FBOPUBLIC SOW SQAN 2020 MAY 19.pdf

Contract Extension Statement of Work - SOW

Squad Area Network - SQAN

Date 14 May 2020

Original BAA Problem Statement: The US Army Communications Electronics Research & Development Engineering Center (CERDEC) Space & Terrestrial Communications Directorate (S&TCD) is interested in the design, development and implementation of a soldier wireless communications network for the Squad Area Network (SQAN) program.

Currently squad-level soldiers operating at the tactical edge are limited to hand, spoken voice, and other visual/verbal signals to communicate with fellow squad members.

However, in low visibility conditions (fog, stormy weather conditions, adversarial actions, etc.) and when operating in urban environments where soldiers are separated by walls and different building floors, communications between squad members can break down.

This greatly increases the threat level to individual squad members and can prevent the unit from accomplishing their mission.

To address these issues, the Army is soliciting proposals for developing a low SWaP-C (Size, Weight, and Power & Cost) SQAN radio to enable the dismounted soldier at the tactical edge to communicate with fellow squad members in the adverse environments referred to above where hand and verbal communications are not possible. This SQAN radio should also be able to operate independently of any backhaul.

In addition, our adversaries are continually increasing their expertise in electronic and cyber warfare capabilities, resulting in more contested operational environments. The Army will therefore need to be able to innovate and field communications systems, even at the squad level, that will combat this growing threat to our ability to execute missions in congested and contested environments.

The Future Army must:

Acquire the capability for squad members to securely communicate with a low probability of detection and low probability of intercept (LPI/LPD). This capability currently does not exist in the Army at the dismounted tactical edge.

Possess the capability for soldiers in a squad to securely communicate in a contested electromagnetic environment at the dismounted tactical edge. This capability currently does not exist.

For ease of interaction with the higher echelon network, the envisioned SQAN must be compatible with the future Army PACE (Primary, Alternate, Contingency & Emergency) automated network selection system.

Information Sought: S&TCD is interested in wireless technology to meet current Army requirements. SQAN will provide a small, low power, mesh network to support intra-squad communications independent of any backhaul. This will provide for wireless communication including data transfer and voice between soldiers within a squad. The envisioned SQAN must be capable of operating in benign, heavily contested and congested RF environments. The SQAN must also be resistant to spoofing attacks.

In this contract extension SOW S&TCD engineers will work with the Offeror so that measurable verification and validation (V&V) can be demonstrated by the Offeror that the SQAN radio meets the Army’s sought after key capabilities, as enumerated below.

Benign is defined as, but not limited to, operating in areas where the only limits to spectrum access is due to normal civil authority and military usage.

Contested is defined as, but not limited to, adversarial and non-adversarial attempts to degrade/deny access to spectrum.

Congested is defined as, but not limited to, spectrum restrictions due to host nation, civil authority, high military demand (CONUS and OCONUS) and terrain challenges (mountainous, foliated and urban).

Spoofing is the deliberate transmission of spurious radio signals intended to disrupt legitimate RF signaling.

A squad is defined as 9-10 soldiers operating at the tactical edge in an area no greater than 100 - 300 meters in diameter. Specific soldiers in a squad may vary due to changing battlefield conditions.

Key Capabilities: The key capabilities in which a respondent should focus for the development of a product and/or solution for SQAN BAA Topic #S1803 include, but are not limited to:

NOTE: Original BAA’s key capabilities are identified by the major bullet points while the V&V demonstratables are identified by the minor or sub-bullets.

Low Probability of Interception/Detection (LPI/LPD) as referenced above o V&V of LPI/LPD capability is demonstrated through electronic warfare (EW) enhancements to ensure interoperability with SQAN stakeholder systems Adequate bandwidth (BW) to pass voice (push-to-talk - PTT) and data traffic comprising but not limited to; situational awareness (SA), position/location information (PLI), still images and video o The PTT button on the squad radio should be adaptive; it will normally be mounted on radio but it should also be able to be able to be mounted on the SM’s weapon or somewhere on their person, depending on the squad’s particular mission.

o Ability to pass PLI demonstrated by a visual indicator on device o V&V of sufficient BW demonstrated by visual indicator of network availability

(this can be similar to a cellphone’s bars) Ability to operate in high-usage spectrum environments (Spectrum Agility) o V&V can be demonstrated by how well the radio reuses available spectrum.

Metric used for this can be the capability to operate without performance degradation at the standard Infantry Brigade Combat Team (IBCT) separation distances to with scalability of BAN/SQAN networks to very large size formations.

o Demonstrate and validate scalability from squad to platoon size networks in various environment such as but not limited to urban, foliage, etc.

Resistance to adversarial or situational RF interference (i.e. jamming – ‘AJ’) o V&V of resistance to adversarial jamming can be demonstrated, again, through EW enhancements to insure interoperability with SQAN stakeholder systems

Resistance to spoofing attacks Encrypted transmissions without resort to backhaul for authentication o V&V can be accomplished by encryption key management strategy demonstration

Support for data security at the SBU/FOUO level of classification o Ability for the radio to support communications security (COMSEC) Advanced

Encryption Standards (AES) 256 and for the device to easily transition to higher classification levels (e.g. Information Assurance (IA)/COMSEC Secret) would serve to demonstrate adequate support for data security.

Should support and must easily interface with other Army non-traditional waveform (NTW) products (e.g. Distributed Beamforming) o V&V can be demonstrated by the SQAN radio network’s capability to Interface with NTW products such as Distributed Beamforming.

Proposed solution should be able to transition to a small form-factor (e.g. smart phone size) o V&V can be demonstrated by the radio’s transition to a smaller form factor in which the design is compliant with environmental requirements in accordance with MIL-STD 861 testing procedures

Operating frequencies must support relevant regulatory frequency allocations. (e.g.

NTIA - National Telecommunications and Information Administration - compliancy)

Proposed solution should address Army SWAP-C (Size, Weight, Power, and Cost) considerations

V&V can be demonstrated by the radio’s design to address SWAP-C to be compliant to environmental requirements in accordance with MIL-STD 861 testing procedures

Interoperability/Integration/Demonstration:

o V&V demonstrated by ability to pass Radio Over Internet Protocol

(ROIP)/voice/data communications with stakeholder systems o Demonstrate the ability for the radio network to be easily managed and configured both in garrison and in the field for successful integration o Demonstrate/validate network/ radio status messages through stakeholder end user devices (EUD) o Demonstrate/validate available battery power via the display o Demonstrate/validate visual indicator for the PLI (Position-Location-

Information) information the SQAN radio transmits automatically

Although the automated PACE (Primary Alternative Contingent Emergency) interface has not yet been defined, the expectation is that connected radios will need to provide link status (both push and pull) via a secure wireless or wired connection to a smartphone, tablet, or other hardware device.