JTRS Update
Written by Joint Program Executive Office (JPEO)
MIT 2010 Volume: 14 Issue: 7 (August)
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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).
The Soldier Radio Waveform (SRW) is a state-of-the-art tactical wireless communications software application that provides a quantum leap beyond point-to-point legacy radio technology employed today. As the first formally qualified JTRS Increment 1 waveform, SRW provides critical tactical edge connectivity between dismounted soldiers, vehicles, aircraft, unmanned systems and ships. As the JTRS program’s premier mobile ad hoc networking platform for voice and data, SRW is specifically designed for the dismounted operator and sensor networks where battery weight and conservation, as well as cyber-hardened net-centric interconnectivity, are at a premium.
SRW is being integrated into numerous JTRS radio form factors as well as current force radios, including radios embedded on sensor nodes, handheld radios, manpack radios carried by dismounted troops, platform-powered radios mounted on ground vehicles and airborne manned/unmanned vehicles. Establishing SRW on these radio platforms is critical to achieving the operational vision of the Army’s brigade combat team modernization plan and providing a robust networking capability down to the individual soldier, sailor, airman and marine engaged in tactical field operations.
Compared to the existing deployed waveforms it replaces, SRW provides advanced tactical networking capabilities that allow joint warfighters to communicate on the move at greater bandwidths, over multiple hops, at longer ranges, and with much improved security and information assurance.
“SRW continues to demonstrate capability that exceeds expectations, most recently as an integral part of the Army’s large scale brigade combat team integration exercise at White Sands Missile Range, N.M., in July 2010,” according to Captain Jeff Hoyle, the JTRS Network Enterprise Domain program manager responsible for SRW development. “SRW performed extremely well in that harsh field environment similar in many ways to the mountain regions of Afghanistan, and it earned high praise from the combat-experienced soldiers employing it, solid positive assessments from the Army Test and Evaluation Command observers, and a description of ‘absolutely amazing’ from the Army vice chief of staff.”
The JTRS Network Enterprise Domain (JTRS NED) is the heart of the interoperable networking capability of JTRS. The domain’s product line comprises 14 legacy waveforms (Bowman VHF, COBRA, EPLRS, Have Quick II, HF SSB/ALE, HF 5066, Link 16, SINCGARS, UHF DAMA SATCOM 181/182/183/184, UHF LOS, VHF LOS); three mobile ad-hoc networking waveforms (Wideband Networking Waveform (WNW), SRW, and Mobile User Objective System–Red Side Processing); and Network Enterprise Services, including the JTRS WNW Network Manager, JTRS Enterprise Network Manager and Enterprise Network Services Phase 1.
JTRS NED forms the basis of the JTRS software defined radios, including the Ground Mobile Radio, Handheld, Manpack and Small Form Fit radios, Airborne and Maritime/Fixed Site radios, and Multi-functional Information Distribution System radios. Its highly reliable system leverages commercial technology and employs open-system architecture.
With multiple frequency bands and multiple channels, JTRS NED is fully interoperable with legacy operational requirements document waveforms, can be upgraded while in the field, and develops networking waveforms to support wireless networking with Global Information Grid connectivity for deployed warfighters at the tactical edge. ♦
