“Today, we cut the ribbon, signaling the end of years of hard work in planning and coordination. But now, the real work begins,” said Capt. Nicole Nigro, Naval Information Warfare Center (NIWC) Atlantic Commanding Officer during her remarks at the ribbon cutting ceremony Jan. 25 for NIWC Atlantic’s new Network Integration and Engineering Facility (NIEF) Consolidated Afloat Networks and Enterprise Services (CANES) Laboratory on Naval Station Norfolk.
“This event celebrates the opening of the NIEF Atlantic Lab of the Future - a Navy asset aligned to our Navy priorities: ‘Warfighting, Warfighters, and the Foundation that supports them,’” said Capt. Catherine Boehme, Program Manager Tactical Networks Program Office (PMW 160), Program Executive Office Command, Control, Communications, Computers and Intelligence (PEO C4I).
The NIEF Atlantic Lab of the Future is the newest addition to NIWC Atlantic’s Tactical Networks (TACNET) Deployment Integrated Product Team (IPT) labs, which primarily supports NIEF Atlantic and provides direct access and support for the Consolidated Afloat Networks and Enterprise Services (CANES) Integrated Logistics Support (ILS) and Training, the Atlantic CANES TACNET Capability-Based In-Service Engineering Activity (CB-ISEA) team and CANES engineering teams.
“The capacity of this space, the connectivity that is planned, the collaboration that is enabled, will all contribute to the unprecedented speed of delivery of this critical [CANES] shipset with the greatest pedigree we have been able to achieve. This world-class team in these world-class facilities will expand the delivery of world-class warfighting capability,” said Boehme.
CANES is the Program of Record (POR) system fielded on U.S. Navy ships, submarines and shore sites and gives warfighters a single system with multiple critical secure and nonsecure enclaves in a scalable network system capable of intra-ship and off-ship internet protocol-based capability. That capability includes network services such as email and web browsing, as well as hosting multiple unclassified and classified administrative, supply and warfighting capabilities, applications and connected systems.
“This lab will ensure we are better positioned to provide access to CANES systems that are pre-loaded for training and Integrated Logistics Support (ILS) documentation, validation and updates to technical manuals, maintenance requirements, and engineering development and sustainment,” said Nigro.
NIEF Atlantic was established in March 2018 and transitioned CANES and Operation Rolling Tide (ORT) Pre-installation, Testing and Check-Out (PITCO) activities from a leased commercial facility to its current location on Naval Station Norfolk. To meet the fiscal year 2018 – 2021 projected workload, NIEF Atlantic was allocated three labs, along with the software sustainment activity. that could support pre-loading CANES at the NIEF.
“This location will foster more rapid exchanges with the fleet by increasing overall exposure to technologies, experimentation and concepts of employment prototyping, and testing,” said Nigro.
Originally, additional secure space and power upgrades were completed in these labs to support increasing CANES installations, yet the supplemental space was required to perform efficient, streamlined PITCO operations. To meet that need, another lab was assigned to accommodate storage, de-militarization of de-installed TACNET systems, and serve as a technical refresh component and kitting area.
Successful CANES installations increased demand, as did the addition of a number of Ship Conversion, Navy (SCN) New Construction ship classes, such as destroyers (DDG), landing platform dock (LPD), landing helicopter assault (LHA) and nuclear aircraft carriers (CVN). Subsequently, a design for the new lab, which was to become the NIEF Lab of the Future, was developed and funded by NIWC Atlantic, then engineered, constructed and completed by Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command (NAVFAC) at the end of fiscal year 2023.
“I view this capability as a lab, plain and simple, that is connected to the rest of the NIWC Atlantic and Naval R&D [research and development] establishment technical and lab infrastructure, so that we, as a greater team, can advance innovative solutions for our warfighters,” said Nigro.
The completion of the new NIEF lab is timely. Since the effort started, CANES has added five new ship classes and platforms to the POR, with seven more expected to be added soon." The new lab will support the additional capacity and provide efficiencies to preparing systems for increasingly challenging shipyard schedules.
“As we look forward, this team, through this facility, will contribute to delivering warfighting capability, delivering decisive combat power to the fleet,” said Boehme.
NIEF Atlantic now consists of six laboratories, with the newest lab significantly improving CANES integration and engineering capability in a secure space. These labs increase capacity for initial system builds and technical refreshes, full system testing and configurations, application integration, and Sailor and stakeholder hands-on familiarization.
“For the warfighter, our teams research, develop, integrate and sustain the latest C4ISR [command, control, communications, computers (C4) intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR)] technologies on every U.S. Navy ship, submarine and shore site. The NIWC Atlantic NIEF Lab of the Future is the newest addition to the command tools and resources for our Tactical Networks Deployment IPT and will provide this team with the functional flexibility to facilitate their day-to-day operations in support of the Consolidated Afloat Networks and Enterprise Services program including logistics, training, ISEA and engineering,” said Christopher Purdy, NIWC Atlantic Navy Afloat Network and C2 Apps Division Head.
The addition of the new lab also allows NIEF Atlantic to conduct multiple simultaneous CANES shipset pre-installation tasks. The new lab’s flexible design supports hardware post-production modifications with workspace software pre-load, application integration, and the current power requirement for all current CANES hardware levels. The lab also features a sound-proof room for technicians and Sailors to configure CANES and collaborate, and includes technical benches for ILS, hardware, software and associated troubleshooting repair and replacement. Directly across the hall from the new lab is an administrative space designed for hardware and software government and contractor collaboration and team building.
“This effort took many key players and teammates to accomplish the work, and in the planning and execution, touched many aspects of our organization to make possible,” said Mr. Peter Reddy, NIWC Atlantic Executive Director. “We’re grateful for the outcome, because we know this end result is further enabling critical naval integration and support to the warfighter.”
NIEF Atlantic is now better positioned to provide access to CANES systems that are pre-loaded for training and ILS documentation, validation and updates to technical manuals, maintenance requirements, and engineering development and sustainment. Additionally, access for external stakeholders such as Regional Maintenance Centers (RMC), Fleet Support Engineering Technicians (FSET), CB-ISEA, hosted and connected applications, cyber teams, Navy Type Commands (TYCOMs) and fleet Sailors is expanded with the additional lab space.
“The operations of this NIEF further support our Navy’s foundation, through fielding and maintaining tactical network capability and capacity, and underpinning the warfighting readiness of the world’s most powerful Navy,” said Boehme.
About NIWC Atlantic
As a part of Naval Information Warfare Systems Command, NIWC Atlantic provides systems engineering and acquisition to deliver information warfare capabilities to the naval, joint and national warfighter through the acquisition, development, integration, production, test, deployment, and sustainment of interoperable command, control, communications, computer, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance, cyber and information technology capabilities.