General Dynamics C4 Systems will
produce 24 additional Combat Operations Centers (COCs) for the U.S. Marine Corps
under a new $54 million contract modification. The COCs will enable command and
control operations for Marines deployed in Afghanistan and Iraq, from division or
air-wing headquarters to the regimental level. The COCs also support pre-deployment
training at locations in the United States. This award modifies a contract initially
granted to General Dynamics in 2002; the total value to date of that contract is now
$741 million.
Each of the new COCs includes critical technology upgrades for greater command,
control and communications interoperability that deliver improved networked
communication among Marine Corps and Joint command-and-control systems.
COCs are the focal point of decision-making for Marine commanders and their staffs.
The 24 new COCs include four capability set IIs, used at the division and
aviation-wing levels of command; 10 capability set IIIs, used at the regimental
level; and 10 capability set IVs, used by battalion or squadron commanders at the
edge of the battlespace. The Marines currently own 295 Combat Operations Centers
supporting pre-deployment training and operations at the battalion, squadron,
regiment, group and Marine Expeditionary Brigade levels in Afghanistan, Iraq and
other countries.
Each COC comprises a network of workstations and servers supporting standard
Tactical Data Systems and other mission-critical software, voice, data and Voice
over Internet Protocol (VoIP) communications. Tents, trailers, radios, power
generation and other tactical hardware integrate with each COC for a single-system
command-and-control capability.
