Michael Wheeless
Michael Wheeless successfully demonstrated that commercial smartphones and tablets could connect securely from Navy ships to networks back ashore.
The Navy is wrestling with the challenge of securely outfitting its ships with modern IT, and the service has found an ally in Michael Wheeless. The principal systems engineer at mobile communications firm Oceus Networks has managed to engineer a low-latency, high-bandwidth 4G LTE communications system for a Navy ship.
The project, which Wheeless said combined different technologies that "ride a single backbone," demonstrated that commercial smartphones and tablets could work securely at sea. That is no small thing, considering that Navy officials are concerned about the vulnerabilities inherent in having sailors connect to devices while at sea.
But security and ease of access were compatible in this case, and the network connected to a satellite, which "allowed the ship's crew to access whatever sites they needed to," Wheeless said.
He added that many of the project's challenges involved linking with networks ashore. "Some of the hiccups that we ran into were just coordinating with the dry side," he said. That included connecting with the networks of the Defense Information Systems Agency, which is in charge of the Pentagon's IT infrastructure.
The project complied with all the Navy's security specifications and also took advantage of the National Security Agency's Commercial Solutions for Classified Program, Wheeless said.
His work earned him special recognition by the Navy's 7th Fleet commander. Given the service's demand for secure mobile technology, Wheeless might just be getting started.