BAE gets DARPA mobile network research project

BAE Systems Inc. will develop a secure mobile military communications network designed to protect against cyberattacks, under an $8.5 million contract from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.

The contract was awarded through DARPA's Intrinsically Assurable Mobile Ad hoc Network program, which targets the security challenges of mobile ad hoc networks. Those networks are susceptible to passive analysis and manipulation by adversaries.

The company will develop and test network protocols that support the integrity, availability, reliability, confidentiality and safety of network communications and data.

"Cybersecurity presents a major operational challenge, precisely when our services are becoming increasingly dependent on seamless access to tactical information," Dr. Nils Sandell Jr., vice president and general manager of advanced information technologies at BAE Systems, said in a news release.

The technology will immunize networks against traditional cyberattacks such as protocol exploits, denial of service and propagation of worms. BAE Systems leads a research team to develop a system that combines recent advances in identity-based encryption, network coding, dynamic access control and resilient distributed services.

The team consists of the California Institute of Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of Massachusetts, Stanford University, University of Texas and Alcatel-Lucent Bell Labs.

BAE Systems will perform the contract work at its facilities in Burlington, Mass., and Arlington, Va.

BAE, of Rockville, Md., ranks No. 15 on Washington Technology's 2007 Top 100 list of the largest federal government prime contractors.