Ironhawk Completes Testing of its SmartSync® Software for the United States Navy Trident Warrior 2016 (TW16) Naval Exercises

LOS ANGELES – November 4, 2016 – Ironhawk Technologies, Inc., the global leader in delivering decision critical data over narrow band satellite communication networks via its proprietary SmartSync® software, today announced that the Combat System Distance Support Shipboard Server (CS-DS3) team for AEGIS at the Naval Surface Warfare Center at Port Hueneme, CA successfully tested Ironhawk SmartSync® software solution, a bandwidth efficient data distribution product, to replicate an assortment of files, varying in type and in size from Ship-to-Shore and from Shore-to-Ship. The test saw SmartSync® compression savings of up to 99.9%

The Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) is assigned to build, deliver, and maintain Navy ships. NAVSEA instruction 4790.27A, released in May 2013, and OPNAV instruction 4790.16B, released in October 2015 establishes the policy and responsibilities for Reliability Centered Maintenance (RCM), Condition Based Maintenance (CBM), and Condition Based Maintenance Plus (CBM+) integration into the ship’s lifecycle maintenance strategy. The instruction makes CBM+ the approved maintenance strategy for ships, ship systems, and equipment and it also mandates the use of software to conduct CBM+ analysis and other functions.

CBM+ is a priority for NAVSEA and they have established a CBM+ Executive Steering Committee (ESC) composed of Flag and SES level personnel and a CBM+ Task Force (TF) with participation from the Fleet, Program Executive Offices (PEOs), Directorates, Undersea and Surface Warfare Centers, and Field Activities. The CBM+ ESC is to ensure NAVSEA meets OPNAV, DOD and ASN RD&A CBM+ requirements in acquisition, modernization and sustainment.

The concept of the CS-DS3 evolved from the Operational Readiness Test System Technical Assist Remote Support (ORTSTARS) AEGIS Distance Support requirements. ORTSTARS used Secure Shell (SSH) and Virtual Network Computing (VNC) to allow a shore based

technician to interface with the shipboard maintenance console. This allows a shore based technician to interact with the shipboard maintainers in (near-) real time and allows collaboration to address shipboard technical issues often reducing the time to repair or the need for the technical expert to visit the ship.

Ironhawk SmartSync®’s store and forward function employed in CS-DS3 for Ship-to-Shore and Shore-to-Ship file replication complements the real-time command-line terminal access function of ORTSTARS, (while benefiting from more flexible and timely patches and updates due to CS-DS3 placement in the IA map.

The Trident Warrior 2016 Naval Exercise successfully proved SmartSync®’s reliable, bandwidth efficient, network tolerant, data distribution capability over severely bandwidth-constrained SATCOM link. A variety of data (various types and sizes) were tested with great results. SmartSync can handle ALL data types of today and the future thanks to its modular design that allows for newer, more efficient, compression algorithms to be added to its existing library of compression algorithms.

SmartSync® Utilization for Patch and Update Distribution via Container Technology

SmartSync® is a container-ready solution currently deployed in a variety of Department of Defense (DoD) programs where it has successfully reduced bandwidth requirements of relevant data distribution architectures by as much as 99.9% of its original size. Upcoming new release of SmartSync® 2.0 is further refined into micro-services to ensure responsive patch-ability of SmartSync® deployments including a hot-patch distribution & deployment framework/capability. With SmartSync®’s proprietary delta-compression technology, only the changes (even if they are to binary parts) from a previous container image will be transmitted, allowing for a significant bandwidth savings and increased efficiency.

SmartSync®’s Advantage Over Competing Approaches

A common approach typical of many other solutions is to deploy a simple compression algorithm like LZW (GZIP, WinZip, etc.) or separate TCP protocol enhancements for all web traffic. This approach does not address dropped packets, frequent disconnects, or differentiate types of web traffic to optimize compression and delivery, which may actually result in more bandwidth consumption in certain situations. Protocol enhancements are also difficult to implement without changes to the OS kernel or TCP stack. Ironhawk’s solution employs compression with resume-on-disconnect to ensure delivery of payload to the client even with packet loss and frequent disconnects. In addition, Ironhawk’s solution uses delta compression which is superior to standard LZW-based compression algorithms on certain payloads. Where standard compression might achieve 5:1 reduction in bandwidth utilization, delta compression has been shown to achieve 50:1 or even higher reduction in bandwidth utilization. Ironhawk’s proven combination of multiple compression techniques combined with reliable transport results in much lower use of bandwidth than LZW type compression or separate protocol enhancements

Authorized government agencies and purchasing authorities are alerted that Ironhawk Technologies, Inc. is qualified as a Small Business Administration-certified small business; and further classified as a small disadvantaged business; a minority-owned business and a Hispanic-American-owned business. To order or if you have any questions, contact David Gomes, President & CEO, Ironhawk Technologies, directly at [email protected] or 310-815-2800, Extension 6201

About Ironhawk Technologies

Ironhawk’s mission is to deliver decision critical data throughout the last tactical mile to the tip of the sword over narrow band satellite communication networks. Its customers include major branches of the U.S. Armed Forces, and several of the largest defense contractors and systems integrators. Ironhawk technology is built to address the critical importance of speed, guaranteed delivery and accuracy as the catalysts that enable intelligent decision making in the theater of operations. The cornerstone of Ironhawk’s solution is its SmartSync® DCS Platform, which integrates compression, transport, synchronization and content management, thus enabling the fast delivery of heterogeneous, complex data across the global theater. For more information about Ironhawk, visit www.ironhawk.com.