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<\/figure>\n\n\n\nC4ISRNET:<\/b><\/i> Are there lessons from MAPS that can be applied to DAPS? Where is that program now?<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n
KIOUTAS:<\/b><\/i> We are learning from what we\u2019re doing. It\u2019s really a change in the construct of how we do acquisitions. Instead of having the one huge program that\u2019s been perfectly thought out, perfectly tested and built, and then we get it to the field and it\u2019s 10 years too late and it\u2019s really not what we want, we\u2019re doing more iterative learning steps. So, everything that we learn even on the MAPS side \u2014 [which] is very similar technology \u2014 will apply to the DAPS side. With DAPS we\u2019re also developing some prototypes. We\u2019ve got three vendors right now that we\u2019re working with to give us early prototypes, get them to the soldiers, let them touch and play with them, tell us what they like and what they didn\u2019t like, and then we\u2019ll do an initial capability set. And then we\u2019ll decide, hey, was there something that we can do different, better and then upgrade? So, [we\u2019re] constantly going to try to do that approach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
C4ISRNET: <\/b><\/i>The Air Force is working to develop M-Code, a military-grade GPS code with anti-jamming capabilities. How does the eventual delivery of that impact the development of anti-spoofing capabilities in the here and now?<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n
KIOUTAS:<\/b><\/i> M-Code is important. It\u2019s a much better capability than the existing Selective Availability Anti-Spoof Model, or SAASM. However, it\u2019s not the complete answer, and what I always say is PNT does not equal GPS, because it\u2019s not just about GPS capability. It\u2019s about layering technologies with each other in order to be able to operate in a denied or degraded environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
C4ISRNET:<\/b><\/i> M-Code delivery may be a ways out, but a limited version called M-Code Early Use is supposed to be available in the near future. How does that interim solution factor into assured-PNT solutions being developed now?<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n
KIOUTAS:<\/b><\/i> There\u2019s probably two answers to that. One is we are already working with the M-Code to put it into the MAPS Gen. 2, as well as the DAPS system. So, we\u2019re going to have M-Code from the get-go. The other thing is, the Army has really got to decide how many M-Code modules are we going to buy between now and say 2028, when we\u2019re really going to get the increment 2 M-Code capabilities. So, we\u2019ve really got to project out how many systems are we going to buy, what are they going to look like, [and] there\u2019s three different vendors so which vendor do we need to buy [from]?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
C4ISRNET:<\/b><\/i> Let\u2019s talk about the Army\u2019s need for a modular open systems architecture as you develop APNT capabilities. How does that inform your acquisitions strategy? What do you want industry to know?<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n
KIOUTAS:<\/b><\/i> For a modular open systems architecture, what we\u2019re really going to is [a] change from the previous way we did acquisition. Again, we\u2019re not going to do the one megalithic program that is perfectly designed and takes 10 years to build and then it gets to the field too late, we need a modular open systems architecture that allows us to be agile, that allows us to constantly take what industry is developing and integrate it to the solution to pace the threat. We\u2019re working with the CMOSS architecture to be able to put a bunch of different cards for our MAPS, maybe Gen. 3 capability. We\u2019re also working on a similar approach to the DAPS program. So, again, [we\u2019re] always looking for, not what is the best integrated solution, but what are the best individual solutions that we can take from across industry back to breed and integrate together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
C4ISRNET:<\/b><\/i> We\u2019re speaking at AUSA and around us many companies are showing off their assured PNT solutions. What are some of the APNT solutions you\u2019re excited to see from commercial industry?<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n
KIOUTAS:<\/b><\/i> That\u2019s a good question. I don\u2019t really know the answer until we do some more testing. Of course, software-defined things are always great. The problem is there\u2019s sometimes problems with security and cybersecurity of those systems. And, so, there\u2019s probably a balance between do you really want a lockdown solution, where do you want that lockdown solution and where can you accept some risk and have a little more flexibility in software.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Col. Nickolas Kioutas, the Army’s PNT program manager, shares what the service is learning about navigating in denied or degraded environments.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":69639,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":20,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[106,29,32,20],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3143],"class_list":["post-23552","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-brief","category-home","category-newsletters","category-thought-leadership"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"THDGOEWDE5ABDL767CIZMSHJ6Q","arc_canonical_url":"\/thought-leadership\/2019\/11\/29\/the-armys-position-on-next-generation-navigation\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"\n