Written by Joint Program Executive Office (JPEO)
MIT 2009 Volume: 13 Issue: 10 (November)
JTRS Shines at Army Showcase
AUSA Includes Demonstrations of the Current
Capabilities of the Wideband Networking Waveform.
Editor’s Note: This is another in a regular series of updates on the Joint Tactical Radio System (JTRS), as provided by the program’s Joint Program Executive Office (JPEO).
Attendees were able to view a vast array of products being developed by the JTRS Airborne, Maritime/Fixed Station (AMF); Ground Mobile Radios (GMR); Handheld, Manpack and Small Form Fit (HMS); Network Enterprise Domain (NED); and Multifunctional Information Distribution System (MIDS) program offices. Subject matter experts from each of the program offices were on hand to answer both programmatic and product related questions.
Conference participants were provided with demonstrations by the JTRS GMR program office of the Wideband Networking Waveform’s (WNW) current capabilities. Utilizing the JTRS preengineering development model GMR radio, live video and data was streamed between four geographically separate areas, allowing conference participants to use VLC media player, chat (texting) using NetMeeting, whiteboard mapping using NetMeeting, and Voice over IP using Speak Freely.
“Commanders and soldiers are now able to use the voice, video and data communications services for collaborative mission planning, text chat, viewing maps and white boards, sharing video and images,” said Major David Jimenez, JTRS GMR assistant product manager.
JTRS teamed with both the Army’s acquisition and modernization offices, by providing equipment displays from the HMS and GMR programs, both of which are key to delivering the future networking capabilities to the tactical mounted and dismounted soldier.
“JTRS was given the opportunity to represent the entire joint aspect of our program and also show how JTRS will specifically benefit the Army,” said JPEO JTRS spokesperson Jeff Mercer. JTRS provides the future of communication among ground, maritime and airborne warfighters. Offering the power of computer networks without the cumbersome infrastructure, JTRS solves military communications interoperability problems. Software- defined radios provide the warfighter with unprecedented flexibility, bringing new situational awareness and security capabilities to the battlefield while integrating with existing radios. Early next year, JTRS will continue to demonstrate its robust networking and interoperability product capabilities during the AFCEA West conference taking place February 2-4, 2010, in San Diego, Calif. ♦
