation tactical common data link, which was recently selected for the United Kingdom's Watchkeeper unmanned aerial vehicle program for reconnaissance missions. The technology builds on Cubic's data link technology originally developed for the Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System, or JSTARS, which was built on a modified Boeing 707 for long-range air-to-ground surveillance.
The company's new products -- including a man-portable data link and a "FORCEnet" enabled signals intelligence package -- are designed to support air-to-ground communications of radar, imagery and sensor information between manned, unmanned, ground station and shipboard platforms.
As envisioned, the Navy's FORCEnet program would use Internet Protocol-based "open" architecture that enables warfighters to post and extract data from a Web-like service automatically and in real-time. The concept is also known as "plug-n-fight," which describes the ability of forces to upload data or software to a weapon system or operational planning tool en route to a battle zone.
Other San Diego companies exhibiting include Advanced Digital Logic, Maxim Systems, Akonix Inc., American Technology Corp. (Nasdaq: ATCO), Applied Marine Technology Inc., Z MicroSystems and ViaSat (Nasdaq: VSAT).
A string of notable speakers, including Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Vernon Clark and Pentagon (news - web sites) Chief Information Officer Linton Wells, attempted to answer a question prompted by the conference theme: "Beyond Iraq (news - web sites): How Do We Get Transformation Right?"
Transformation refers to DOD's ongoing effort to develop more agile, lighter and more mobile forces and equipment to better handle contingency operations that emerge quickly. |
