Summary: Plus-ups are projects funded by the Federal Government as the result of a non-public request by a member of Congress to add money to an existing program in the budget. Critics, who include both Democrats and Republicans, argue, among other things, that they are nothing more than wasteful “pork” and that they lack transparency and accountability. Advocates, who also include both Democrats and Republicans, argue that plus-ups encourage innovation by circumventing an otherwise sclerotic budgeting process and that they save the Government money by promoting the development of newer, more efficient, more productive processes and technologies with small-to-medium-sized businesses. Facts show that worthy plus-ups, of which there are many, have great value to the nation. For example, for the Army's Common Logistics Operating Environment (CLOE), CLOE-related plus-up commitments of only $9.05 million resulted in $300 million in savings to the Government – over $30 million saved for every $1 million invested. As data volumes continue to grow while available bandwidth remains static, one could reasonably expect even better than 30-to-1 returns from plus-ups that fund advanced technology solutions, such as the Ironhawk SmartSync® DCS Platform™, to the bandwidth problem. Read more.

Summary: Current operations and future operational success using U.S. technological advantages are dependent on bringing data communications to the warfighting edge. The question at hand is: Can the current the networking layer extend data communications to the warfighting edge?

At a recent Aviation Industry Association conference; General James E. Cartwright, Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), spoke extensively about the lack of communications to the warfighter and its impacts. General Cartwright stated that data gathering, computing power, and [storage] capacity is critical in today's fight and how it gives the American warfighter the edge in battle. From a JCS perspective the ability to send data and store data at the edge is now one of the most difficult problems the combatant commanders face from a communications perspective. Thus, the U.S. Military is making significant investments in empowering the Warfighters at the Forward Operating Bases (FOB) and even in combat situations by providing them with the latest intelligence data in form of data, images and video.
Ironhawk Technologies’ SmartSync® DCS Platform™ uniquely integrates Data Compression, Content Management, and Transport Technologies to effectively manage the delivery of mission critical data via narrowband and intermitted communication networks. This white paper highlights the key features and benefits of Ironhawk’s SmartSync® DCS Platform™ technology, its successful deployment in similar situations, and its applicability to the Air Force and Army’s needs. Read more.

Summary: The difficulty of maintaining communication systems at the edge of the network in the AOR (both Iraq and Afghanistan has proven challenging at best. Using airborne networking layer to deliver light mobile data communications to the warfighter would seem to be a reasonable solution. The main issue with the narrowband communication systems in use with warfighters is the tendency for these systems to “time out” and lose the transmission, causing a restart of the original data transmission.

This demands additional person-hours and resources to complete these transmissions. Furthermore, as the planned OEF reinforcements arrive in-theater this situation will only worsen. Ironhawk’s SmartSync® DCS Platform™, which is currently being implemented within the US Army’s tactical business systems, solves this problem and also provides additional benefits not currently under discussion. Read more.