JTRS Update
Engineering development model marks new
stage of ground mobile radio integration and testing.
This last phase began with the availability of the EDM systems to the JTRS program on September 17 from Boeing, the GMR prime contractor.
The enhanced, integrated hardware and software combine updated versions of both legacy and new networking waveforms. Industry and government testing is slated to begin in late 2009 and continue through the certification process. This process is expected to culminate in a Milestone C review and a government decision to enter into full-rate production in late summer 2010. Milestone C is the final decision point in the approval/disapproval process for any program, and programs must receive favorable recommendations to enter into the production and deployment phase.
“We are very excited about the upcoming tests,” said Army Colonel Daniel Hughes, JTRS Ground Domain program manager for the Joint Program Executive Office JTRS. “These radios will transform the battlefield by bringing secure wideband communications and situational awareness to Marine and Army ground vehicles.
“The radios bring the power of the Global Information Grid into the tactical warfighter’s hands,” said Hughes. When fielded, JTRS GMR will provide commanders with significantly greater situational awareness and command and control on the move. The radio system connects multiple nodes across a secure, selfhealing, multi-channel network, allowing commanders to obtain data, images and video from multiple sources and to quickly provide that information to the warfighter.
“The pre-engineering development models of the GMR have logged more than 100,000 operating hours, including 20,000 hours in field tests and demonstrations,” said Ralph Moslener, Boeing JTRS GMR program manager. “With each successive version of the hardware and software, we are seeing improved operational stability and reliability as we make continuous progress.”
During a recent field experiment, GMR radios provided stable communications in austere environments, on a variety of platforms, as well as successfully testing a scenario with a 12-node network, including three subnets. ♦
