The Honorable Frank Kendall, Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics, signed the CANES Acquisition Decision Memorandum (ADM) on the Navy's 240th birthday, signifying achievement of the Full Deployment Decision acquisition milestone for the CANES program. The event culminates years of effort and hard work, and it puts in place a robust and secure networking environment across ships and submarines that can fulfill the Navy's vision of Information Dominance.
CANES, which stands for Consolidated Afloat Networks and Enterprise Services, is managed by the Navy's Tactical Networks Program Office (PMW 160) at the Program Executive Office Command, Control, Communications, Computers and Intelligence (PEO C4I). The program modernizes the fleet's computing environment, provides common technologies across platforms, upgrades C4I and streamlines logistics. By consolidating five networks into one, CANES increases operational effectiveness. Its integrated voice, video, data and system-management functions reduce shipboard workload while its reduction of hardware requirements decreases system vulnerabilities and system administration needs.
Kendall's signature on the ADM denotes the Navy's and the Defense Department's confidence in and support of CANES. The decision also transferred oversight of the program from the Department of Defense to the Department of the Navy. With the signed ADM, the Navy can move forward to procure and install CANES on its full inventory objective of ships, submarines and shore sites.
To date, the Navy has completed installation of CANES on 25 ships with 153 remaining and due to be complete by 2024. Installed systems are performing operational missions and have received positive feedback from fleet users.
In addition to its operational advantages, the CANES acquisition strategy saves taxpayer dollars and implements a key Better Buying Power initiative by employing continuous competition throughout the program lifecycle. The data rights to the CANES design is owned by the government; seven qualified vendors compete for future build-to-print production unit delivery orders. Already, CANES has realized a cost savings of more than $720 million.
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