Hanscom team protects vital assets

  • Published
  • By Force Protection Division and 66th Air Base Group Public Affairs
  • Force Protection Division and 66th Air Base Group Public Affairs
HANSCOM AIR FORCE BASE, Mass. --  The Force Protection Division here recently awarded a delivery order for a nuclear weapons storage area effort. This $17.5 million order will ensure the safety of weapons stored at Whiteman AFB, Mo.

According to program officials, the order is considered a "refresh" and involves replacing command and control hardware, area lighting, surveillance and assessment cameras along with other security system components.

"Our program goal is to aid our Airmen in their mission by providing them the best possible security systems designed to deter and, if necessary, thwart unauthorized access to the storage area," said Meghan Rosso, project lead.

The delivery order was awarded under the $495 million Force Protection Security System, or FPS2, multiple award indefinite delivery indefinite quantity contract in support of Headquarters Air Force Security Forces requirements. It is the first in an anticipated series of efforts aimed at modernizing all Air Force weapon storage area electronic security systems in the U.S.

"The work at Whiteman is the first step in the Air Force's steady progression to ensure these critical national assets are appropriately protected," said Pat Dagle, Force Protection Division chief.

In conjunction with the contractor, Sandia National Laboratories will also be supporting this effort. The lab will be assisting Hanscom's program office with engineering and technical services covering areas such as systems design, installation, testing, technology insertion and quality assurance for the upgrades.

For the Whiteman project specifically, Rosso said throughout the past year the team has worked extensively with security forces staffs from Headquarters Air Force, Air Force Global Strike Command, Air Force Security Forces Center and Whiteman's Security Forces Squadron.

"Getting the knowledge from all these personnel helped provide us the groundwork necessary to make this delivery order award happen," she said.

The team also focused on cost savings. Using the Air Force's commercial-off-the-shelf, or COTS, procurement program, the Force Protection Division here at Hanscom worked with various vendors to reduce costs by incorporating previously tested and certified equipment.

"This approach spreads the burden of development costs across many users resulting in lower costs to the Air Force - and ultimately the taxpayer," said Rosso.

And while this work is ongoing, the Whiteman AFB security forces' Remote Targeting and Engagement System is also getting an upgrade. This system consists of remotely-operated weapons to support final denial of malicious intruders.

For the force protection delivery order, the contractor, using a Sandia National Laboratories'-developed and government-furnished systems design, will install, integrate and test a security system that will then need to meet a government acceptance test. After successful government testing, the Force Protection Division will officially turn the new state-of-the-art system over to the 509th SFS at Whiteman. The Hanscom team anticipates turning over the system in the third quarter of fiscal year 2016.

"We all can sleep better at night knowing these valuable national resources are safe," said Dagle.