CALLING IN MANTECH In an effort to reduce production costs, CSAC transitioned to the U.S. Army Manufacturing Technology (ManTech) Program in 2010.
ManTech, under the deputy assistant
secretary of the Army for research and technology (DASA(R&T)), works closely with the defense industrial base to pro- vide affordable and timely solutions in a low-risk production environment for high-priority Army acquisition projects that face manufacturing challenges.
Upon funding a project, the ManTech office tracks cost, schedule, performance and implementation planning. Tus it enables the efficient transition of these critical technologies to the warfighter on a large scale.
Initiated by DARPA, the CSAC Manu- facturing Technology Objective was jointly funded by the Army, the Air Force GPS Directorate and the Office of the Secretary of Defense. CERDEC served as the lead by managing the program and supporting the technical development, requirements verification and testing.
Trough ManTech, CERDEC worked with three industry vendors to reduce the cost of parts for CSAC to $300 per unit in production lots of 20,000 or more per month.
As interest in CSAC grows across DOD, the U.S. Department of Home- land Security and the Federal Aviation Administration, the ManTech effort may enable mass production of CSAC in thousands of units per month, allow- ing for a significantly lower unit cost for DOD. Additionally, the lower cost could lead to the availability of CSAC in the commercial sector.
PRECISION NAVIGATION AND TIMING
The goal of CERDEC’s PNT Division is complete situational awareness for Soldiers in all circumstances, eliminating their vulnerability to GPS jamming or disruption by environmental conditions. A CSAC on board could provide precise time to the GPS receiver to enable rapid recovery or to protect receivers from interference. (Photo by U.S. Army CERDEC)
In September 2013, the CSAC effort transitioned to the program manager for positioning, navigation and timing (PM PNT), who reports directly to the Army acquisition executive. In support of PM PNT, CERDEC is continuing to look at how to integrate CSAC into various sys- tems as well as mounted and dismounted platforms; how the environment will affect it; and how it could be an asset to various programs of record. CSAC’s con- tinued improvements in power, size and accuracy will
lead to new applications with benefits reaching beyond DOD.
CONCLUSION Te small size, low power consump- tion and low cost of CSAC will enable its use within small devices—handheld radios and GPS receivers, for exam- ple—in which atomic clocks would not have been practical, thereby enabling atomic timing precision for a whole new host of applications. Maintaining accurate time when GPS is not avail- able will be important to the warfighter to maintain communications, network
synchronization, electronic warfare and GPS reacquisition once the GPS signal is available again. Our warfighters will achieve overmatch as a result.
For more information on CERDEC or to contact
army.mil.
MR. JOHN DELCOLLIANO is the PNT Integrated Systems Branch chief in the PNT Division at CERDEC, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland. He holds a B.S. in electrical engineering from the Stevens Institute of Technology. He is Level III certified in engineering and is a member of the Army Acquisition Corps (AAC).
MR. PAUL OLSON is the chief engineer of the PNT Division. He holds an M.S. in electrical engineering from Fairleigh Dick- inson University and a B.S. in electrical and computer engineering from Clarkson University. He is Level III certified in engi- neering and is a member of the AAC.
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ASC.ARMY.MIL 93 the authors, go to www.cerdec.
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
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