WASHINGTON — The US Army is seeking to equip its cyber warriors with cutting-edge networking hardware, and it is going outside the traditional acquisitions system to do it.

The easily transportable "fly-away" kit of hardware and software would travel with the Army's cyber protection teams, whose job involves hunting inside the military's networks for intrusions and fighting off cyber attacks.

The Army issued a presolicitation notice June 19 for the equipment, called a deployable defensive cyberspace operations infrastructure capability, which would provide commanders with tools for "quick reaction, cyber defense reinforcement, and security enhancement capabilities," the notice said.

The kits would interface with Army networks to let the teams, "conduct countermeasures in real-time enabling commanders to take immediate action in the execution of network defense," according to an Army news release.

The cyber protection teams work for the military's geographic commands the world over, and are organized to perform one of five key cyber defensive mission functions: mission protection, discovery and counter infiltration, cyber threat emulation, inspection, and cyber support.

Though the Army has fielded 11 hardware kits for these teams, it is seeking next-generation gear that is smaller and lighter, and better able to ingest and analyze large amounts of data, Army officials said.

The presolicitation is for an industry and innovation challenge meant to take advantage of cutting-edge technology outside the traditional federal acquisition system. The winners of the challenge would provide pilot or prototype equipment for an operational evaluation.

The Army is seeking a response from vendors by July 20. Demonstrations are to be held in August.

If industry offers promising capability, the Army will take a look and determine the next course of action, an Army official said. If a determination to procure is made, then the acquisitions community would manage the effort.

A flexible acquisitions vehicle is being used called an "other transaction agreement." The effort is being led by the Consortium for Command, Control, Communications and Computer Technologies, an entity set up as an alternative for non–traditional and small businesses seeking to enter the federal marketplace.

The Army held an industry and innovation day on May 28 in McLean, Virginia, which brought together representatives of government, industry and academia. The event detailed the top two capability gaps for Army cyber: a commander's situational awareness and defense of the Army's network.

The idea is to use the same model for other cyberspace requirements. An event and call for white papers on cyber situational awareness is set for October.

Email: jgould@defensenews.com

Twitter: @reporterjoe

Joe Gould was the senior Pentagon reporter for Defense News, covering the intersection of national security policy, politics and the defense industry. He had previously served as Congress reporter.

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