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On September 15, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) released a Request for Information (RFI) for participation in the 2022 First Responder Electronic Jamming Exercise (JamX 22) at White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico, April 25-29, 2022. The RFI, posted on Sam.Gov with instructions to apply through the website Vulcan-sof.com, is open to industry, academia, and federal organizations with innovative anti-jamming technology solutions ready for testing and evaluation. The deadline for submitting applications is Wednesday, October 6, 2021.
Over the last five years, S&T has worked to combat illegal jamming by evaluating the threat, developing and testing mitigation technologies and tactics, working with public safety agencies to update training procedures, and raising awareness of jamming threats and incident reporting channels. In 2016, DHS S&T held the First Responder Electronic Jamming Exercise to assess the impact of jamming on public safety communications systems and mission response, and identify gaps in training. Building on the results of the 2016 exercise, the 2017 First Responder Electronic Jamming Exercise (JamX 17) evaluated tactics and technologies to help responders better identify, locate and mitigate the impact of jamming.
JamX 22 is the continuation of S&T’s work to better prepare first responders and federal law enforcement to face jamming threats that could degrade or disable their mission-critical communications. JamX 22 is organized in two parts that will take place simultaneously:
- Operation Trinity: an operational exercise, developed in partnership with the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), will assess the effectiveness of Resilient Communications Training for operational federal, state, local, territorial, and tribal first responders and emergency communications technical personnel.
- Project Resilience: an experiment with industry, academia, and federal partners to assess tools and technologies that identify, locate, and mitigate spectrum interference, including illegal jamming signals and to measure the impact of that interference on communications networks.
DHS S&T is seeking technology solutions in three categories to evaluate during JamX 22 | Project Resilience:
- Counter-Jamming Technologies: Devices or systems that identify, locate and mitigate jamming threats to communications used by law enforcement and public safety organizations, such as land mobile radio systems (VHF, UHF, 700/800 MHz).
- Commercial Wireless Networks: Deployable network technologies such as LMR, Wi-Fi, and cellular systems 3G/4G/5G.
- Interference Signal Sources: Devices with the ability to generate denial-of-service attack on targeted communications.
“Communications are a lifeline. This counter-jamming research is essential to ensure highly resilient and available communications for the safety of the responders and the public they serve,” said Sridhar Kowdley, JamX 22 Director. “The partnership with CISA for Operation Trinity and S&T’s Project Resilience will focus on not just technologies but also practical applications of tactics, techniques and procedures.”
Following evaluation of applications and selection, participating organizations will be required to enter into a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) with the U.S. Government.
For more information on this RFI, the DHS S&T First Responder Electronic Jamming Exercise, visit the First Responders web page.
Source: DHS
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