Southern Indiana Business Report
WESTGATE@CRANE Technology Park – The Crane Regional Defense Group (CRDG), a subcommittee of the White River Military Coordination Alliance, hosted the first Connect to Mission event Feb. 7 at WestGate Academy and featured Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC Crane), Crane Division’s Spectrum Warfare Systems (SWS) Department.
“Our Innovation Ecosystem and community partners make our mission possible,” said Dr. Angie Lewis, NSWC Crane’s technical director. “We know government work can seem difficult to break into and confusing to navigate, but we hope events like these will help dissolve barriers and cultivate collaborative partnerships.”
The half-day, collaborative forum brought together nearly 200 current and prospective defense contractors representing more than 100 businesses (small, large, and non-traditional) from 18 different states throughout the industry for a deep dive into the Spectrum Warfare Systems Department and its needs/challenges related to the focus areas of Electronic Warfare (surface, air, and expeditionary), Radar Technologies, and Force Level Electronic Warfare.
“NSWC Crane’s Spectrum Warfare Department houses the DoD’s largest concentration of Electronic Warfare (EW) expertise, with more than 1,000 civilian workers and 250 contractors,” said Zahid Din, NSWC Crane SWS department director. “We want to combine that expertise and add it to ecosystem partners as force multipliers. When threats to our nation increase, so does the demand for NSWC Crane products and services. New collaborators can only improve our capacity to lead the DoD in electromagnetic spectrum operations.”
The agenda included three interactive panel discussions, networking opportunities and remarks from NSWC leadership. Division managers, chief strategists and engineers, contracting officers and more covered topics from how to earn a contract, to how the divisions are assisting the warfighter today, and how attendees could position themselves to join their mission.
“This collaborative event left CACI feeling like we have an important role in the regional ecosystem, all working together to better understand the NSWC Crane EW capability gaps in order to better solve and execute to meet the needs of the warfighter,” said Kirk Talbott, vice president, CACI International. “I think it was very well-orchestrated and the engagement was meaningful for both NSWC Crane and the support vendors.”
Connect to Mission will be an ongoing series hosted by CRDG to continuously highlight a NSWC Crane department and provide insight and understanding into the needs of their mission areas, challenges and opportunities for collaboration.
“It’s our hope that these Connect to Mission events will allow the southern Indiana region to aggressively expand the defense innovation ecosystem, increase our competitive advantage and accelerate delivery of solutions to the DoD warfighters,” said Kent Parisien, CRDG chairman. “The initial response has been overwhelmingly positive and proves a need for this kind of interaction between the installation and those outside the gates.”
Next Connect to Mission
The next Connect to Mission will be held June 6 and feature NSWC Crane’s Global Deterrence and Defense Department. More information and registration for this event will be available soon. To be added to future event invitations, learn more about CRDG or join as a member for exclusive benefits, visit craneregionaldefensegroup.org.