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Army pursues new Ground Mobile Radio strategy

October 18, 2011

By Mr. Kris Osborn, ASA(ALT)

The Pentagon, Army and Joint Program Executive Office Joint Tactical Radio Systems (JPEO JTRS) are transitioning their approach to the JTRS Ground Mobile Radios (GMR) program by launching a new, Non-Developmental Item (NDI) effort designed to procure lower-cost, commercially-available radios able to meet JTRS GMR requirements, service officials said.

At the same time, technical advances in radio size, weight and power consumption have inspired some requirements changes and made it possible for industry to produce improved, more-efficient GMR "like" capability at lower costs, said Brig. Gen. Michael Williamson, JPEO JTRS.

Software-programmable JTRS radios, which can make use of encryption to safeguard information, are built to send IP packets of data, voice, video and images via multiple waveforms between static command centers, vehicles on-the-move and even dismounted individual Soldiers on patrol.

The strategy is consistent with a new, more "agile" approach to acquisition which aims to lower costs and deliver capability more quickly by at times blending commercial-off-the-shelf solutions with formal programs of record, said Ms. Heidi Shyu, Assistant Secretary of the Army - Acquisition, Logistics and Technology.

"We want to increase competition because that encourages innovation and brings lower costs. Our adversaries are very adaptive, so our acquisition process has to be agile. We understand that in order to attain this agility we need mature technologies," Shyu explained.

This NDI effort is designed to harness years of investment and technological progress associated with JTRS GMR development and procure available radios that can transmit information using high bandwidth, non-proprietary waveforms such as Wideband Networking Waveform (WNW) and Soldier Radio Waveform (SRW) able to move voice, video, data and images across the force in real time.

SRW is targeted for the individual Soldier, individual small units and sensors; WNW can move information longer distances and is designed for technologies such as Aerostat blimps, vehicles and mobile command posts. Both waveforms can contribute greatly to the creation of a mobile, ad-hoc terrestrial network able to connect dismounted units in austere, forward locations to other units and up to higher echelons of command.

"The key piece is that we have waveforms that deliver capability. Now, as part of this evolution we are going to go back out to industry and say 'can you deliver these waveforms at a lower cost?'" said Williamson. The maturation of these waveforms combined with technical advances in the radio market make the NDI approach a positive step forward for the Army, Williamson said.

"What we have done is develop non-proprietary waveforms. Radio manufacturers that want to leverage this do not have to start from scratch and develop their own waveform. They can port the waveform we have tested and developed onto their radio so we can achieve the interoperability," Shyu said.

Similar to the GMR radios, the NDI solutions will be able to better network the force by using WNW and SRW to move information and connect units on-the-move to one-another. Many of the proposed radio solutions will have two channels, and the new radios will also be backward compatible with legacy or existing radios already in use across the services such as Single Channel Ground and Airborne Radio System (SINCGARS) and Enhanced Position Location Reporting System (EPLRS) radios.

A formal RFP asking industry to propose technical solutions to meet the NDI requirements is expected in the coming weeks, Williamson said.

The NDI effort emerged as a result of a comprehensive analysis of the JTRS GMR program conducted by the Army and the Secretary of Defense. When a decrease in the planned purchase quantity of GMR radios triggered a rise in unit cost and subsequent Nunn McCurdy Breach, the Department of Defense decided not to re-certify the program, thus clearing a path for the Army to pursue lower cost, effective and secure alternatives within the available radio market.

"This approach allows us to get a lower-cost solution faster than we would have been able to had we stuck with the original program," said Lt. Gen. Bill Phillips, Principal Deputy to the Assistant Secretary of the Army - Acquisition, Logistics and Technology. "There are many companies that have the ability to deliver GMR-like radios."

The existing GMR contract with Boeing will expire in March 2012, paving the way for the NDI approach to acquire, test and deliver new radios by 2014 or earlier, Phillips said; the JPEO JTRS program is planning on a full and open competition for the new radios.

The JTRS program office estimates that GMR's ten-year development has incurred approximately $1.6 billion in Research and Development investment.

Also, the NDI competition will leverage the Army's ongoing work with Network Integration Evaluations at White Sands Missile Range, N.M., wherein emerging technologies are placed in the hands of Soldiers with a mind to gaining useful feedback, performing needed integration and evaluating capabilities in a combat-relevant environment before they are sent to theater, Shyu and Williamson said.

"I believe this is a good news story. My view is that in the acquisition business we are supposed to deliver the best capability possible but under the constraints of the fiscal environment. The work that was done over the GMR program of record set the conditions for industry to be able to expend its own research and development dollars to build a more efficient and effective radio," Williamson said.