The Army has approved the final design of Increments 1 and 2 of the Warfighter Information Network-Tactical (WIN-T) program, authorizing General Dynamics [GD] C4 Systems and partner Lockheed Martin [LMT] to prepare for field testing in October 2008, the companies said.
“These successful CDRs further demonstrate that the WIN-T program is on track for initial fielding in 2009 and confirms that the Army’s incremental delivery strategy will put broadband, on-the-move communications capabilities in soldiers’ hands as soon as possible,” Bill Weiss, vice president of Tactical Networks for General Dynamics C4 Systems, said.
The team is building test articles for the Increment 2 Limited User Test, enough assets for a division headquarters and two maneuver brigades a General Dynamics spokesperson told Defense Daily.
This testing will be followed by deployment of the WIN-T on-the-move communications capabilities in 2009. WIN-T will be the Army’s primary battlefield communications network.
The approval follows successful critical design reviews (CDR) conducted in January and February. During the CDRs, the Army assessed the systems’ final designs to validate that baseline requirements would be met.
A key success factor in these CDRs was the detailed plan to enable mobile battle command down to the company level. In particular, WIN-T Increment 2 will provide tactical communication nodes, mobile “points of presence,” vehicle wireless packages and soldier network extensions to enable mobile battle command in a completely ad-hoc, self-forming, self-healing network. These warfighter-mobility features will support a commander’s ability to exercise command-and-control and synchronize warfighting functions from anywhere on the battlefield.
Prime contractor General Dynamics and partner Lockheed Martin lead a team of communications, network systems and platform integration experts that includes BAE Systems, Harris [HRS] and L-3 Communications [LLL].