The Tactical Assault Kit (TAK)—a mapping system with a plugin architecture—has seen similar success across the Department of Defense (DoD) and Department of Homeland Security (DHS), where operators must routinely execute missions in spectrum denied environments.
Three iterations of TAK are of interest: ATAK (Android OS), WinTAK (Microsoft Windows OS), and WebTAK (web browser based). At present, ATAK has over 40,000 DoD users. Past demonstrations of the ATAK system includes the proven ability to promulgate situational awareness in network permissive environments and the ability to effectively and efficiently collaborate and allocate resources and personnel critical to the mission.
The Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) aims to leverage TAK for enhanced CBRNE situational awareness with the goal of protecting military and civilian populations from intentional or incidental chemical or biological threats and Toxic Industrial Chemicals/Materials (TIC/TIM) hazards.
Under a Broad Agency Announcement from the Joint Science and Technology Office (JSTO) Digital Battlespace Management Division, DTRA will fund development of ATAK, WinTAK, and WebTAK compatible versions of existing decision support tools for chemical and biological warning and reporting, hazard prediction, and consequence assessment.
Proposals should leverage existing tools, DoD or otherwise, implement an agile development approach with multiple releases, and deliver a final product running in multiple TAK architectures within 12 months of award.
Successful efforts will provide:
- Software that is fully documented and easy to access, modify, and extend (modular)
- Application with a robust data management approach, supporting easy retrieval/sending of updated data sources in a connected state and efficient storage of necessary data, on the device, for use during disconnected operations.
- Software that is able to comply with DoD standards for authorization to operate
- Software that is tested and verified
- User Interface Designs that consider the warfighter (e.g., impact of PPE, voice activation)
Additional details are available via Solicitation Number: HDTRA1-19-S-0005 BAA Call CBI-01. The proposal submission deadline is June 24, 2019 at 2:00pm EDT.
Additional References:
Department of Defense. (2004). Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear Defense Program: Report to Congress. Washington, D. C.: DoD.
Department of Defense. (2008). DoD CBRN Defense: Doctrine, Training, Leadership, and Education Strategic Plan. Washington, D. C.: CBDP.
Department of Defense. (2018). Joint Electronic Library. Washington, D.C.: DoD. Accessed at: http://www.jcs.mil/Doctrine/
Joint Acquisition CBRNE Knowledge System (2018). JACKS: News and Application Console. Retrieved from JACKS: https://pki.jacks.jpeocbd.army.mil
Joint Publication 3-41, CBRNE Response Joint publication 3-11, Operations in CBRNE Environments Low, Cherlynn. What do made for AI processors really do? (2017) Accessed at: https://www.engadget.com/2017/12/15/ai-processor-cpu-explainer-bionic-neural-npu/
National Academy of Sciences. (1999). Philosophy, Doctrine, and Training for Chemical and Biological Warfare. Retrieved from Strategies to Protect the Health of Deployed U.S. Forces: Force Protection and Decontamination: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK225131/
US Army (2018). “CBRN Force Modernization Strategy.”