Enhancing Awareness
in the maritime domain
Innovative Solutions for a
Challenging New Era
UNITED STATES COAST GUARD
In 1787, Alexander Hamilton envisioned that
"a few armed vessels, judiciously stationed
at the entrances of our ports, might at a small
expense be made useful sentinels of our laws. "
Fast forward a couple of centuries and this
Founding Father would likely be astonished at
the breadth and depth of duties carried out by
today's Coast Guard.
In this challenging new era, the Coast Guard is
faced with balancing unprecedented demands.
While sustaining its many traditional missions,
including search and rescue, today's Coast
Guard must also fulfill expanding missions as
the lead federal agency for maritime
homeland security.
Although maritime homeland security involves
many agencies, this brochure focuses on the
Coast Guard and how General Dynamics'
capabilities and innovative solutions can
support its evolving challenges in the
21st century.
A New Imperative:
Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA)
The maritime domain is vast, involving hundreds of ports,
thousands of commercial and private craft, tens of thousands of
miles of coastline, and millions of shipping containers. And since
the maritime domain is truly global, it also encompasses every
ocean and the peoples and property of many nations.
Despite the seeming enormity of the task, enhanced awareness
of the maritime domain - defined as the effective knowledge of
all activities associated with the global maritime environment
that could impact the security, safety, economy or environment
of the United States or its citizens - has become an increasingly
vital component of the nation's maritime strategy and a
cornerstone of homeland security.
The key to enhancing maritime homeland security, on a local and
global scale, rests in the ability of joint, interagency, and even
coalition forces, to collaboratively collect, fuse, analyze, display
and disseminate information and actionable intelligence to
operational commanders and decision-makers who have access
to data that is appropriately classified.
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Unprecedented Demands
From capabilities that create a comprehensive Common Operating
Picture (COP), enabling a fully distributed and shared understanding
of the "big picture," to capabilities that provide a User Defined
Operational Picture (UDOP), tailoring the delivery of relevant data
based on user need, technology is the ultimate solution to the
nation's escalating MDA demands.
General Dynamics' Capabilities Support the
MDA Challenge
The Coast Guard will increasingly rely on systems integration,
command and control, networking and interoperability, multi-level
information assurance, collaborative decision-making technologies, and
the integration of space-based systems with locally deployed sensor
systems and operational assets. Plus, an understanding of converging
technologies and a high degree of technological innovation.
As a leading developer and integrator of secure communication and
information systems and technology, with a highly successful track
record of deployment and support, General Dynamics has the capability
to innovate and deliver the trusted, core-to-edge solutions that will
enhance MDA for the Coast Guard and the nation.
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Identifying Threats as Early and Distant
from Our Shores as Possible…
Delivering Actionable Intelligence to
Support Effective Decision-Making
Maritime Domain
Technology to the Rescue
The role of the Coast Guard in protecting America against
threats emanating from the maritime domain requires
unprecedented information, intelligence and surveillance
capabilities. Accurate and real-time situational awareness
is vital. And General Dynamics is uniquely positioned to
deliver the innovative technological solutions that will
empower the Coast Guard and other Homeland Security
agencies to meet the full spectrum of 21st century mission
requirements.
Already, through the Rescue 21 system, General Dynamics
is delivering transformational command, control and
communication (C3) technology that is providing the Coast
Guard with increased capacity for search and rescue,
along with advanced capabilities that can be leveraged
for all coastal and internal waterway missions, including
homeland security.
The nationwide coastal communication system was
conceived to replace an antiquated maritime distress
system. However, in a post 9/11 environment, the ability to
know what is happening in the maritime domain and be able
to pass that information across the network to communicate
directly with other law enforcement and rescue agencies
— while simultaneously receiving distress calls — is critical.
Rescue 21 is designed to do all that and more, providing the
Coast Guard with a stronger information backbone for search
and rescue missions, while paving the way for higher levels of
maritime domain awareness in the future.
The system's open "plug and play" design, extensive
geographic footprint and network connectivity make Rescue
21's architecture ideally suited to support emerging homeland
security requirements. For example, Rescue 21 provides
connectivity and communications interoperability across a
broad range of federal, state and local agencies. As a result,
it will play a pivotal role in connecting agencies responding
jointly to emergencies. And the system's ability to interconnect
with virtually any communication system provides the logical
platform for integration with current and future systems,
through technology convergence.
Leveraging Rescue 21 Infrastructure
and Technology
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Rescue 21 provides a common
operational picture to Coast Guard
Sector Command Centers through
its flexible and user-friendly Human
System Interface.
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Proving Lifesaving, Disaster Recovery Potential
In December 2005, the Coast Guard officially placed Rescue 21 into service
in the initial two regions - Atlantic City, N.J. and Eastern Shore, Va. By
this time, the system had already made a lifesaving difference, enabling a
dramatic, 21-minute rescue of three boaters off the Maryland coast.
Months earlier, in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the Disaster
Recovery System (DRS), a component of the Rescue 21 system, restored
vital maritime communications to the stricken region when all means of
terrestrial communication were lost. A fully autonomous, rapidly deployable
emergency communications package, the DRS connects to the CGDN+ via
satellite communications, providing vital voice and data connectivity.
Ultimately, Rescue 21 will connect 270 Coast Guard facilities and cover
95,000 miles of U.S. coastline up to 20 miles offshore.
Rescue 21 will include VHF, UHF and
direction-finding antenna sensors
on 300-plus towers, covering 95,000
miles of U.S. coastline. These
sensors will be fully integrated and
connected by the Coast Guard's Data
Network (CGDN+), making Rescue 21
a logical, network-centric platform
for improving the nation's coastal and
port maritime domain awareness.
Converging
Technologies
Converging
Technologies
The Rescue 21 Disaster Recovery
System (DRS) restored critical maritime
communications to Louisiana's Gulf
Coast following Hurricane Katrina.
Always-On Collaboration,
Fully Integrated Into Operations
Developing a Common Operating Picture
Achieving maritime domain awareness depends upon
unparalleled information sharing. The National Plan to
Achieve MDA calls for establishing a network-centric,
near-real time, dynamically tailorable "virtual information
grid" that can be shared at appropriate security levels
by federal, state, local and international agencies with
maritime responsibilities.
General Dynamics has extensive experience in delivering
state-of-the-art visualization and collaboration systems
that improve situational awareness and advance
information sharing. These systems enable execution
planning across the operational area by fusing various
inputs to achieve the information-sharing synergies
afforded by a user-defined, common relevant operating
picture. For agencies involved in maritime homeland
security, these capabilities would enable comprehensive
monitoring and assessment of vessels, people, cargo,
and areas of interest within the global maritime
environment.
Delivering Actionable Intelligence
Today's decision-makers are faced with increasingly
larger amounts of intelligence input that is enabled by
sophisticated data-mining tools, ranging from sensor
information to anomaly detection. Unfortunately, this
information is normally stovepiped and not effectively
integrated with existing operational systems.
General Dynamics is overcoming this challenge through
its groundbreaking CoMotion® software. By providing
an "always on," dynamic, and "deep" collaborative
environment that crosses artificial, operational and
intelligence boundaries, CoMotion is arming decision-
makers with real-time, actionable intelligence.
Through an intuitive visual interface, CoMotion enables
users to fluidly and interactively share information and
perspectives - in effect, letting others "see what they're
thinking." Unlike existing collaboration tools that are
shallow and static, CoMotion allows users to manipulate
information in various formats, to transfer thoughts and
to jointly evaluate a course of action, supporting quick
and more effective decision-making.
Originally developed under a Defense Advanced Research
Projects Agency (DARPA) contract, CoMotion has been
customized to support a wide range of users. For example,
it has been deployed to support a key command and
control system in Iraq and used in support of Hurricane
Katrina relief efforts. Another variant of CoMotion is
supporting a national, collaborative transportation planning
and validation system, while other versions have been
developed for commercial use. CoMotion's powerful and
field-proven capabilities are now being tailored to meet the
unique requirements of maritime homeland security.
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Keeping users connected, even while
on the go.
The maritime domain is too large for any single agency
to protect. Maritime homeland security must be a shared
and coordinated effort of federal, state and local agencies.
Command centers and assets must be able to talk to one
another and share data in a simple, intuitive and direct
manner if timely coordination and response are to
become a reality.
A global leader in command, control, communications and
networking, General Dynamics has extensive expertise
in designing wireless communication networks that
deliver true on-the-move connectivity through "smart"
networks that can automatically route bandwidth to the
users who need it most. These secure, interoperable
communication networks support all branches of the
U.S. armed services and coalition partners worldwide.
In addition, these networks are being built with open
architectures that can easily integrate with future
systems.
This experience in wireless network design and
implementation and systems integration make
General Dynamics uniquely suited to develop vital
networks and interoperable command, control and
communication solutions for homeland security.
Using our innovative collaborative
tools, the Coast Guard can support
deployed commanders without
an undue burden of information
overload or perceptual clutter.
Our field-proven solutions provide
situational understanding - at
any level of command and on
any operational timeline.
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Technology will help the Coast Guard remain
"Semper Paratus" in all mission areas
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Identifying Threats Through Rapid
Sensory Perception
Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) are
core components of MDA. The Coast Guard and other
agencies must be able to gather data from a wide variety
of sensors and other sources to feed a dynamic and
accurate Common Operational Picture (COP) data set
while enabling User Defined Operational Pictures that
are tailored to task execution.
General Dynamics' world-class ISR systems are designed
to integrate information from terrestrial, maritime, and
spaceborne sensors and display it in comprehensive
pictures for decision-makers around the world - with
speed and precision.
Integrating Space-Based Solutions for
Global MDA
Space-based ISR systems and space-enabled
communication systems are essential tools for achieving
true maritime domain awareness. They provide context,
an early threat evaluation capability and support
comprehensive planning and response.
General Dynamics is also a full-service space systems
integrator, providing end-to-end solutions from ground
to space, core-to-edge. With systems integration
expertise ranging from the design and manufacture of
space vehicles, space payload hardware, and satellite
ground segments, to satellite operations, communications
networks and constellation management, General
Dynamics has the ability to deliver totally protected,
seamless networks and end-to-end space-based
solutions as part of a fully integrated homeland
security solution.
Securing the Network and
Authenticating Users
Developing a COP that is fully distributed among
users with access to data that is appropriately
classified requires restricting the layers of
information available. Data security issues must
be resolved before sensitive information can
be shared with confidence.
As an industry leader in information assurance,
General Dynamics provides a significant percentage
of the cryptographic products deployed by the
U.S. government. General Dynamics' information
assurance and multi-level security-enabled systems
and products are known worldwide for providing the
highest level of assurance possible to the people
who need it the most.
Supplying Innovative Solutions to Power
Command and Control
The Coast Guard's operational commanders and
decision-makers need the flexibility to be mobile at a
moment's notice. And they need ruggedized products
that can withstand any environment, particularly the
harsh maritime environment.
Commercial, industrial and military customers around
the world rely on General Dynamics' comprehensive
and specially packaged commercial and rugged
wireless notebooks, tablet PCs and handheld
computers, as well as thin clients and mobile servers,
network hardware equipment, power subsystems,
peripheral devices, and commercial software for
continuous operation in any environment - even
while on the move.
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Ultimately, converged systems
will deliver an unprecedented
level of MDA and result in a
network-centric system of
C4ISR, enabling the effective
accomplishment of all homeland
missions, core-to-edge.
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Leveraging Expertise
The challenge of MDA is enormous, and is not one that can
be tackled alone. General Dynamics' extensive experience
and longstanding relationships with the Department of
Defense and Intelligence communities can be leveraged to
gain access to classified and restricted technologies that
can be used to support MDA and homeland security.
Leading With Innovation and Trusted
Performance
For decades, General Dynamics' engineers have delivered
innovative solutions designed to meet our customers' most
vital needs. We carry an SEI CMMI® Level 5 maturity rating
for combined systems engineering, software engineering
and supplier sourcing processes. These CMMI Level 5
processes help ensure the high-performance, low-risk
solutions our customers have come to expect.
Ultimately, General Dynamics has the technologies
and capabilities needed to support the Coast Guard's
MDA challenge - today, and in the future. Through
years of working side-by-side with the Coast Guard and
other homeland security agencies, we have gained the
operational insight that will yield effective,
trusted solutions.
Converging Technologies for a Truly
Net-Centric Solution
The nation is in the midst of a massive technological
transformation. This 21st-century transformation includes
the acquisition and development of coastal, deepwater and
other vessel tracking systems that exist in varying stages
of maturity. At General Dynamics, we understand the
importance of converging these major investments into a
synergistic, network-centric solution that ensures seamless
communication, coordination and overall maritime domain
awareness in and around the coastal waters of the U.S.
and beyond.
Through the careful integration of these systems, the Coast
Guard and other agencies involved in homeland security will
gain better force coordination, seamless communication and
a distinct technological advantage in ensuring the security
of the United States.
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Trusted.
Core to Edge.
General Dynamics
www.General Dynamics.com
Copyright 2006 General Dynamics. All rights reserved.
CMMI and Capability Maturity Model Integration are registered in the USPTO by Carnegie Mellon University.
All trademarks indicated as such herein are trademarks of General Dynamics. All other product and service names
are the property of their respective owners. (Circle R) Reg. U.S. Pat & Tm Off.
Selected photos provided courtesy of the United States Coast Guard.
© Copyright 2006 General Dynamics. All rights reserved.
CMMI and Capability Maturity Model Integration are registered in the USPTO by Carnegie Mellon University.
All trademarks indicated as such herein are trademarks of General Dynamics. All other product and service names are the property of
their respective owners. ® Reg. U.S. Pat & Tm Off.
Selected photos provided courtesy of the United States Coast Guard.
Trusted.
Core-to-Edge.
Ready. Aware. Responsive.
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