Interim No More
Written by Adam Baddeley
MIT 2010 Volume: 14 Issue: 5 (June)
The Department of Defense is shaking up how it acquires handheld software defined radios under the Joint Tactical Radio System (JTRS) program. Initial responses were submitted recently for the Consolidated Single Channel Handheld Radios (CSCHR) program, a multi-year indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contract covering the acquisition of up to 197,500 VHF/UHF 30-512 Mhz hand held radios and associated ancillaries over the next five years.
CSCHR is best understood through comparison with its successful predecessor, the Consolidated, Interim, Single-channel, Handheld Radio (CISCHR).
The original CISCHR contract was established in 2007, providing an intervening step that has been used to develop the model now being implemented in CSCHR. Through a single contract, users from all services were able to choose between different companies’ handheld JTRS-approved radios, enabling economies of scale and competitive pricing at the acquisition level and greater commonality in the field.
Contracts were awarded to two companies under CISCHR: Harris RF Communications and Thales Communications for the AN/PRC-152 Falcon III and AN/PRC-148 JTRS Enhanced Multiband Inter/Intra Team Radio (MBITR) (JEM), respectively.
CISCHR established a performance requirement baseline based around performance of the radio using legacy waveforms, notably the implementation of SINCGARS, VHF Line Of Sight and Have Quick. Vendors had to meet that baseline requirement to be part of CISCHR.
But that is not to say that CISCHR was monolithic. The contract contained the options to introduce technology insertion clauses. Companies, following their own timetable, were able to continue to develop their radio and submit solutions to the CISCHR office at the JTRS Joint Program Executive Office (JPEO) for consideration. The JPEO then took the submission and assessed its ability to meet warfighter needs, and if it did so, added it to the contract.
Such additions have been infrequent under CISCHR. One recent example however, has been to support the mine resistant ambush protected allterrain vehicles program, which required a Demand Assigned Multiple Access (DAMA) capability for UHF SATCOM.
“DAMA was not in the original contract, and was offered as a technology insertion clause. That is one example where the contract is flexible enough to accommodate change if there is some urgent requirement need that wasn’t in the original performance requirement,” said Chris Aebli, head of Harris’ JTRS Office in San Diego, Calif., where the JTRS JPEO is based.
“We have definitely seen the advantages of the CISCHR contract as a convenient acquisition vehicle for our customer,” added Jim White, product manager for the AN/PRC-152. “It may not have everything they need today, but it certainly can be enhanced to add that capability over time. Contract systems provide a timely means of providing capability, and being able to deliver that capability to the end-user quickly.”
TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION
While the name change between CISCHR and CSCHR involves only one word— removing “interim” in the program’s title—it represents a significant switch to adopting a more long-term approach and incorporating lessons learned from the first contract. The goal is to give the program the means to adapt to technological innovation over a longer period and allow companies to better leverage their investment over the last few years.
Both companies that participated in the initial CISCHR confirmed that they are bidding for its successor. “I give the JPEO credit for recognizing that there had been a significant need for these handheld radios over the last few years and that is going to continue. They are structuring the CSCHR contract to allow for adding capability and performance, which recognizes the investment that both companies have made over the last three years to these radios to provide what the warfighter wants,” Aebli continued.
In terms of capability, the requirement for CSCHR includes additional waveforms such as the APCO P25, a narrowband public safety solution, and the Integrated Waveform (IW), a UHF SATCOM solution that makes significantly more efficient use of narrowband UHF SATCOM channels, even DAMA. The result is that users operating in low bandwidth environments will be able to move from the squeaky “Donald Duck” tones produced by such systems to more natural voice sounds, allowing those on the network to understand the intent of the speaker.
White commented, “We are leveraging the JTRS Enterprise Business Model to upgrade and enhance and improve and add capabilities to the platform by leveraging the model and the SCA platform. The contract ensured that we’d be able to provide technology to the warfighter quickly.”
NEW CAPABILITIES
Harris’ AN/PRC-152 was certified for use in DoD in 2005. Since then, more than 125,000 have been acquired by the department, the vast majority of them through CISCHR. The unit will be the company’s offering for CSCHR.
“We would look at the new contract as a refresh, where there are capabilities included in that contract that would address some of the product improvements we have made since the original contract was awarded in 2007,” said Aebli.
The company has already added several new capabilities that executives believe will be addressed in the new contract. One of these is the addition of the APCO Project 25 waveform for public safety radio.
“APCO P25 is an optional waveform that was added to the AN/PRC-152 some time ago and was not on the original contract,” White explained. “Another capability in the radio is what we refer to as the high band capability, extending the frequency range of the radio beyond the 30-512 MHz by adding 762-870 MHz, a higher frequency LMR band.”
Adding this high band capability enables interoperability with first responders. Another feature that could be offered in the new CSCSHR vehicle is an integral GPS capability.
“From a more specific road map perspective, Integrated Waveform is certainly the nearest term additional capability that we plan to add to the AN/PRC-152,” said White, adding that he expects this to happen in the near future.
“That capability was first developed in the Harris AN/PRC-117F,” he continued. “We have since ported that capability to the AN/PRC-117G, which is preparing for the Joint Interoperability Test Command (JITC) right now, and we are also porting that capability to the AN/PRC-152 and preparing to engage JITC for certification. It is a very similar path to DAMA. We started there with the AN/PRC-117F, ported it to the ‘G,’ went to JITC certification and followed that with the AN/PRC-152.”
The AN/PRC-152 is notable for implementing both Type 1 Suite A and Suite B, an encryption standard created by the National Security Agency (NSA) in 2009. To complement this, Harris has developed the RF-310HH radio, also recently certified by the NSA, a handheld radio that is interoperable with the AN/PRC-152 via Type 1, but contains the less restricted Suite B.
Another waveform implemented on the AN/PRC-152 is Harris’ proprietary High Performance Waveform (HPW), which is primarily a SATCOM waveform but is also used for line-of-sight terrestrial links. The radio was first used on the AN/ PRC-117 family of manpack radios and implemented on its latest variant, the AN/ PRC-117G.
One ongoing project for Harris is implementation of the Mobile User Objective System (MUOS) UHF SATCOM waveform. The Falcon III AN/PRC-117G wideband networking radio is MUOS ready. Aebli noted that Harris does development through a common platform, starting with the JTRS Software Communications Architecture (SCA), and migrating from one platform to the next.
“We have done it with other waveforms such as HPW, and IW has a similar path. MUOS is going to fall into the same category,” Aebli said.
POSITIVE HABIT TRANSFER
The move from MBITR to JEM is emblematic, observers say, of the transformation in capability that legacy radios are undergoing. By injecting the SCA and crypto modernization into the JEM, Thales has enabled the radio to load JTRS library waveforms onto the radio and accept new encryption schemes as they become available. The upgrade has also upped the number of programmable channels from 100 in the MBITR to 256 in the JEM, and from six to 20 transmission encryption keys for the new radio.
requirement,” said Chris Aebli, head of Harris’ JTRS Office in San Diego, Calif., where the JTRS JPEO is based. “We have definitely seen the advantages of the CISCHR contract as a convenient acquisition vehicle for our customer,” added Jim White, product manager for the AN/PRC-152. “It may not have everything they need today, but it certainly can be enhanced to add that capability over time. Contract systems provide a timely means of providing capability, and being able to deliver that capability to the end-user quickly.”
Current sales of the AN/PRC-148 family are 200,000, of which 75,000 are for the JEM. The JEM sits side by side with the MBITR radio in DoD service; the interface allows warfighters trained in the use of one radio to switch to the other rapidly.
“When it comes to transition to the newer, much more capable radio, you get a lot of positive habit transfer because it’s very similar,” said Walt Hepker, vice president, business development at Thales Communications.
Reliability has been very high with radios delivered under CISCHR. Thales provides a five year warranty on each radio, undertaken at its own facilities, although Hepker noted that the Marines have implemented some of their own repair capabilities.
Thales is implementing SATCOM IW in two drops, with the first due to enter JITC testing this summer and ready for fielding in 2011.
A recent addition to the JEM’s feature list includes over-the-air cloning, which Hepker described as a time saving innovation. “That allows you to greatly simplify the replication of the features within the JEM. You can program other radios wirelessly rather than having to use cables to connect each radio and then download the programming. It’s really simplified the operational use of the radio.”
Previously on the MBITR, cloning was undertaken on a radio by radio basis via cable. With over the air cloning, however, up to 99 JEMS can be cloned simultaneously using wireless.
The Marine Corps has been a regular customer for the MBITR and JEM, most recently awarding contracts to equip 11,000 Marine vehicles with Thales 50W Cradle Vehicle Adapter for the JEM, which has been assigned the AN/VRC-113 nomenclature.
Thales’ work on bringing the MBITR into the JTRS world has also been vital in providing a similar capability to the latest version of the ITT SINCGARS radio. Thales and ITT worked together on DoD’s recent order, announced last year, for further SINCGARS 1523F and the new G radio. For the G model, ITT and Thales are implementing the same software encryption solution as on the JEM, which is due to be in production, ready for fielding in 2011.
Repackaging to provide new capability is a regular feature of the JEM. In the case of the company’s Multichannel Multiband Airborne Radio (MMAR), Thales has taken two JEMs and placed them into a common airborne form factor.
“The MMAR is two Type 1 JEM channels, fully SCA compliant, with programmable crypto and integral co-site, all in a similar size as an ARC-210. It allows for a reduction in size, weight and power for the disadvantaged platform,” Hepker said.
In addition, Thales continues to work with users to anticipate future needs. One example is the Mounted Soldier Cordless Communication System, which uses the JEM to provide a wireless Type 1 link between dismounted troops and their vehicle intercom system.
“We are delivering initial vehicular and dismounted systems later this summer,” Hepker said. “There are some software tweaks and a different mount to put it inside the vehicle. The Army wanted to make sure they had Type 1 communications when they dismounted, and that was one of the key things the JEM can bring to them, along with the advantage of being a widely fielded radio.” ♦
