Juniper nets US Air Force network upgrade

Juniper Networks has snagged a share of US$24m being spent to upgrade the US Air Force's networks.

The Base Information Transport Infrastructure (BITI) project covers both wired and wireless networks that connect the USAF's 175 bases and 800,000 users around the world.

Under prime contractors Affigent and ThunderCat Technology, Juniper Networks will be supplying kit for 44 of the bases. Deployment is due to be complete by September 2016, and the network upgrades fully operational in 2017.

BITI mandates a rolling five-year upgrade cycle for the USAF's networking infrastructure, and the program manager Adam Hurst told Defense Systems the latest round will also improve network security and bandwidth.

As well as providing kit for the network core, Juniper Networks' contract includes network management and training.

The company needs some good news after the December debacle in which unauthorized backdoor code was found in its NetScreen operating system.

Juniper is due to present its Q4 financials at the end of January. Its last quarter revenue was $1.248bn, and it's expecting around $1.290bn for Q4. ®