ESC program that provides cross-domain searches honored

  • Published
  • By Patty Welsh
  • 66th AIr Base Group Public Affairs
HANSCOM AIR FORCE BASE, Mass. --  An Electronic Systems Center program was recently recognized by the publication C4ISR Journal as part of its Big 25. Editors scan the industry and intelligence community for the technologies and organizations that they believe are "doing the most to defeat terrorists, inform policymakers and empower troops to make the right decisions on the battlefield."

The Cross-Domain Enterprise All-source User Repository, or CENTAUR, program allows users to search, discover and retrieve releasable data across security and coalition domains.

"CENTAUR allows a user to discover data, similar to an internet search engine, like Google," said Bob Stepan, Distributed Common Ground/Surface System cross-domain program manager. "It provides guards which check releasability markings and then allows data to be passed from machine-to-machine in near real-time."

For example, an intelligence analyst working at the secret level might need to view a document or imagery that is located in a top secret domain, but this data is only marked secret. CENTAUR allows this analyst to discover and retrieve the data. Extending this cross domain capability, CENTAUR enables coalition partners to automatically discover and retrieve data on U.S. networks which have appropriate classification and coalition releasability markings, and U.S. analysts to discover and retrieve coalition data.

"It allows personnel to quickly and securely get the information they need for the job they are doing," said Mr. Stepan.

When Libyan operations began earlier this year, a legacy CENTAUR system located at RAF Molesworth, United Kingdom, was quickly made operational to ensure that needed imagery could be retrieved and accessed by coalition partners. At the same time, ESC procured and installed a new CENTAUR at the 66th Military Intelligence Brigade in Darmstadt, Germany, to support future U.S. Africa Command requirements.

The CENTAUR system was also used to provide this cross-domain data sharing capability very successfully during Empire Challenge 11, according to Mr. Stepan.

Empire Challenge serves as a platform for the DCGS and intelligence community to demonstrate and assess capabilities and new technologies for potential implementation.

"All the coalition partners participating in Empire Challenge 11 were able to share data because we provided this capability," he said.

In January 2011, the (DCGS) Multi-Service Execution Team Office awarded a contract to Raytheon for the acquisition and sustainment of CENTAUR systems for the Department of Defense. As part of an initial delivery order, two systems are being fielded to Afghanistan. The first has been delivered to the users and is in the process of integration, while the second system will be installed in early 2012.

There is also a system installed at China Lake Naval Air Station, Calif., to test new sensor data before fielding any upgrades.

The program began in 2009 as part of a coalition effort called MAJIIC, the Multi-sensor Aerospace-ground Joint ISR Interoperability Coalition. The purpose of the effort was for the nine participating NATO nations to be able to share intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance data via a machine-to-machine interface to improve situational awareness.

From there, the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency procured the CENTAUR system for the ISR Task Force and it was also fielded to the 513th Military Intelligence Brigade at Fort Gordon, Ga., where it is currently supporting DCGS-Army fixed-site operations today.

"This has been a true team effort between personnel here at the program office, at NGA, Central Command, the Army and the contractor," said Mr. Stepan. "People have been smart about ways to do things and come up with good ideas."

For the future, as the system provides this capability as an enterprise infrastructure service, the team will be working with NGA, the undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence and others to see where requirements exist and where it makes sense to field capability in order to reduce future procurement and sustainment costs.

"This has been a very fast moving program," said Mr. Stepan. "We awarded the contract in January, participated successfully in Empire Challenge, provided four systems, plus supported an urgent operational need."