Competing for CANES

BAE Systems is part of an industry team competing for a US Navy contract to consolidate dissimilar networks aboard naval ships into a common, secure computing environment.

Under the Consolidated Afloat Networks and Enterprise Services (CANES) programme, commercial off-the-shelf technology will replace legacy command, control, communications, computing, and intelligence (C4I) hardware and software systems unique to each navy ship.

‘The current disparate infrastructure requires a significant budget to maintain and does not provide the network bandwidth necessary for effective C4I operation,’ said John Jarman, vice-president of C3I systems for BAE Systems in San Diego. ‘A unified information-technology infrastructure among the navy’s 300 ships will enable sailors to better share intelligence across different security domains and reduce training costs.’

The team consists of BAE Systems, DRS Technologies and Raytheon. BAE Systems will provide systems integration expertise. Raytheon will furnish systems engineering, information assurance, maritime C4I hardware and electronics packaging, as well as integrated logistics support. DRS Technologies will provide maritime information-technology equipment, isolation hardware and production.

The team will co-locate at the BAE Systems C4I development centre in Point Loma, California. The US Navy is expected to award the CANES contract in December.