IT en de defensie-industrie;
een Overzicht van zes bedrijven

Martin Broek

Regelmatig wordt gesteld dat computer bedrijven allen betrokken zijn bij militaire produktie. De daaruit volgende onderzoeksvraag is welke van de volgende 6 bedrijven zijn actief in de militaire sector en hoe?

• Apple
• Compaq/Digital
• Hewlett Packard
• IBM
• Toshiba
• Tulip

Bijlage:

Hieronder volgt een nogal technisch overzicht van berichten over militair gebruik van IT. Aan het eind van dit rapport is een lijst met afkortingen toegevoegd.

Apple

• The equipment combines a high-performance x7-magnification binocular (for daylight use The SPMAGTF(X) has been experimenting with using the Leica VECTOR 1500DAES as a Visual Target only) with a 2.5km-range laser rangefinder and a digital magnetic compass. The Marine can then automatically transmit target co-ordinates to other users via his Leatherneck terminal, which consists of an Apple Newton personal digital computer and an Ericsson handheld radio. (International Defense Review 01/06/97, p. 40)
• The School of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) leads a team that is developing the Wearable Maintenance Assistant under a 36-month contract awarded in April 1995. The project, which additionally involves Stanford University, IBM, Telxon, Apple Computer and Lockheed Martin, draws on CMU's experience with the earlier DARPA-sponsored VuMan 3 that the USMC evaluated for use in tracked-vehicle maintenance. This halved the number of personnel required for a given task, reduced inspection time by 40 per cent, cut post-processing time by 30 per cent, and led to a tenfold reduction in the weight of equipment deployed and the associated paperwork. (IDR 01/11/96, p 1.)
• WebObjects 3.5 Applications worden gebruikt door o.a. het Amerikaanse Ministerie van Defensie (Apple � Media & Analyst Informaton Press Release 08/07/98, van www.apple.com/pr/library/1998/jul/8webobj.html en 21webobj.html)

• Over Compaq zelf is weinig te vinden. Wel maakte Jane�s Intelligence Review bekend dat technici in Iran een Compaq computer cadeau kregen voor het oplossen van natuurkundige problemen m.b.t. geleide raketten en atoom fysica. (More recently, the Iranian Academy of Sciences offered out-of-work Russian physicists with a defence background $300 to $500 per problem (plus a $3,000 Compaq notebook computer) for each `theoretical physics' problem that they solved. These problems related to various aspects of missile guidance and nuclear physics. (Jane�s Intelligence review 01/05/97, p. 232))
• Compaq was met een delegatie van 6 personen aanwezig op de Nederlandse Industriële Inschakeling Defensie opdrachten (NIID) bijeenkomst 22/10/98. (Deelnemerslijst NIID-Symposium 22/10/98.)
• Two firms in the Washington Area will supply the U.S. military with thousands of personnel computers and related equipment and services under new contracts awarded by the U.S. Army. Under the three-year agreements, Intellisys Technology Corp. (ITC) Fairfax Va., will supply Compaq Units, while Government Technology Systems Inc. (GTSI), Chantilly, Va. Will supply Hewlett-Packard Units. (Defense News 29/03/99, p. 17)

• Digital was aanwezig op de Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association bijeenkomst voor bedrijven en militairen die geïnteresseerd zijn in de oorlogsvoering van de 21ste eeuw.(Ravage 14/11/97)
• Digital Equipment was met een uitstalling aanwezig op de Nederlandse Industriële Inschakeling Defensie opdrachten (NIID) bijeenkomst 22/10/98. (Uitnodiging NIID.) Het bedrijf is tevens aangesloten bij het NIID. (zie NIID website).
• Digital zelf geeft een uitgebreid overzicht van defensiegerelateerde activiteiten. Zie Defense Solutions from Compaq CustomSystems op www.digital.com/info/LIWOLD/ en Information Technology for Defense op (�) LIWOEL/ etc.
• Actief op het gebied van militaire IT toepassingen (zie Exhibition Catalogue EuroSatory 1998, p. 127/8).
• Spain's demonstration is of a Spanish Navy-sponsored command, control, communications, computers and Intelligence (C4I) system using web browser technology on inexpensive PCs. There will be four loosely coupled elements, two on ships of the Alfa carrier and Delta amphibious groups, the third in the Madrid naval operations centre, and the fourth at SHAPE, connected via the CWAN and the Spanish SCTM strategic network. The demonstrator is being put together by ISDEFE SA in conjunction with Digital, Oracle, and IBM-Lotus.
• Digital Equipment Company's dual display console, employing COTS technology, has two 19-inch monitors and contains all COTS equipment in a single sub-chassis beneath the desk, housing four standard computer system boxes. All are unmodified commercial units and can be easily replaced. The company supplied consoles to the French Navy for use on nuclear attack vessels. Foto: Digital (IDR 01/01/97, p. 33)
• The Raytheon mission computer uses Digital Alpha processors, while interfaces and software are based on commercial standards. This results in a `plug-and-play' open architecture, Northrop Grumman claims, adding that additional functionalities such as an infrared sensor could be brought on board without any problems.JDW 07/05/97, p. 22)

• HP in Italië maakt militaire standaard procedures en Defensie test/simulatie toepassingen.
• De HP 70000 modular measurement system (MMS) kan worden aangepast voor Luchtvaart, Satelliet, en defensietoepassingen. (Luchtvaart is militair en civiel)
• HP afdeling DSTI maakt logistieke systemen voor laboratoria van het Ministerie van Defensie (VS)
• Hewlett Packard was aanwezig op de Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association bijeenkomst voor bedrijven en militairen die geïnteresseerd zijn in de oorlogsvoering van de 21ste eeuw.(Ravage 14/11/97)
• Hewlett Packard is aangesloten bij het NIID. (zie NIID webpage).
• Test systeem voor (militaire radar) (zie kopie Maritiem Gezien 3, 1990)
• HP organiseerde in September 1997 een bijeenkomst speciaal voor bedrijven werkzaam op de militaire markt: �1997 Defence Electronics Test Forum.� (zie bijgevoegde kopie, brief 19 augustus, 1997) Dit beleid zien we ook terug op hun webpage waar een sectie is voor Luchtvaart en defensie.
• One of Canada's prime functions in JWID 97 is to serve as lead nation for the multinational maritime taskforce. In this context, it will be studying the interoperation of its national Joint Command and Control Information System (JC2IS) with the US Unix-based Global Command and Control System (GCCS). New Zealand, which currently runs its own DOS-based PC-type CIS on internal nets, will also be evaluating GCCS integration, having recently acquired through the Foreign Military Sales programme a number of Hewlett Packard Tac terminals with which to operate the Joint Maritime Command Information System, the naval subset of GCCS. (JDW 25/06/97, p. 25)
• The SENIT 8 variant to be installed on the Norwegian FPCs will be based on the combat management system architecture used on the French Navy's new aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle, using Hewlett Packard processors. According to industry sources, these are already in use in the RNoN inside US-supplied TAC-3 workstations which are on board Oslo-class frigates, and also for trials on some of the Hauk craft, serving as Link 11 datalink terminals. However, a new type of console, including a new human-computer interface (HCI), will be developed, based on both DCN's and Kongsberg's flat panel display multi-function console prototypes, the last of which was unveiled at the Undersea Defence Technology exhibition in Hamburg in June.(IDR 01/08/97, p. 8)
• AMPA uses Hewlett Packard 720 and 745 workstations and servers, run on an HP-UX UNIX operating system. It works with a Normalair Garrett aircraft data-entry unit and employs an ORACLE relational database management system. Pilots are able to plan their missions on an electronic map display, while the system automatically calculates such data as fuel usage and timings. Facilities include automatic route generation; threat exposure assessment; formation flight planning for transit, approach, and target area; weapon delivery profiles; calculation and display of intervisibility plots; and two-(2-D) and three-dimensional (3-D) real-time mission rehearsal. (IDR 01/08/97, p. 53)
• Earlier this year, EDS Defence awarded UK company Lynwood the rugged hardware element of the Harrier Portable Data Preparation Station (PDPS), which is a portable mission planning add-on to AMPA. Lynwood will provide 12 MC60 rugged computer systems with FPR16 rugged flat-panel displays for installation later this year. The MC60 configuration will be based on the Hewlett Packard HP744 VME processor coupled to a 24-bit graphics processor. (IDR 091/08/97, p. 53)
• CAPTION : The Portable Mission Planning Subsystem is part of the AFMSS. The SparcBook 3 laptop computer (left) and Hewlett Packard 320 printer (right) are carried in a dual case for fighter aircraft or a single case for aircraft that do not need to use a travel pod.
• The DCN in France is developing the Systeme d'Exploitation Navale des Informations Tactique (SENIT) 8 combat-management system for the new French nuclear aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle. SENIT 8, using COTS hardware and software, is the latest version of a line of tactical data processing systems that goes back 30 years. The DCN says the main advantages of using COTS equipment are availability, low price, and a continuous improvement in performance. Such equipment includes Hewlett Packard computers, X-Windows or POSIT software, Ada and C++ programming languages, plus Ethernet bus technology. The DCN says the D 103 enhanced Ethernet selected for SENIT 8 avoids costly delays in transferring data between different subsystems. The Calisto consoles in SENIT 8 are also based on COTS hardware.(IDR 01/01/97)
• Since DCG, COTS technology has been widely embraced by the UK Ministry of Defence. The ADAWS (Action Data Automation Weapons System) 2000 for the RN's Landing Platform Dock (Replacement) is being developed by GEC-Marconi. A team led by EDS is developing the Generic Command Support system (CSS). Both make extensive use of COTS. GEC-Marconi decided to opt for an industry standard user interface and looked at a number of options for the system workstations, including ruggedized Sun SPARC, DEC Alpha AXP, and Hewlett Packard HP 9000s; choice of hardware was delayed as long as possible in order to take maximum advantage of RISC processor developments.(IDR 01/01/97)
• EDS recently committed itself to using Hewlett Packard 715 workstations, RISC processors and PD210/250 servers for a number of ship and shore-based applications (RN submarines will receive a proprietary laptop computer, ruggedized by Hewlett Packard). Other ships, such as aircraft carriers, will receive different COTS products, depending on the specific requirements. These will include ruggedized flat panel displays, Mitsubishi 37 inch color monitors and LCD projectors. According to Knowles, EDS considered adopting flat screen displays more widely in Generic CSS, but decided to stick with conventional CRTs until LCD and plasma screen technology had matured. (IDR 01/01/97).
• The UYQ-65 twin-screen workstation display incorporates standard Hewlett Packard PA-RISC processors and runs an industry-standard X-Windows/Motif graphical user interface. The single UYQ-65 workstation replaces the previously separate search, track and passive surveillance consoles. De onderdelen zijn bedoeld voor de modernisering van Braziliaanse fregatten. (JNI 01/09/97)
• Another system has since been experimentally installed aboard the M-frigate HNLMS van Galen, which is on an operational deployment in the Gulf in support of UN maritime inspection operations. There, for training and legal reasons, the ship's crew has continued to rely on UKHO Admiralty (paper) charts as its primary aid. However, a watch officer told JNI that the Hydraut EC has proved invaluable as a planning and warning aid. Post-exercise analysis of the crew's observations on functionality will be used to develop the RNLN's definitive ECDIS system requirement. The system supplied is a standalone unit based on a Hewlett Packard PC, with integrated GPS, but it can also be linked to the ARPA, the action information system and the autopilot unit. (JNI 01/05/97)
• This approach is replicated elsewhere. For instance, Thomson-CSF's NCS France division is developing an ARTTS infrastructure kernel for its TAVITAC NT command system. ARTTS provides an environment by which to port existing TAVITAC applications onto any hardware platform. The first execution - for the Kuwait Naval Forces � will run on CSDefense Calisto consoles and tactical computers based on Hewlett Packard processors. JNI 01/05/97)
• The US Navy's AN/UYQ-70 (Q-70) Advanced Display System exemplifies the trend towards COTS-based tactical display and computing infrastructures. Developed and implemented by an industry team of Lockheed Martin, DRS Technologies and Hughes, variants of the Q-70 family are to be fielded in a variety of real-time critical display system applications in surface, subsurface and airborne platforms. The Q-70 workstation is a ruggedised tactical display and computing node currently based upon the Hewlett Packard 43 processor series, although migration to other processing elements remains open. Likewise, while the Q- 70 today runs under HP-UX or HP-RT, there is already strong interest in exploiting the more powerful capabilities of Windows NT. (JNI 01/05/97)
• EDS�s Command Support System (CSS) solution is based on POSIX-compliant open architecture client/server networks, using industry standards such as X-Windows/Motif graphical user interfaces and SQL database access. The system will be hosted on Hewlett Packard 715 and 725 workstations, with Network control via a Dynatech Dynastar 500 packet-switch controller. (JNI 01/09/96)
• Two firms in the Washington Area will supply the U.S. military with thousands of personnel computers and related equipment and services under new contracts awarded by the U.S. Army. Under the three-year agreements, Intellisys Technology Corp. (ITC) Fairfax Va., will supply Compaq Units, while Government Technology Systems Inc. (GTSI), Chantilly, Va. Will supply Hewlett-Packard Units. (Defense News 29/03/99, p. 17)

• Het meest actuele is de modernisering van de software van de B-1 stealth bommenwerpers.
• IBM staat op de wapenbeurs IDET 99 in Brno, Tsjechië.
• IBM was met een persoon aanwezig op de Nederlandse Industriële Inschakeling Defensie opdrachten (NIID) bijeenkomst 22/10/98. (Deelnemerslijst NIID-Symposium 22/10/98.)
• Het bedrijf wordt o.a. genoemd in de Cataloque of Netherlands defence related industries 1998, p. 108. Zie kopie voor lijst activiteiten.
• Two competing teams have formed for directed energy weapon concept definition contracts, expected to be awarded in mid-April by Phillips laboratory at Kirtland AFB, New Mexico, Phillips is seeking idea�s for high-energy laser systems that could be used by USAF if it decides to pursue lasers as the boost-phase interception solution. (�) The other team of Rockwell, Hughes, United Technologies, E-Systems, IBM, Paramax and parsons may propose a chemical oxide ionizing laser. (JDW 19/02/94, p. 40)
• IBM Aerospace Systems Integration werkt samen met het Britse bedrijf Westland aan de helikopter EH-101 (jane�s defence weekly 13/07/91) De order voor de levering van 44 helikopters was bijna 5 miljard gulden waard.(NRC Handelsblad 03/09/91) Tenders for the prime contractorship were submitted in February 1991 by two teams: Merlin Helicopter Management (comprising British Aerospace and GEC-Marconi); and IBM ASIC, prime contractor for the US Navy's LAMPS III system, with Westland as principal subcontractor. In September 1991, after a fierce industrial battle, it was announced that IBM ASIC (now Lockheed Martin ASIC) had been selected, with a Pds1.5 billion (US$2.35 billion) contract covering the supply of 44 aircraft - with integrated and fully functional mission systems - being signed the following month. (JNI 01/10/96, p. 57). As well as breaking new ground in terms of mission performance, Merlin is also the UK Ministry of Defence's first major prime contract procurement. Following successive takeovers and mergers, Lockheed Martin ASIC is now custodian of the Pds1.5 billion (US$2.35 billion) fixed-price prime contract awarded to IBM ASIC (later Loral ASIC) in October 1991 for the supply of 44 HAS.1 aircraft with fully integrated mission systems. Lockheed Martin ASIC will also furnish full support and training packages to the UK Royal Navy. (JNO 01/10/96, p. 65)
• Spain's demonstration is of a Spanish Navy-sponsored command, control, communications, computers and Intelligence (C4I) system using web browser technology on inexpensive PCs. There will be four loosely coupled elements, two on ships of the Alfa carrier and Delta amphibious groups, the third in the Madrid naval operations centre, and the fourth at SHAPE, connected via the CWAN and the Spanish SCTM strategic network. The demonstrator is being put together by ISDEFE SA in conjunction with Digital, Oracle, and IBM-Lotus.
• Betrokken bij productie vliegtuig speciaal voor ontzetten VS-gijzelaars uit ambassade in Iran, 1980. While the airframes underwent modification, Lockheed set about co-ordinating the rest of the industrial team to bring the project to fruition. IBM of Owego, New York, was to develop the central computer and Texas Instruments to provide the terrain-following/terrain-avoidance radar and a forward-looking infrared (FLIR)/laser ranger system. Together, these avionics would assist crew handling of the formidable landing and take-off trajectories, as well as the aircraft's low-level incursion through Iranian airspace. JDW 05/03/97, p. 18)
• Other aspects of micromachining and applications development involving MEMS have been conducted at hundreds of locations around the world, as even a cursory listing shows: - IBM Almaden Research Center, San Jose, California. (IDR 01/06/97, p 3)
• As originally delivered to the US Navy by prime contractor IBM, the SH-60B LAMPS III mission suite includes a Texas Instruments APS-124 search radar, the Raytheon ALQ-142 electronic support measures (ESM) suite and an IBM UYS-501 acoustic processor. The Block I update introduces two 99-channel ARR-84 sonobuoy receivers, a GPS receiver and the ARC-182 radio. It also integrates the Alliant Techsystems Mk 50 lightweight torpedo and the Kongsberg AGM-119B Penguin Mk 2 Mod 7 anti-ship missile.)JNI 01/09/96, p. 23)
• CelsiusTech began by using an IBM RS/6000 Model 370 workstation in place of the existing consoles in the 9LV MkE3, running a Unix interface module-developed InterMAPhics graphics and a UIM/X dialog manager. The research and development program has moved toward using Pentium Pro PCs with the Windows NT operating system, which was deemed to offer more long-term potential than a Unix-based system. CelsiusTech has been working closely with the Royal Swedish Navy and the Swedish Defence Material Command. The company has also opted for FDDI, Pentium processors and a fiber optic LAN. (IDR 01/01/97, p. 33)
• Computing Devices used IBM commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) voice software to develop a pre-dive checklist for the USN�s SEAL Delivery Vehicle (SDV) MkIII submersible, replacing the traditional manual approach. One PCMCIA card held a 260 Mbyte hard-disk drive containing the DOS/Windows operating system and SDV voice checklist, with another accommodating a wireless modem; the remaining two slots were empty. A single operator, working in a noisy environment, successfully completed the check-out procedure in half the time normally taken by two SEALs and transmitted the report to a remote printer. (IDR 01/11/96, p. 1)
• Over de medewerking aan The fact that it is based on silicon, for which there is a wide production base, is fundamental to the affordability of SiGe/Si (materiaal met lage Infra Rode straling (Stealth toepassingen)).. US computer giant IBM has already begun to use SiGe/Si to produce bipolar transistors, while American university groups (including UCLA and Carnegie Mellon) and Germany's Max Planck institute are also working on optoelectronic applications. However, DRA claims that its systematic studies into the control of the growing process have put it ahead in understanding the new material. Long-wavelength SiGe/Si detectors currently require to be cooled to near 40 Kelvin (-233°C), but DRA is aiming to get the operating temperature up to around 70 Kelvin (-203°C), with a view to cutting logistic costs without diminishing resolution. Robbins says the agency is now looking to talk to systems manufacturers needing large (500x500 pixel) arrays, as might be used for satellite or airborne reconnaissance purposes.(IDR 01/10/96, p. 1)
• The School of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) leads a team that is developing the Wearable Maintenance Assistant under a 36-month contract awarded in April 1995. The project, which additionally involves Stanford University, IBM, Telxon, Apple Computer and Lockheed Martin, draws on CMU's experience with the earlier DARPA-sponsored VuMan 3 that the USMC evaluated for use in tracked-vehicle maintenance. This halved the number of personnel required for a given task, reduced inspection time by 40 per cent, cut post-processing time by 30 per cent, and led to a tenfold reduction in the weight of equipment deployed and the associated paperwork. (IDR 01/11/96, p 1.)
• The AMLCD installed for the evaluation is a ruggedized 16.1in IBM SXGA 256K colour 150cd/m{2} system supplied by Trident Microsystems and supported by ARES interface cards. As well as offering the same viewing area as the existing Barco 19in display, the AMLCD is claimed by Trident to be approximately half the cost of an equivalent CRT, and to offer better vibration and electromagnetic compatibility characteristics.(JNI 01/09/96, p. 37)

• Actief in de ontwikkeling van defensie-electronica. In de wereld het 63 e defensiebedrijf gemeten naar omzet uit defensieproducten. (Defense News, 20-26/7/98, p. 12).
• Japan The Type 91 Kin-SAM MANPADS (draagbare grond-lucht raket), which has been in service since 1991, was developed under the prime contractorship of the Toshiba Corp to meet the requirements of the Japanese Ground Self-Defence Force.(JDW 11/12/96, p. 19)