jon@june.cs.washington.edu (Jon Jacky) (06/26/89)
From: jon@june.cs.washington.edu (Jon Jacky) In a story on product announcements at the meeting of the Armed Forces Communications Electronics Association, FEDERAL COMPUTER WEEK (``Army Units get Tactical Computers,'' by Bob Brewin, June 19, 1989, p. 12) reports: Miltope Corp. started initial shipments of equipment for the potentially multibillion dollar Army Tactical Command and Control System (ATCCS) program. ... The (Army) is coming close to finishing its evaluation of bids for the program's key systems integration contract, designed to be a ``system of systems,'' according to Steve Carrier, manager at Planning Research Corp., one of the bidders. Other bidders on that job, valued at about $100 million, include General Electric Co., Hughes Aircraft Co. and McDonnel Douglas Co. The contract ``could be one of the biggest the Army has ever let,'' Carrier predicted. ``The ultimate purpose is to figure out how to let a commander run a war from just one terminal''. Another story (``Vendors to Battle for Upgrade of Air Force System,'' Robert Green, GOVERNMENT COMPUTER NEWS, June 12, 1989, p. 88), reports: The Air Force has received 40 responses to a request for information on a planned upgrade to the Allied Tactical Operations Center in the US command post bunker at Sembach Air Force Base, West Germany. Capt. Timothy Smith of the Combined Air Operations Center (CAOC) said ... ``The long-range goal is to integrate U.S. and NATO battlefield computer systems into a single battle management system.'' A third story (``Defense Watcher Probes Pentagon Technology Ills'', by Fred Reed, FEDERAL COMPUTER WEEK, March 20, 1989) describes an interview with David Isby, author of JANE'S reference book, WEAPONS AND TACTICS OF THE SOVIET ARMY: In Afghanistan .... Isby noted that the Soviets used computerized command centers with templated orders and a hierarchy of connecting units both to superiors and subordinates. ``Obviously it wasn't enough in itself to ensure victory, but they've fielded these systems,'' he said. Jonathan Jacky, University of Washington