The Army Sept. 24 awarded Harris [HRS] Indefinite-Delivery, Indefinite Quantity contract for the first mid-tier networking vehicular radios (MNVR), over competitors General Dynamics [GD], BAE Systems and Raytheon [RTN].
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| Photo: Army PM MNVR |
The radios will provide a link between forces at the company and platoon echelons and their higher headquarters for rapid distribution of data, imagery and other information.
This is the first phase of a total of some 2,500 radios for contract awards worth $140 million over two years.
The Army awarded a $8.4 million delivery order to as many as 232 of the multi-channel radios. These radios will be used for test, certification and integration with current and future Army vehicle platforms.
MNVR is using a modified Non-Developmental Item (NDI) acquisition approach designed to procure lower-cost, commercially-available radios that run government-owned waveforms that meet the Army’s requirement for a “mid-tier” tactical network solution.
“With MNVR, information collected at the farthest tactical edge can be quickly shared across the network, enabling our Soldiers to communicate effectively for any mission in any region,” said Col. Gregory Fields, the Army’s project manager for MNVR, in a statement. “By using a competitive approach to acquire mature technology that meets this need, we will deliver a more affordable, more capable radio to our forces.”
Due to the earnings quiet period and the potential for protesting the award, Harris has not commented. Other competitors await service debriefings and considerations of their options.
Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-N.Y.), said: “The best way to deliver the most capable and dependable equipment to the men and women of our military is to hold fair and open competitions. Our servicemen and women deserve nothing less than the best, which is why I am so proud these radios will be made right here in Rochester by the dedicated employees at Harris. I’ll continue to stand by those workers and our servicemembers by ensuring the Defense Department allows open competition to get the best product at the best possible price.”
Harris employs about 2,500 in Slaughter’s district. She secured language in the defense appropriations bill and the National Defense Authorization Act directing the Defense Department to hold open competitions for radio contracts to encourage technological innovation and affordable prices.
The contract award follows a rigorous full and open competition that included Army assessments of participating vendors’ manufacturing readiness, as well as evaluations of their hardware in government laboratories and in an over the air test.
The MNVR radios delivered under the contract are scheduled to undergo further testing, including a Limited User Test at the Army’s Network Integration Evaluation (NIE) 15.1 in the fall of 2014.
Other initial MNVR radios will be used for certification and integration with vehicle platforms including Strykers, Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles and High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicles (HMMWVs).
The MNVR test, certification and integration activities will inform future decisions by the Army and Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) on additional competitive procurements and potential fielding to operational units. It will also give the Army the ability to collect further information on the mid-tier capability’s contribution to the network architecture.
The MNVR capability consists of modular radios capable of running high-bandwidth, government-owned waveforms including Wideband Networking Waveform (WNW) and Soldier Radio Waveform (SRW). The radios operate as “nodes” in a mobile, ad-hoc network to ensure secure wireless communication and networking services for mobile and stationary forces.
MNVR will allow forces to exchange voice, data and video across echelons from the “upper” tactical network at brigade and battalion to the “lower” tactical network at company and platoon echelons. It supports the Army’s strategy to field tactical communications equipment that is integrated across all echelons of the Brigade Combat Team (BCT), from the stationary command post to the commander on the move to the dismounted Soldier.