Lawmakers back Army's plan for fielding combat communications
By
Bob Brewin
Congress endorsed the Army's plans to incrementally test and field combat communications systems, and provided $298.8 million in funds for the service's network integration evaluation project for fiscal 2012 in a multiagency appropriations bill signed by President Obama last Saturday.
Funding for the project is $12.7 million below the $311.8 million the Senate approved in its version of 2012 Defense appropriations bill and $14.9 million above the $283.9 million the House passed in its version. The Army plans to conduct the network integration evaluations twice a year.
The conference report accompanying the appropriations bill said, "the conferees congratulate the Army on the success of the newly implemented Network Integration Evaluations, which ensure new equipment is interoperable, effective and adds benefit to deployed troops."
The report noted that the 2011 evaluations, which were conducted in June and November at White Sands Missile Range, N.M., "revealed that a handful of programs would not be effective if deployed. The evaluations are causing the Army to reevaluate, restructure and even terminate several programs that began years ago with established requirements."
The June evaluation of the decade-old, multibillion-dollar Ground Mobile Radio under development by Boeing Co. led to the termination of that project in October. Also in June, troops panned the Nett Warrior computer system as too heavy and cumbersome, which led the Army to field a 2-pound system during the November trials.
Col. Daniel Hughes, director of systems of systems integrations said during the fall evaluation that the testing process is designed to quickly determine what works based on soldier feedback. It also allows the Army to assess commercial systems in a simulated combat environment for rapid fielding. "The more commercial technology we can use, the better off we will be," he said.
Army Col. Gregory Fields, program manager for the Joint Tactical Radio System Ground Mobile Radio program, told reporters last month that officials expect to kick off a procurement for a commercial replacement for the Boeing radio in February 2012, with fielding to begin no later than December 2014. Northrop Grumman Corp. and ITT Exelis announced Monday that they have formed a team to compete for the contract.
The Army in September awarded Harris Corp. a $66 million contract to equip eight combat brigades with its AN/PRC-117G radio, which it tested at the November evaluation. Harris also is expected to bid on the Ground Mobile Radio contract.