NAVAL BASE SAN DIEGO–Budget cuts would not only slow the Navy’s effort to introduce open architecture (OA) information technology to the fleet but additionally would harm long-term interoperability, a senior Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command (SPAWAR) official said this week.
The Navy plans to install the cornerstone of its OA program known as the Consolidated Afloat Networks and Enterprise Services (CANES) on ships gradually, with some receiving the technology years ahead of other platforms. But those out years could be stretched further with reduced defense spending, Rob Wolborsky, the chief technology officer at SPAWAR, told Defense Daily on the sidelines of an open architecture forum hosted here recently by the Surface Navy Association.
“The platforms or combat elements with the oldest stuff are going to be so limited that their ability to work together, their ability to perform a mission will be hamstrung because everything has kind of left them behind,” he said. “And then, their ability to interoperate with the platforrms, the elements that have the newest open architecture technology (and) capabilities will be significantly hampered.”
OA envisions using existing technology to produce modular, interoperable systems with open design practices that can be easily upgraded, thereby reducing costs. CANES has been a top priority for the service as it tries to integrate multiple legacy networks responsible for command, control, computers, and intelligence (C4I) into a single, streamlined system.
The consolidations could lower costs and maintenance requirements as the Navy has come to realize it cannot afford operating the legacy networks in their current state over the long term.
Lockheed Martin [LMT] and Northrop Grumman [NOC] are vying for the contract for the first CANES production run. The Navy had planned to select a winner by December, but the fiscal 2011 continuing resolution has likely caused the announcement to slip into early 2012, an industry source said.
The Navy plans to install the first CANES system on a destroyer by the end of 2012. CANES met a key milestone by completing Critical Design Reviews in July.
Meanwhile, Nick Guertin, the director for OA at the deputy assistant secretary of the Navy for research, development, test and evaluation (DASN RDT&E) office, told the conference that industry needs to focus on reducing costs and speeding up the process for getting OA technology to the warfighter. A more efficient process would enhance the international market for OA technology and help defense firms weather the budget crunch in Washington, he said.
“It’s highly likely that we’ll end up with a smaller overall pie,” he said.