Naval Information Warfare Center (NIWC) Atlantic delivered an industrial control system solution to Naval Supply Systems Command (NAVSUP) Fleet Logistics Center (FLC) for the San Diego Defense Fuel Support Point (DFSP) - Point Loma fuel pier March 29 in support of Military Construction Project (MILCON) P-1306.
The Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) Automated Fuel Handling Equipment (AFHE) industrial control system solution provides the operational technology infrastructure to monitor and control fuel transfers and enhanced inventory control and accountability.
“The new AFHE system will allow us to continue our forward-leaning support for America’s warfighters while bringing additional efficiencies and flexibility to our operations and personnel,” said NAVSUP FLC San Diego Commanding Officer Capt. Brian Anderson. “The NAVSUP Enterprise as a whole is laser-focused on safety and accountability, and the AFHE control system will allow us to continue that focus with significant improvements in our fueling operations.”
The NIWC Atlantic industrial control systems and applications (ICS&A) team designs industrial control systems that reduce vulnerabilities, minimize consequences, identify and disrupt threats, and hasten response and recovery efforts. Secure and resilient control systems are essential to providing warfighting capabilities, executing critical missions and projecting power.
NIWC Atlantic employees updated the SCADA AFHE system and integrated the industrial control system devices on NAVSUP FLC DFSP - Point Loma’s new, double-decker fuel pier for 24/7 SCADA control. The 18-month period of performance included design, system development, field installation, system integration, testing and training.
“The updated system provides a significant advancement in information availability via a robust cyber infrastructure within a harsh industrial environment,” said Daniel Hess, NIWC Atlantic ICS&A lead systems engineer. “The AFHE system accurately and responsively provides information to the operator for precise, reliable monitoring and control.”
To meet operational requirements, the AFHE system balanced the use of technologies for instrumentation, actuators, communication, computing, graphic display and software with the greater reliability and maintainability typical of proven operational technologies.
The NAVSUP FLC San Diego DFSP fuels team is charged with providing petroleum, oil and lubricant logistics support to 86 home ported ships, submarines and transient vessels. The team provides tactical fuel support to Navy command units homeported or operating in the Southern California Operations Area, supporting the largest concentration of naval forces in the world.
As a part of Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command, NIWC Atlantic provides systems engineering and acquisition to deliver information warfare capabilities to the naval, joint and national warfighter through the acquisition, development, integration, production, test, deployment, and sustainment of interoperable command, control, communications, computer, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance, cyber and information technology capabilities.