The Army's new approach to cyber

WHAT: A sources-sought notice to help the Army build capabilities into its new Cyber Battle Lab.

WHY: The Army has begun concentrating more resources at its command at Fort Gordon, Ga., where it established a cyber-specific branch about two months ago, and now it wants to bolster its cyberspace capabilities by broadening the technological research areas at a forthcoming Cyber Battle Lab.

On Oct. 16, the Army Contracting Command released a sources-sought notice and a draft of a performance work statement to help it move beyond network-focused experimentation "to support all areas of cyber electromagnetic activities," including cyberspace operations, electronic warfare and spectrum management operations.

The Cyber Battle Lab, which the Army says will be ready in October 2015 and will replace the Network Battle Lab, exemplifies this new multifaceted approach to cyber and electronic warfare. A future contractor's work for the Cyber Battle Lab would include systems engineering, satellite support, information assurance, model development and "distributed simulation network operations," among other tasks, according to the draft performance work statement.

The Army is not seeking a specific technology but is instead trying to hone an acquisition strategy based on the technology that is available. "The information from this market research is for planning purposes only and will assist the government in planning its acquisition strategy," the notice states.

Interested companies should send an email pitch to shannon.l.mccauley3.civ@mail.mil by 9 a.m. ET on Oct. 31.

Click here for more information.