Ireland – Network infrastructure – Defence Forces Software Defined Wireless Area Network

The Defence Forces is expanding its current telecommunications infrastructure to incorporate commercially available internet links beyond its current usage. It is anticipated that commercial off the shelf links will be required for all Defence Forces locations with the aim of providing a modern, secure and flexible internet infrastructure that will allow the Defence Forces to cater for its growing needs. These additional links will provide the Defence Forces with the flexibility to access mission-critical information as required while maintaining the principle of Confidentiality, Integrity, and Availability (C.I.A) while enhancing the security and reliability of the defence network. This project will ensure that the Defence Forces are proactive and not reactive to the organisational requirements so that Defence Forces users can continue to have a reliable infrastructure when required. It has a key objective of the project to ensure resilience and redundancy through the use of diverse links and the underlying network. The Defence Forces will provide a supplementary technical description document to candidates selected to participate in the Restricted process subject to the signing of a confidentiality agreement. It is proposed that the procurement process will be a two (2) stage, restricted process to include PQQ, a final restricted RFT and an optional presentation of the final proposal by candidates. It is expected that the award of the contract will be in Q1 2024.