General Dynamics‘ [GD] C4 Systems yesterday said it recently completed delivery of the first WIN-T Increment 1 equipment to the Army.
Increment 1 builds on the former Joint Network Node-Network (JNN) and provides soldiers with a high-capacity, reliable, secure communications network when they are stopped or “at the halt.”
On schedule deliveries of WIN-T Increment 1 to the 5th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division Stryker Brigade Combat Team (SBCT) at Ft. Lewis, Wash., include networking hubs, network management suites and network nodes. The equipment serves battalion, brigade and division/corps command posts and Expeditionary Signal Battalions. The 5/2 ID SBCT is training with the new WIN-T Increment 1 equipment in preparation for operational tests and evaluations.
“The Increment 1 delivery represents the continuation of a success story that started with our first Joint Network Node fielding to the Army’s 3rd Infantry Division in the summer of 2004,” Bill Weiss, vice president of tactical networks for General Dynamics C4 Systems, said in a statement. “We have met all commitments along the way and have received specific feedback that the Joint Network Node has been very important to the mission of soldiers deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan.”
General Dynamics is also under contract for WIN-T Increment 2, which will provide soldiers with an initial on-the-move broadband networking capability using satellite and radio links. Fielding begins in 2009.
Additionally, General Dynamics is developing the components to meet the full range of network capacity, security, and fully on-the-move capabilities under the WIN-T Increment 3 contract as the Army’s transitions to modular equipment for its future fighting force.
Limited user testing of Increment 3 begins in 2011. The award for WIN-T Increment 4, which represents the last of the developmental program elements, is pending.