Saudi Arabia - Peace Shield

Peace Shield is ae state-of-the-art C3I system developed for the Royal Saudi Air Force (RSAF). The Peace Shield system also links the networks of the Royal Saudi Land Forces (RSLF), the Royal Saudi Naval Forces (RSNF)nd Royal Saudi Air Defense Force [RSADF]. The Peace Shield program, built for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, required delivery of a nationwide ground-air defense, and command, control, and communications system to the Royal Saudi Air Force. Key elements included 17 radars, a central command operations center, five sector commandand operations centers, nation widecommunications links, interfaces with all agencies having a role in national defense, and communications centers to contact and control civil and military aircraft. Central command is executed from Riyadh, while sectors are controlled from Dhahran, Raif, Tabuk, Khamis Mushait and AI Kharj. The total system includes 164 sites and more than 1,600 communications circuits.

Peace Shield integrates 17 combined AN/FPS-117 long-range radar and remote-controlled air/ground radio communications sites; and an associated telecommunications network. Data from the RSAF's 17 General Electric AN/ FPS-117 long-range 3-D radars and six Northrop Grumman AN/TPS-43 tactical radars feed the system, together with data from 10 AWACS ground entry stations. The RSLF's AN/TPS-43 radars, the Raytheon Improved HAWK air defence missile system and the radars of the RSNF are also integrated into the system.

Conceived in the early 1980s, the Peace Shield program was not begun until 1985. Procurement of the Peace Shield system was conducted a Foreign Military Sale (FMS) with the Electronic Systems Division (ESD) of the US Air Force managing the contract. Hughes Aircraft Company (now Raytheon) was awarded a contract worth US$837 million by ESD for the Peace Shield program. The schedule requirements of 54 months to deliver a Peace Shield system were thought by many people to be impossible. There were some estimates as high as 116 months. They actually met 47 months. Total program cost was US$5.6 billion. Peace Shield became operational in late 1996 and is being continually upgraded under a maintenance and development program.

The seventeen General Electric FPS-117 L-band fixed, long range radars are identical to those retrofitted to USAF radar sites in Alaska under the SEEK IGLOO program. Ideally suited to severe climates, these radars are ECM-resistant and feature highly redundant circuit design and computer-controlled circuit reconfiguration which allows them to operate in what is termed "minimally attended" status on a day-to-day basis. The FPS-1l7 radars use a phased array antenna that will electronically scan a pencil beam signal in elevation while rotating in azimuth to give true three-dimensional detection capabilities. The radars are installed around the periphery of the country, and augmented the six Saudi Air Force TPS-43 and replaced the older Marconi 40T2 ground controlled intercept (GCI) radars already in the Saudi inventory.

In 1985 Saudi Arabia contracted with a consortium headed by Boeing for the Peace Shield command, control, communications, and intelligence (C3I) system. Its purpose was to link information collected by AWACS and ground-based surveillance radar with fighters and ground air defense, including the I-Hawk SAMs, to provide integrated air defense against attacks across the gulf and Red Sea and from the direction of Yemen. In 1991 it was announced that the Hughes Aircraft Corporation had assumed management of the project, which had been subject to delays in its completion.

The Air Force Peace Shield Litigation Team eventually included a team of eight attorneys and more than 300 support staff. This staff was detailed to the Justice Department to bring to trial the largest government contracts case ever filed against the Air Force in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims regarding a major foreign military sales program for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. This military and civilian team worked for four-and-a-half years on the case, eventually settling for a little more than $300 million on the government’s behalf. During Fiscal 1997, Stewart & Stevenson Services, Inc. entered a Plea Agreement and a Settlement Agreement resolving all litigation relating to the 1987 contract to supply diesel generator sets for installation in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (the "Peace Shield Litigation"). The Company paid a $2 million criminal fine, a $2 million civil penalty, and $3 million in restitution to the U.S. Air Force. A $10 million provision for fines, penalties, restitution and certain unrecognized legal fees in connection with the Peace Shield Litigation was made in the third quarter of Fiscal 1997.

The Peace Shield system allows the Royal Saudi Air Force to manage its airborne and ground-based resources. It includes a Central Command Operations Center, regional centers, long-range radars, and a number of remote facilities. Raytheon, as the system developer, continues to sustain the system under a direct contract to the Royal Saudi Air Force.

Saudi Arabia buys arms directly from American corporations, bypassing Pentagon middlemen. Such purchases include the $300 million upgrade and support system for the Peace Shield radar system that the country bought directly from Raytheon in 1998. The 2002 Peace Shield Radar Upgrade [cancelled in August 2003] was market survey being conducted by the Air Force to determine potential sources capable of fulfulling a Foreign Military Sales (FMS) requirement for the upgrade of the Royal Saudi Air Force (RSAF) long range radars (AN/FPS-117) located through out the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA).

All seventeen (17) radars were modernized to provide better performance, and obsolete equipment will be replaced as part of the upgrade program. The FPS-117(V)3 L-band air surveillance radar is designed to provide real-time 3D data on all targets within the surveillance volume. The primary radar uses an antenna array with electronically scanning elevation beam and mechanical rotation in azimuth. As an option, the Secondary Surveillance Radar (SSR) equipment will be replaced with modern Monopulse SSR (MSSR) equipment. The new equipment will retain Mode-4 capability and will allow Mode-S upgrade at a later date.

A Systems Requirements Document (SRD) would be provided to the contractors as part of the Final Request for Proposal (RFP) that is intended to provide the performance requirements of the radar. The contractor will provide all necessary engineering services to fabricate, install and deliver to the RSAF upgraded radars that satisfy the SRD requirements and to train RSAF personnel in operation and maintenance of the equipment.

The contractor will provide all necessary tools, spare parts, test equipment and materials to allow RSAF to run full operation and maintenance of all seventeen radars including radar characteristics monitoring. The contractor will maximize the use of state-of-the-art, Non-Developmental Items (NDI) hardware for the prime mission equipment, while providing highly reliable and easily maintainable radar that meets all applicable SRD requirements. The radar equipment will be fully integrated into the existing Peace Shield System, and the radar performance will be verified in accordance with the test methods specified in the SRD.

In 2003 Peace Shield work began on developing an upgraded High-Speed Network for the Royal Saudi Air Force (RSAF) at locations throughout the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). The High-Speed Network (HSN) will provide a modern communications backbone for the Royal Saudi Air Force's (RSAF's) Command, Control, Communications, Computer and Intelligence (C4I) System. The complete RSAF C4I High Speed Network includes seven major nodes, the use of SATCOM at the 7 HSN Nodes, and IADs at 17 radar sites. The major nodes of the networks will be located at the RSAF Main Operations Bases (MOBs), Jeddah and Riyadh. It will ugrade HUB terminal for E1 connectivity to the HSN Nodes at Riyadh, Khamis Mushayt, Taif, Tabuk, and Dhahran. In addition to C4I Systems, the network will interconnect other communications facilities on each airbase, RSAF Headquarters (HQ), and air traffic/early warning radar data from radar sites located throughout the Kingdom.

This includes work at three Eastern Sector sites, five Northern Sector sites, and three Western Sector sites. The network is to provide a secure high-speed broadband Wide-Area Network (WAN) to support the increasing data networking requirements of the RSAF C4I System. Increased demand on bandwidth to support current operations and projected new multimedia applications are beyond the capabilities of the current network and necessitate its upgrade. The network will maintain compatibility with the existing RSAF C4I communications architecture. It will utilize existing airbase-to-airbase fiber optic connections, existing Satellite Communications (SATCOM) and leased Saudi Telecom Corporation (STC) links for connections beyond the reach of the current fiber facilities.

Links to locations within air bases will either be direct fiber optic connections or remote circuits utilizing currently available copper lines or point-to-point microwave. The network will support 10/100/1000 Mb/s switched Local Area Network (LAN) overlays employing Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802 Q/p Virtual LAN (VLAN) and Quality of Service (QoS) standards. High-speed encryption will be provided to secure communications over the High Speed Network. New Video Teleconferencing (VTC) equipment and upgrade of fiber optics and the existing SATCOM equipment at locations identified in the System Requirements Document (SRD) will be part of this effort. The legacy VTC equipment will be interoperable with the new system.

In 2005 a market survey was conducted by the Air Force to determine potential sources capable of fulfilling a Foreign Military Sales (FMS) requirement for the upgrade of the Royal Saudi Air Force (RSAF) long range radars (AN/FPS-117) located throughout the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). All seventeen (17) radars would be modernized to provide improved supportability, ease of maintenance and better performance. Obsolete equipment would be replaced as part of the upgrade program. The FPS-117(V)3 L-band air surveillance radar is designed to provide real-time 3D data on all targets within the surveillance area. The primary radar uses an antenna array with electronically scanning elevation beam and mechanical rotation in azimuth. Also, the Secondary Surveillance Radar (SSR) equipment would be replaced with modern Monopulse SSR (MSSR) equipment. The new equipment would retain Mode-4 capability and would allow Mode-S upgrade at a later date.

The Air Education and Training Command Contracting Squadron, Randolph AFB, TX has a requirement to purchase PEACE SHIELD Information Technology Training program, C4I Technician Training Requirements (Computer Training and Certifications) support for Air Force Security Assistance Training Squadron (AFSAT). The requirement includes Information Technology Technician Training which includes 1) Microsoft Computer Technician Professional Certifications; 2) Oracle Professional Certifications; 3) Network Security and ManagemenT; 4) Network+ and A+ Professional Certifications. The contractor shall be responsible to teach 11 courses to 88 students during each Gregorian calendar year, for a total of 176 students, during the two (2) year contract period.

Training is required to be conducted in the United States for Royal Saudi Air Force (RSAF) personnel in support of operating and maintaining Peace Shield equipment and computers. The level of training shall be taught in a consistent, high standard so as to result in course graduation of current, well-qualified, RSAF Officers and Senior Enlisted Technicians in their specified specialty / competency areas.