The Air Force Distributed Common Ground System, also referred to as the GSQ-272 SENTINEL weapon system, is the U.S. Air Force’s primary intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance collection, processing, exploitation, analysis and dissemination system. Image – US Air Force
On May 3, the U.S. Army awarded Raytheon Company of Richardson, Texas, a $45.4 million cost-plus-fixed-fee contract (W56KGY-23-D-0005) for project manager support of Cross-Domain Enterprise All-Source User Repository (CENTAUR) intelligence systems and CENTAUR analytics. The U.S. Department of Defense stated that it had solicited bids for the contract via the Internet and that it had received one bid in response.
CENTAUR provides a digital “safe space,” so that the U.S. and allied nations can link intelligence systems and share data, including documents, photos, and videos. The cross-domain, cross-cultural network also allows operators to engage in one-on-one secure chat communications.
The U.S. Air Force is known to operate CENTAUR in the background of its Distributed Common Ground Systems sites, where it facilitates gathering, processing, exploitation, and sharing of intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) information.
CENTAUR began as a U.S. National Geospatial Intelligence Agency program in response to an identified Joint Urgent Operational Need (JUON) for intelligence sharing between allies in the early 2010s. Since its launch, CENTAUR has received regular funding from the various U.S. armed services to address the upgrades needed to fulfill requirements related to evolving technological standards and intelligence needs.
Locations for the work under the May 3 contract and that work’s funding will be determined according to individual orders. The DoD said that it estimated May 9, 2028, as the contract’s completion date.
The U.S. Army Contracting Command, located at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, is performing the program’s contracting activity duties.
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