A steady flow of global visitors has called on Boeing Co.’s Huntington Beach operation this year.
The draw: a technology center showcasing a master computer network that’s described as one of the most ambitious modernization projects undertaken by the Army.
“It’s been a steady stream of officials from all over the world,” Boeing spokesman Randolph Harrison said. “We literally have a waiting list of people that want to come and see the facility.”
So far, delegations from 10 countries have visited the Huntington Beach center, which shows off Boeing’s work for the Army’s Future Combat Systems project.
Boeing is the lead contractor on the project, working under a $21 billion contract awarded by the Army in 2003. The goal is to create a single network linking information from the ground, ships and satellites to help commanders and soldiers more effectively wage war.
The entire project could come in at $125 billion over the next decade or so. The price tag has made the Future Combat Systems project a target for possible cuts in a defense appropriations bill being considered by the House of Representatives this month.
Boeing, meanwhile, is looking to its work on the project as a possible export. It’s hoping the Huntington Beach center will sell other governments on the system.
“Future Combat Systems is critically important to the Army,and to Boeing’s business plan,” said Loren Thompson, a defense analyst for Lexington Institute, an Arlington, Va.-based think tank.
Boeing may have a near-term prospect: Britain.
London is looking at companies to help manage what’s called the Future Rapid Effect System, a contract initially worth about $11 billion.
Boeing is hoping to land 10% to 20% of the contract, Harris said.
Groups from Britain, Italy, Singapore and other countries have visited the Huntington Beach center, which Boeing workers refer to as a “mother node.”
The adoption of the system by other countries is likely, according to Steve Mather, a research analyst in Los Angeles with Houston-based investment bank Sanders Morris Harris Group Inc. The Pentagon is looking to allies to coordinate their networks, he said.
“It’s different than just buying bullets or a tank or a ship,” Mather said. “In this case you must have it if you want a ticket to play.”
Boeing officials said they are unsure what the global interest could mean in the way of added business and jobs.
“It’s very early in the program, which means the outcome for Boeing is not developed at this point,” Harris said.
Much could depend on how well things go with the Pentagon and Congress, Lexington Institute’s Thompson said.
“We’re going to have to wait and see how well the Army contract unfolds,” he said.
The program has its issues.
In March, Boeing’s contract came under fire from Republican Sen. John McCain after the Army last year raised its value from around $15 billion to $21 billion.
In April, the Army nixed the contract’s so-called “other transactional authority,” which allowed for last year’s increase. The Army switched to a more traditional federal acquisition regulation contract, which has more cost controls.
Originally, “the Army probably made a mistake,” Thompson said.
Boeing has handled all of the changes to the contract, Harris said.
“The program is on schedule and on budget,” he said.
In Huntington Beach, Boeing’s 140,000-square-foot System of Systems Integrations Laboratory uses nearly 1,100 computers to synch data from around the country.
Using the system, a solider sitting in a Humvee in Iraq could see the same data as a solder in Ft. Monroe, Va.
Between 200 to 300 Boeing workers are devoted to the project on a given day, making Huntington Beach
the largest Future Combat Systems site for the company.
The project is run out of Boeing’s defense headquarters in St. Louis with additional operations in Seattle.
Boeing’s Anaheim operation has a similar facility designed to show off electronics and software in a theater setting.
The Anaheim center is part of a bigger effort to sell the Pentagon,and other militaries,on master networks designed to “information superiority.”
