CDW and Viasat UK to deliver Agile IT and digital transformation for ARRC HQ

Above: The Allied Rapid Reaction Corps has just been declared ‘combat ready’ after passing their combat readiness evaluation or CREVAL. The ARRC has been presented with NATO’s new ‘warfighting guidon’, which it will hold throughout its tenure as NATO’s War Fighting Corps at readiness until January 2022: (left to right) Command Senior Enlisted Leader Allied Land Command, Warrant Officer Class 1 Kevin Mathers; Commander Allied Land Command, Lieutenant General Roger L. Cloutier Jr.; Commander Allied Rapid Reaction Corps, Lieutenant General Sir Edward Smyth-Osbourne and Command Sergeant Major Allied Rapid Reaction Corps, Warrant Officer Class 1 Stuart Davison.
Courtesy NATO ARRC / photo by Warrant Officer Class 2 Jamie Peters, HQ ARRC

ARRC is NATO’s rapidly deployable headquarters that acts as a nerve centre for operations and crisis response. CDW and Viasat UK Ltd have partnered on the two-year programme, which will enable a more survivable, manoeuvrable and deployable HQ.  

Programme LELANTOS, will involve regular technological innovation, as well as the wider digital transformation of HQ ARRC, and is part of a range of initiatives that demonstrate the UK’s continued commitment to the NATO alliance.

Lt Col Steve Short, ARRC Programme Lead, commented: “This is a defining moment. We have looked at the whole ecosystem of the deployed staff working environment and treated it as a capability in its own right.

“We will be harnessing best of breed technologies that deliver real advantage to our commanders and their staff. Equally important is the development approach we are taking with our industry partners, which is innovating in both technical and commercial processes.”

The programme will exploit multiple streams of state-of-the-art and SME technology and will deliver enhancements to the battlefield both at home and deployed. Over the course of the programme, decision-makers and technicians at the MOD, ARRC, CDW and Viasat will collaborate and develop integrated systems, making use of agile technical and commercial processes.

Nick Garland, Business Development Director for Defence at CDW UK, commented: “It is an honour to be at the forefront of leading technological change across multiple domains that will see real-time benefit to a strategic headquarters. The LELANTOS programme will deliver technological transformation aligned to the core objectives of both the MOD and ARRC.”

The programme, originally referred to as ‘Agile C3 Experimentation’, was put out to open tender on the UK government’s procurement platform, the Crown Commercial Service. CDW and Viasat partnered to win the contract in a competitive tender.

Steve Beeching, managing director of Viasat UK, said: “Programme LELANTOS provides an opportunity to challenge the status quo and drive agile C3 innovation across NATO and its allies. This partnership will leverage Viasat’s deep breadth of defence experience and innovative technology approaches, alongside CDW’s proven track record for delivering digital transformation solutions across multiple industries to bring ARRC rapidly-deployable, highly-secure and scalable land formation capabilities – which are critically important in a rapidly evolving battlespace.”