Lockheed shows off tactical network management

Lockheed Martin officials said they have successfully demonstrated a system for managing the military's tactical data networks.

The demonstration was completed as part of the initial phase of a contract for the Joint Interface Control Officer Support System (JSS). The system aims to manage joint multitactical data networks, according to Lockheed officials. Using such networks, warfighters dispersed throughout the battlefield can communicate.

Joint Interface Control Officers (JICOs), first deployed in Afghanistan, plan and execute multitactical data links, according to the U.S. Joint Force Command’s Web site. JSS "will be the JICO’s primary tool to assist him in his job," the Web site states.

JSS will "automate a large volume of tasks currently performed manually by JICOs," according to Lockheed officials. Those tasks include monitoring, planning, and managing what the company characterized as a complex web of data networks.

Lockheed’s demonstration took place at the Navy's Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command in San Diego. The Air Force’s Electronics Systems Center manages the JSS program in conjunction with the Army, Navy and Marines.

Lockheed’s JSS team includes Aerosystems International, Prediction Systems and Titan.

John Moore is a freelance writer based in Syracuse, N.Y.