By Electronic Warfare Hub News Desk
The Pentagon plans to design and deploy nearly 50 Sensitive Compartmented Information Facilities, or SCIFs, around the United States through a new initiative called the Secure Space Network. The effort is intended to give more contractors, particularly smaller businesses, access to physical spaces where classified military work can be performed, according to Breaking Defense.
The initiative addresses an obstacle for companies seeking Pentagon work: access to approved classified spaces can be difficult, and establishing a SCIF can be costly. The department said the network is intended to improve access to classified information for smaller businesses working with the military and to make it easier for capable companies to contribute to defense programs.
A SCIF is an area, room, group of rooms, building or installation certified and accredited to meet Director of National Intelligence security standards for processing, storing or discussing sensitive compartmented information. The definition, cited by Breaking Defense from the National Institute of Standards and Technology, covers facilities that meet the required security standards for handling this type of information.
The spaces are designed to protect classified activities from several types of intrusion. Their security requirements address physical forced entry, audio eavesdropping and electronic spying, among other threats. Accreditation is therefore required before a facility can be used for the processing, storage or discussion of sensitive compartmented information.
The planned facilities could be located at military installations, industry-focused sites such as APEX Accelerators and other locations considered relevant to the mission. The Pentagon’s announcement did not identify the specific locations that will host the initial facilities.
James R. Mismash, deputy assistant secretary of war for industrial base growth and director of the Office of Small Business Programs, said in a department release that industry had identified access to classified environments as a major barrier. He said the Secure Space Network is intended to address that challenge and enable more companies to contribute at different levels of the military mission.
Mismash also said the effort is intended to strengthen the supplier base and help deliver capabilities to warfighters faster and at greater scale. The initiative is being led by the Office of Industrial Base Growth within the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment.
The network is being structured as a repeatable production capability rather than a one-time construction effort. The initial production is intended to establish a model that can be used to expand the number of secure facilities as Pentagon requirements grow. The department also described a need for scalable production capacity that could surge the number of accredited security workspaces if requirements increase rapidly.
The announcement provided few details about how the network will be implemented. It did not specify the size of each SCIF, the program’s budget or a deployment timeline. It also did not identify the contractors or facilities involved in the initial group.
The nearly 50 planned facilities represent the stated scope of the Secure Space Network, but the schedule and cost of the effort remain unresolved. The department’s description focuses on establishing the initial facilities and developing a repeatable approach for adding more accredited spaces as requirements change.