USAF receives 300 General Dynamics Sectera Edge Smartphones

General Dynamics C4 Systems is delivering300 rugged Sectera Edge Smartphones to the US Air Force. For use by senior leadership at the air staff and major command levels, the Smartphones are part of a broader Air Force plan to integrate Secure Mobile Environment - Portable Electronic Devices (SME-PED) like the Sectera Edge into its consolidated enterprise network. General Dynamics C4 Systems is a business unit of General Dynamics.

"The Sectera Edge provides cyber security at the hip," said Mike Guzelian, vice president of Secure Voice and Data Products for General Dynamics C4 Systems. "Air Force and civilian personnel will have cost-effective, secure access to classified and unclassified networks, even the Internet, from virtually anywhere in the world."

The Sectera Edge is the first SME-PED certified by the National Security Agency for classified voice and data, using wireless access to commercial WiFi and cellular networks that provide access to classified and unclassified government networks.

Since 2007, General Dynamics C4 Systems has delivered thousands of Sectera Edge Smartphones to US government customers, including users at the Departments of Homeland Security and Defense. Similar to a commercial cell phone/personal digital assistant (PDA), the Sectera Edge is capable of synchronizing information with a user's computer, enabling access to calendar, address book, calculator, notepad and other PDA capabilities.

Capable of operating on existing Global System for Mobile (GSM) communications and Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) commercial cellular networks, the Sectera Edge is WiFi compatible as well. Interoperable with over 350,000 fielded Secure Communications Interoperability Protocol (SCIP) devices, the Sectera Edge provides secure data communications classified Secret and below and secure wireless voice communications classified Top Secret and below.

Utilizing the Suite B encryption algorithm, the Sectera Edge interfaces with the US Department of Defense Public Key Infrastructure using the government's standard Common Access Card. Information stored in the Sectera Edge is also protected using data-at-rest encryption.

The Sectera Edge Smartphone was developed under the NSA Secure Mobile Environment/Portable Electronic Device (SME PED) program and is compliant with the Secure Communication Interoperability Protocol (SCIP); it provides secure interoperability with other SCIP devices, including the Secure Telephone Equipment (STE), Omni, QSec and existing Sectera phones and terminals. The Smartphone is also compliant with the High Assurance Internet Protocol Encryptor Interoperability Specification (HAIPE® IS) for interoperability with in-line encryption devices that secure information on the US Government's Secret Internet Protocol Router Network (SIPRNet), including the widely deployed TACLANE® family of network encryptors.

Source: General Dynamics

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