DoJ, TREASURY SEEK TO DEPLOY SECURE NATIONWIDE LMR SYSTEM
Dept. of Justice (DoJ) and Treasury Dept. are in planning stages of deploying nationwide land mobile radio (LMR) network for use by federal entities, including newly formed Dept. of Homeland Security. Implementation of LMR Integrated Wireless Network (IWN) project will be conducted via joint program office that was created recently by DoJ and Treasury. IRS National Procurement Office, which houses existing federal LMR Subscriber Unit, said govt. “intends to formulate its procurement strategy for the long-term deployment of the IWN in 18-24 months.”
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First phase of project is expected to be deployed in Pacific Northwest region. However, joint program office emphasized that potential vendors must be capable of providing LMR services “anywhere” in U.S. Govt. will pursue competitive bidding for project, but intends to “establish a single indefinite delivery-indefinite quantity contract to provide for the initial deployment of the IWN.” Responsibilities under that contract will include engineering and design as well as training and warranty maintenance.
One feature of planned very high frequency IWN infrastructure will be deployment of security capability known as “over-the-air-rekeying” (OTAR), joint office said. OTAR alters encryption of communications in transit by sending new decoding keys over respective radiofrequency transmission paths, it said. Technology uses remote crypto equipment to change transmission security and traffic encryption keys. Transmission security keys control processes such as frequency hopping and spread spectrum techniques. Traffic encryption keys are used to encrypt and decrypt plain text messages, it said.
Joint program office expects to release formal solicitation for IWN next month. It recommends vendors register in advance with IRS’ LMR Subscriber Unit. Companies currently registered with unit for unrelated LMR projects are Daniels Electronics, Datron World Communications, E.F. Johnson, M/A-Com Private Radio Systems, Motorola U.S. Federal Govt. Markets Div., Thales Communications.