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Technology Stocks : The New QLogic (ANCR) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: janski who wrote (13573)	1/10/1998 5:20:00 PM
From: janski	Respond to of 29386

Ancor's mention: January 12, 1998, Issue: 988 Section: News DOD pushes 'battlefield-aware' networking George Leopold Washington - Networking technology continues to make headway with the U.S. military, as it seeks to implement a "network-centric" battlefield strategy. The Defense Department awarded two contracts last week to BTG Inc., a network-engineering company based in Fairfax, Va., to develop "battlefield-awareness" networks for U.S. commanders. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa) tapped BTG to develop a data-fusion networking system. The second contract was for an Air Force fusion-architecture project. Terms of the contracts were not revealed. Data fusion refers to combining information from various sensors, in a meaningful way, and routing it to the appropriate commander in near-real-time. BTG said that its contract with the Air Force's Rome Laboratories (Rome, N.Y.) is a two-year effort to develop a fusion architecture that will provide commanders with an operational picture of the battlefield. The network also allows information-sharing among all of the military branches. Data presentation The Pentagon "realizes that the problem is not that the commander lacks sufficient data, but that this data needs to be presented as useful information," said Rob Kelly, a BTG vice president heading the development effort. Military planners have been developing data- and sensor-fusion networks for more than a decade with mixed results. The network-centric battlefield seeks to take the strategy a step further by linking many combat elements (see Oct. 13, 1997, page 1) The Darpa battlefield-awareness contract will focus on providing commanders with a broad view of the battlefield, including the disposition of enemy and friendly forces. The goal of the networking effort is to allow commanders to make decisions faster. BTG said it will develop information services and other applications under the Darpa program to give commanders a comprehensive picture of the battlefield. A demonstration of the new capability is scheduled for later this year, the company said. Meanwhile, other networking companies are aiming their data-communications technologies at military applications, including so-called mission-critical applications, in which lives are on the line. For example, Ancor Communications Inc. (Minneapolis) and Litton's Data Systems unit (Agoura Hills, Calif.) said last week that they will join forces to offer Fibre Channel technology to the military. The two are already working to upgrade a Marine Corps mobile command-and-control system, replacing mil-spec equipment with off-the-shelf gear.