CAISI

Used for supply chain logistics, CAISI enables secure communications between soldiers on the front lines, warehouses, and command facilities located around the world. The solution significantly decreases the time required to get soldiers the supplies they need, keeping them equipped and ready for combat.

To operate as a highly specialized forward deployed network, requirements include meeting several unique challenges. The network has to be portable, fully transported by vehicle. It needs to be flexible and ruggedized, ready for deployment in a variety of environments and climates. It must be easy to set up and configure; installation personnel are soldiers with basic equipment training. It must provide sufficient power to reach a command post that may be many miles away. It must also use strong FIPS140-2 encryption, to prevent communications from being viewed by unauthorized parties.

The CAISI Bridge Module (CBM) is a kit developed by Telos Corporation, the exclusive provider of CAISI network components to the U.S. Army. The CBM is a complete radio module access point designed for rapid field deployment. No tools are required to assemble the kit, and the kit includes all of the components for turn-key operation. The CBM supports local area communications up to 2 miles and point-to-point communications up to 32 miles. Winston Payne, the Telos CAISI program manager said "Telos’s next-generation CAISI solution provides ‘last-mile’ connectivity between combat service support information systems and their logistics base networks in their deployed location. The modules incorporate in wireless technology and are compliant with new security directives."

Wireless connectivity in the CBM kit is provided by the Fortress ES520 Deployable Mesh Point, a highly versatile unit with dual radios and a built-in 8-port Ethernet switch. The ES520 provides secure, net-centric, wireless communications in an easily deployable form factor, engineered specifically for harsh outdoor environments. It quickly creates a self-forming, self-healing mesh network in environments with no existing network infrastructure. The ES520 offers strong FIPS 140-2 validated encryption and is upgradeable to NSA Suite B algorithms. Delivered in a small form factor, and providing industry leading radio range and performance, the Fortress ES520  is the ideal wireless solution for rapidly deployable networking kits.

Using Fortress’s ES520 Deployable Mesh Point enables the U.S. Army to operate more nimbly, with real-time access to information anywhere it is needed, while ensuring the best-in-class protection of the network. Because it offers simultaneous access point and long range backhaul capabilities, the ES520 alleviates a significant communications challenge for the US Army. 

 Major Joseph M. Colacicco, as the Supply and Services Officer in the office of the XVIII Airborne Corps Artillery G4 at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, recorded in his journal "The wireless CAISI fills a critical role in logistics support and advancement. By providing wireless communications, CAISI reduces set-up and tear-down time, covers a broader area, and supports more users in a given area with data speeds high enough to support web-based logistics. It puts the logistics community on the path to providing real-time logistics data and enabling faster requisitions. This makes CAISI an important tool in providing responsive and efficient support to our combat operations."

The ES520 complies with the Department of Defense Directive (DoDD) 8100.2, which is a mandatory requirement for mission critical applications. Fortress is proud of both the confidence that the U.S. Army has in its ability to support the CAISI program as well as the opportunity to serve our nation’s troops.