Enhancing the army bit by bit

The US Army has awarded the General Dynamics-Lockheed Martin Warfighter Information Network-Tactical (WIN-T) team with contract modifications for work on the army’s broadband communications network.

Valued at up to $921m, the agreement covers the continued development and accelerated delivery of the WIN-T system, which is said to provide soldiers with fast, secure and mobile access to the US Defense Deparment’s Global Information Grid.

The modification contract covers work divided into three parts, WIN-T Increment One, WIN-T Increment Two and WIN-T Increment Three.

The first increment involves work to enhance the existing joint networking and satellite communications capability deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan. The second increment, valued at $126m, will deliver an initial on-the-move broadband networking capability using satellite and radio links, scheduled to enter the field in 2009.

Increment Three, valued at $795m, will continue development of WIN-T components to meet the full range of network capacity, security and fully mobile capabilities for the army, with limited user testing scheduled to begin in 2011. The size, weight, power and cooling requirements for systems to be hosted in future army vehicles will also be designed at this stage.