Raytheon [RTN] subsidiary BBN Technologies said on Dec. 16 that it is participating in the Defense Advanced Research Agency’s (DARPA) Plan X.
Announced in May 2012, Plan X is a five-year, $110 million project to explore the possibilities of cyberwarfare and the capabilities that the Department of Defense would need to succeed on the digital battlefield. Academics, the military services and the private sector have all contributed to what Director Arati Prabhakar has called the “cyber-offense research program.” The agency has since backtracked from promoting the project as creating cyber weapons, but the implication remains apparent in the program’s
mission to “plan for, conduct, and assess cyberwarfare in a manner similar to kinetic warfare.”
Raytheon BBN received a $6 million contract for network mapping and graph analysis technologies. The company’s work will follow the Plan X’s goal of creating integrated systems and interfaces that simplify planning a cyber operation.
“It is a comprehensive program designed to provide easy-to-use cyber operations planning tools to users who may not have a deep background in cyber,” Jack Marin, Raytheon BBN’s vice president for cyber security, said in a statement.
Also on Dec. 16, Raytheon said separately that it is opening a new cyber facility in San Antonio, Texas. The company did not disclose details on the facility, as much of its work is classified, but a spokesperson said the location brings together its San Antonio cyber professionals to work on cybersecurity and intelligence systems.
“We expect this move will provide us the room we need to grow,” said Jack Harrington, vice president of Cybersecurity and Special Missions with Raythoen’s Intelligence, Information and Services business.
San Antonio has been promoting itself as “Cyber City USA.” TASC Inc. opened a cyber lab there in May.