AIRSPACE SECURITY

The Airspace Security Program encompasses several air domain awareness and security components including TigerWall (TW). TW is a networked system whose primary function is to provide situational awareness of the airspace to Secret Service operators and decision-makers at multiple operations centers located around the National Capital Region (NCR) through a series of radars, cameras, and data feeds tracking legacy aircraft. The TW network receives radar and flight plan feeds from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). TW also includes USSS-owned surveillance equipment (i.e., radars and cameras) that are deployed in the NCR to supplement existing coverage. Numerous servers, workstations, software, and hardware components are required to process and present this information to multiple Secret Service operators. TigerWall, originally known as ERAIDS, was developed through a Technical Security Division (TSD) Science & Technology (S&T)-sponsored program. Given the general desire to avoid constraints on research and development (R&D) projects, ERAIDS was initiated without the benefit of a system engineering lifecycle plan or following strong system engineering practices. It has continued to evolve through piecemeal upgrades over the years; not guided by any lifecycle operations and maintenance plan. Previous ERAIDS design upgrades leveraged software and servers developed in parallel by MIT Lincoln Labs for a closely related (but separate) DoD Enhanced Regional Situation Awareness (ERSA) system. In 2005, TSD expanded ERAIDS with the addition of four sensor sites in or around Camp David. Connectivity to those sites was provided by a newly established FAA microwave network called Project One. The Project One network also allowed TSD to expand the radar feed from regional to nationwide coverage by providing access to FAA data connections at Site 1 . Around the same time, ERAIDS was modernized with new radars, software, and other subsystems. Some of these subsystems have since been upgraded with newer versions, but the architecture is essentially unchanged. Another component of the Airspace Security Program is the detection and mitigation of unmanned aerial systems (UAS) entering Secret Service secured airspace. This effort incorporates stationary and portable radar systems, cameras, and response equipment. Various technologies have been acquired by Secret Service throughout the years to counter continuously expanding UAS and small UAS threats. The counter-UAS (C-UAS) equipment was often procured without a well-thought-out acquisition strategy which resulted in missed user requirements and lifecycle support gaps.