Herman Hum
05 Jan 07, 19:51
GD Offers ‘Soup-to-Nuts’ Data Model to U.S. Navy
By MARK A. KELLNER
DefenseNews (http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?F=2464219&C=america)
General Dynamics on Jan. 5 said it would deliver an “open data model” for its Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) to the U.S. Navy’s Software Hardware Asset Reuse Enterprise (SHARE) Repository, an online library of government-rights software.
“We’re giving [the Navy] the whole system, from soup to nuts,” said Kendell Pease, a General Dynamics spokesman. “This is the first time we’re turning over the whole system, the whole data model, where in the past we’ve seen portions or parts thereof.”
Lou Von Thaer, president of the firm’s Advanced Information Systems unit, said, “I believe this is a living model that will be built on by the broader naval community. It can address new technologies, sensors, etc., should facilitate the use of open architecture in the Navy.”
According to an announcement from the firm, the LCS open data model will promote “innovation and competition” in naval combat system development: “By using the open data model, any company’s products can be integrated into the General Dynamics LCS quickly and efficiently. This feature allows the General Dynamics LCS Core Mission System team to select from the best-available, most cost-effective capabilities that industry has to offer, both during the initial design and throughout the lifecycle of the system.”
Von Thaer noted that “anyone who has technology that fits our interface can compete for the hardware. The market can deliver these capabilities without having to have contracts with us.”
SHARE, however, is designed to go farther, allowing the Navy to reuse technology it had already paid for, possibly in other projects and programs. The library, which contains classified and unclassified material, “opened” in autumn 2006 with two items: portions of the Aegis combat system software and the Ship Self-Defense System.
“If one program in the Navy buys the rights, develops something, and you want to be able to re-use that application across other ships or platforms, we should only buy it once,” Capt. James Shannon, Open Architecture program manager for the Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) in Washington, told Defense News in the fall. “We don’t want people turning around and selling to us some new thing when 90 percent of it is government-owned and 10 percent is their investment.”
In November, Adm. Mike Mullen, chief of naval operations, declared his support for an open architecture approach: “As Aegis expands to open architecture, it will be introduced throughout our fleet. … When I say open, I mean open systems, open competition and open the throttle. I want to move as fast as we can.”
By MARK A. KELLNER
DefenseNews (http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?F=2464219&C=america)
General Dynamics on Jan. 5 said it would deliver an “open data model” for its Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) to the U.S. Navy’s Software Hardware Asset Reuse Enterprise (SHARE) Repository, an online library of government-rights software.
“We’re giving [the Navy] the whole system, from soup to nuts,” said Kendell Pease, a General Dynamics spokesman. “This is the first time we’re turning over the whole system, the whole data model, where in the past we’ve seen portions or parts thereof.”
Lou Von Thaer, president of the firm’s Advanced Information Systems unit, said, “I believe this is a living model that will be built on by the broader naval community. It can address new technologies, sensors, etc., should facilitate the use of open architecture in the Navy.”
According to an announcement from the firm, the LCS open data model will promote “innovation and competition” in naval combat system development: “By using the open data model, any company’s products can be integrated into the General Dynamics LCS quickly and efficiently. This feature allows the General Dynamics LCS Core Mission System team to select from the best-available, most cost-effective capabilities that industry has to offer, both during the initial design and throughout the lifecycle of the system.”
Von Thaer noted that “anyone who has technology that fits our interface can compete for the hardware. The market can deliver these capabilities without having to have contracts with us.”
SHARE, however, is designed to go farther, allowing the Navy to reuse technology it had already paid for, possibly in other projects and programs. The library, which contains classified and unclassified material, “opened” in autumn 2006 with two items: portions of the Aegis combat system software and the Ship Self-Defense System.
“If one program in the Navy buys the rights, develops something, and you want to be able to re-use that application across other ships or platforms, we should only buy it once,” Capt. James Shannon, Open Architecture program manager for the Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) in Washington, told Defense News in the fall. “We don’t want people turning around and selling to us some new thing when 90 percent of it is government-owned and 10 percent is their investment.”
In November, Adm. Mike Mullen, chief of naval operations, declared his support for an open architecture approach: “As Aegis expands to open architecture, it will be introduced throughout our fleet. … When I say open, I mean open systems, open competition and open the throttle. I want to move as fast as we can.”