29 Jul 10. Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company’s (LMSSC) Advanced Technology Center (ATC) has won a 5-year $7m contract with the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Science & Technology Directorate for the Complex Event Modeling Simulation and Analysis (CEMSA) project. Under the CEMSA contract, SSC will develop a new modeling, simulation and analysis infrastructure that can be integrated with existing DHS systems to provide advanced capabilities to assess, within a short decision window, the interdependencies and cascading effects on Critical Infrastructures and Key Resources (CIKR) when dealing with multiple, concurrent disruptions. The Lockheed Martin tool, called Rapid Analysis of Infrastructure Disruption (RAID), is a new modeling and simulation environment that will be more adaptive than current systems and will allow DHS and national leaders to analyze the impact of multiple disruptions at local, regional and national levels in a time frame required to make effective decisions. Future system requirements will build upon the work of the CEMSA contract. Lockheed Martin will specify, and deliver to DHS, a system design with all associated aspects including hardware and software architecture, interface specification, network throughput, operations concept, model identification process and a model maintenance/updating approach. Lockheed Martin’s deliverables also include a working prototype of the CEMSA system within the first 12 months of the project.
02 Aug 10. Raytheon Company received a contract from the city of Providence, R.I., to strengthen surveillance in its port by integrating chemical-detection sensors into the existing security system. Working with emergency management and environmental agencies, and using cameras and sensors provided by Smith’s Detection, Raytheon’s Integrated Defense Systems (IDS) will install equipment and integrate immediate warning capabilities to alert and protect communities from accidental and intentional chemical hazards. “This detection equipment will improve situational awareness by providing keen insight to critical threats in the Port of Providence,” said Karen Kalil Brown, vice president, National & Theater Security Programs for Raytheon IDS. “The work is part of a Rhode Island initiative called RICOP (Rhode Island Common Operating Picture), which enables decision-makers to evaluate, deter and respond to threats more efficiently.”A network of sensors from the southern entrance of Narragansett Bay to the Port of Providence 25 miles north feeds information into the Providence Emergency Management Agency’s Operations Center, using Raytheon technology called Athena as the common operating picture platform. The Athena technology integrates information from radars and cameras, providing authorities with a picture of events as they are happening. The new sensors will be integrated into this system.
23 Jul 10. India to provide the Seychelles with aircraft and two helicopters. India is to provide the Seychelles with a maritime reconnaissance aircraft and two helicopters as part of a move to expand its strategic reach in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) and to counter the rise of piracy in the region. It will also intensify aerial patrolling of the island nation’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ), Indian Defence Minister A K Antony announced during a two-day visit to the Seychelles that ended on 21 July. (Source: Jane’s, JDW)