So you feel that House of Representatives' Homeland Security
subcommittee on management's criticism of Boeing's performance on
their $20 million demonstration system is unwarranted due to SBInet
being a development project rather than a proven product? Wouldn't
you expect a contractor to have the foresight to factor that into
their contract proposal?

Would you characterize NextGen ATC as also being a development
project?

Because NextGen ATC will surely employ massive amounts of software, do
you find it ironic that "software integration" was cited as a cause
for the Boeing's requiring 33% more time beyond the contracted
completion date?

Do you think it is unfair to extrapolate from Boeing's failure to meet
the terms of this relatively small SBInet contract, and project
software issues causing significant negative impact on the likelihood
of Boeing meeting completion and performance targets of the proposed
massive NextGen ACT revamp should Boeing be awarded that contract?

How do you feel about funding NextGen ATC development and
implementation in light of Boeing's questionable performance on the
SBInet contract, and Lockheed-Martin's lack of planning that was cited
as the cause of their Flight Service Station modernization effort
resulting in FAA fines under their contract?





On Sun, 28 Oct 2007 19:21:17 -0700, Richard Riley
wrote in
:

4 months late on a pilot project to do a demonstration implementation
of a completely untried, totally undeveloped system that was sold in
the conceptual stage. And those damned Boeing people aren't even
asking for more. They're continuing to work on it on their own money.
Let's make sure we never spend another dime with those guys.

Everyone knows that development programs happen on schedule and on
budget. If not, the people who are running the program are morons or
crooks. We can schedule technological breakthroughs, delete any
problems before they come up and assure complete success at a bargain
basement price.

Better. Faster. Cheaper. We can do it all.

/sarc

On Sun, 28 Oct 2007 23:32:45 GMT, Larry Dighera
wrote:


Four months late due to software integration and other issues:


Republicans and Democrats criticized BOEING CO. (BA) and the
Department of Homeland Security on Wednesday for a belated,
glitch-plagued security pilot program being set up along 28
miles of the Arizona-Mexico border. The program is to create a
mix of security infrastructure including fencing plus cameras,
sensors and radar to help U.S. border patrol agents detect
illegal entries. "I'm afraid this is just another example of a
contractor pitching the American public the end-all/be-all
solution and instead, wasting taxpayer money to deliver nothing
more than smoke and mirrors," said Rep. Christopher Carney,
D-Pa., who heads the House of Representatives' Homeland
Security subcommittee on management. Boeing was chosen in
September 2006 to lead the technology segment of a multiyear,
multibillion-dollar program to secure U.S. borders with Mexico
and Canada. Project 28, as Boeing's $20 million demonstration
system is known, is designed to showcase the technology's
effectiveness for a larger Department of Homeland Security
effort called the Secure Border Initiative, or SBInet. Boeing's
pilot program is facing software integration and other problems
more than four months after it was to have entered service,
congressional investigators told a hearing of two Homeland
Security subcommittees.
(Reuters 07:32 PM ET 10/24/2007)

Mo

http://q1.schwab.com/s/r?l=248&a=140...a&s=rb071 024

-----------------------------------

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/wa...rity_glitches/
Boeing criticized over border security glitches
By Jim Wolf | October 24, 2007

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republicans and Democrats criticized Boeing
Co and the Department of Homeland Security on Wednesday for a
belated, glitch-plagued security pilot program being set up along
28 miles of the Arizona-Mexico border.

The program is to create a mix of security infrastructure
including fencing plus cameras, sensors and radar to help U.S.
border patrol agents detect illegal entries.

"I'm afraid this is just another example of a contractor pitching
the American public the end-all/be-all solution and instead,
wasting taxpayer money to deliver nothing more than smoke and
mirrors," said Rep. Christopher Carney, a Pennsylvania Democrat
who heads the House of Representatives' Homeland Security
subcommittee on management.

Boeing was chosen in September 2006 to lead the technology segment
of a multiyear, multibillion-dollar program to secure U.S. borders
with Mexico and Canada.

Project 28, as Boeing's $20 million demonstration system is known,
is designed to showcase the technology's effectiveness for a
larger Department of Homeland Security effort called the Secure
Border Initiative, or SBInet.

"SBInet is not a new concept," said Homeland Security Committee
Chairman Bennie Thompson, a Mississippi Democrat. "It is the
department's third border security technology program."

Boeing's pilot program is facing software integration and other
problems more than four months after it was to have entered
service, congressional investigators told a hearing of two
Homeland Security subcommittees.

"Among several technical problems reported were that it was taking
too long for radar information to display in command centers and
newly deployed radars were being activated by rain, making the
system unusable," Richard Stana of the nonpartisan Government
Accountability Office testified.

Chicago-based Boeing's work on the project "has not been accepted
by the government and will not be accepted until Boeing resolves a
number of integration and software issues," Gregory Giddens, head
of SBInet, told the hearing.

A senior Boeing official, Roger Krone, testified: "Today, the
system is substantially improved."

"The system is consistently able to slew to new radar targets and
successfully record people crossing the border," said Krone,
president of Boeing's network and space systems business unit.
"Camera elevation difficulties have been fixed and a solution for
radar display delays has been implemented."

Project 28's problems also drew barbs from the top Republicans on
the subcommittee on management, investigations and oversight and
the subcommittee on border, maritime and global counter-terrorism.

"The American people deserve better border security than what
these millions of dollars have bought so far," said Rep. Mark
Souder of Indiana, the top Republican on the border subcommittee.

Projected by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials to cost
as much as $8.8 billion over the next six years, SBInet features
ground-based and tower-mounted sensors, cameras and radar plus
high-speed communications, command and control equipment and
devices that detect tunnels.

------------------------------------
http://www.boeing.com/ids/advanced_s...t_p28_0407.pdf
Backgrounder
Integrated Defense Systems
P.O. Box 516
St. Louis, MO 63166
www.boeing.comSBIinet Project 28
Background:
On October 20, 2006, U.S.
Customs and Border
Protection issued a Task
Order (TO) associated
with the SBIinet Indefinite
Delivery Indefinite
Quantity contract awarded
in September 2006 to
Boeing Corporation. As
part of the TO, dubbed Project 28, The Boeing Company-led team
will provide the equipment and services necessary to achieve
effective control of a minimum of 28 miles of U.S.-Mexico border
west of Nogales (flanking the Sasabe Port Of Entry (POE).

Value, Contract Type: •$20M Firm Fixed Price
Boeing’s Role: •Boeing is the lead systems integrator for
SBIinet responsible for acquiring, deploying and sustaining
technology and tactical infrastructure in support of
Customs and Border Protection’s border security mission and under
the direction and guidance of the CBP SBInet PMO.
Fast Facts: •SBIinet will: oDeliver the ability to detect
entries into the U.S. when they occur; identify what the entry is;
and eventually classify its level of threat (who they are,
what they are doing, how many, etc.); allowing Border Patrol to
effectively and efficiently respond to the entry, and; resolve the
situation with appropriate law enforcement. oProvide a highly
reliable, available, maintainable, and cost effective solution to
strengthen the management, control and security of the border
using the right mix of proven current and next generation
technology, tactical infrastructure, personnel, response
capabilities and processes. oEnsure that CBP mission requirements
are met to provide enhanced situational awareness and a faster
more measured response to illegal border activity. June 2007
oDeploy a Common Operating Picture (COP), in CBP user vehicles
that provides agents with accurate, near real-time knowledge of
both CBP assets and intruder locations. oImplement a
communications system that enables Border Patrol agents to
communicate with each other, border stations, sectors and other
law enforcement personnel. Technical Project 28 Specifications:
•28-miles represent up to the 16.5 miles west and 11.5 miles east
of the Sasabe POE •9 redeployable sensor towers with associated
sensors to improve detection identification and classification •2
Command, Control and Communications (C3) units to enable situation
awareness •Retrofit 50 agent vehicles to provide rugged, secure,
mounted laptop computers to enable displays of COP data •50
satellite phones to improve communications •3 Rapid Response
Transports to increase the speed of transportation of illegal
immigrants from point of capture to detention facilities •4
Unattended Ground Systems to provide additional security for the
redeployable sensor towers
Project 28 Management/ Roles & Responsibilities: •The Boeing
Company is responsible for the Project 28 project plan;
architecture and design; systems engineering; production;
integration and testing; laydown and design; deployment; and
maintenance and support. •CBP SBIinet Program Management Office
(PMO), acting as the executive agent on behalf of DHS, will
oversee and manage the Boeing-led contractor team. •CBP has been
designated as the DHS executive agent for the SBInet program, and
has established a Program Management Office to ensure the
Government has the adequate oversight of the SBInet. •CBP
SBIinet PMO is responsible for customer/user needs, goals and
objectives; requirements; mission engineering; requirements
analysis and allocation; operational testing and system
acceptance. Contacts:
Deborah Bosick Eric Mazzacone Boeing IDS Communications Boeing IDS
Communications (703) 872-4505 (703) 872-4588
deborah.d.bosick@boeing

--------------------------------------

http://www.azstarnet.com/dailystar/154728
"We chose the most difficult, highest-trafficked piece of Arizona
because we wanted to take on the challenges that we would have to
take on someday," said Brian Seagrave, vice president for border
security at Unisys Corp., a technology services and solutions
company that will provide the information systems expertise.

Boeing Co. will earn $67 million to administer the so-called
"Project 28" in Arizona, which it will use to evaluate the SBInet
and improve it for implementation along 6,000 miles of northern
and southern border. The final costs of the project are unknown,
but experts have predicted it could cost about $2 billion over six
years.

--------------------------------