The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) recently said it has awarded Lockheed Martin [LMT] a $10.8 million contract to move into Phase II-B of development of the National Cyber Range (NCR).
According to DARPA’s NCR web site, Phase II-B will involve operation and beta testing of the prototype range, enhancing existing software tools to ensure that the range hardware and software are stable and to allow for a seamless transition. The phase will also include the development of a business model for sustainable range operation beyond fiscal year 2012 and to transition the range and associated technologies to U.S. Cyber Command and other government organizations.
In January 2010, DARPA awarded Johns Hopkins Univ. Applied Research Laboratory and Lockheed Martin each contracts to move into Phase II of the NCR development.
Moving forward, Lockheed Martin is the sole contractor working on the NCR, DARPA said in response to questions.
The NCR is meant to provide a capability for the Defense Department and other federal agencies to emulate secure, large-scale complex networks to allow realistic testing and evaluation of new cyber space concepts, policies and technologies. DARPA says the NCR should provide between five and 10 times reduction in the time and cost to test and evaluate new cyber tools while improving confidence in the performance of these tools. Cyber threats can be introduced to the range for testing without compromising the range, the agency says.