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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0804.009 1998-2000 fn DEFENSE TECHNOLOGY COMMUNICATIONS i ,I , • • b Reengineering the Radioprq 2 30 a•" The Pentagon and industry plan for software -based transceivers that combine voice, video and data i i 1 C r. 1 -1,2 r' ` eti t ASHINGTON, D.C. — In Au- trucks and soldiers will have versions tai- JTRS, however, have been "lost" amid A T gust 1998 the Pentagon lored to their needs. plans to move existing systems to a com - V \v/ leadership put the word By building to a common standard mon architecture, the report stated, and i out to U.S. military serv- and "migrating" existing systems to that the push for consensus among industry I �� ices that purchases of new battlefield ra- standard, the Pentagon hopes to ensure and the military is "driving the program W dios, with very few exceptions, had to be that all forces at all levels can communi- to focus on the past." ! stopped: the military was newly commit- cate during wartime, which they can't al- Cox concedes that in a perfect world • ted to an innovative family of radios, and ways do today. "It's going to completely the Pentagon would replace all radios in I cn anything that didn't fit within the new redo the way that [military[ people will use today with ones that seamlessly con - s regime had to go. Now, two years later, use communications devices in the fu- nett everyone in a state -of- the -art net - the program is due to command at least ture," remarks deputy program manager work, thereby satisfying the science , half a billion dollars in the Pentagon's Col. Michael C. Cox. Optimistically, the board. But, he says, cost and other factors [ V budget over the next few years, and the first radios could be in use in two years, make this a pipe dream. Better to develop Z radios are slated for use not just in mili- after which as many as 750,000 radios a system that works with existing radios tary platforms but also for the Federal could be replaced within only 10 years— but provides significantly improved com - Aviation Administration and other gov- an extraordinary schedule for the Penta- munications and the ability to upgrade ernment agencies, including local police gon, an institution that has never en- radios with new technology. t and fire departments. The commercial joyed stable funding. In any case, the radio system's poten- market is also expected to be substantial, Cox describes JTRS more as a process tial• is huge, supporters insist. Beyond the reaching into the billions of dollars. than as a traditional military program. military, fire and police departments and i This will be no ordinary radio. Rather His office, he explains, has served as a other emergency- response agencies have than simply transmitting voice, the Joint "catalyst" to commercial cooperation, been eyeing it. Many ambulances, Cox driving "previously an- points out, must carry as many as seven • ti r V s t 1 tagonistic" companies radios, which together can cost more Y': � t,, ',Awl co a 'yj ';, to collaborate on a com- than the ambulance itself. An open -stan- .•, A,, j A z° r rr , Ji i ii a :m„�„ z t mon, open architecture. dard radio could solve this problem, al- _ io, 474,- , a, tiJ = t J ,�� "There are proprietary lowing emergency- response workers of , ,,., k. 7 €` ; software radios out there all stripes to talk to one another. "Why t . 4 -- ` ta J s i 1 » ' l > s - i z today," he notes, "but can't we talk when lives are at stake ?" he ' ',..° ' 'pr ! , ' , ;' I,.; .� « they're not compatible" asks. "This is a radio that would provide a ' �,-.,.� gg with one another. Ray- that interoperability." 4 . . y . l;�sr „f y s . theon, Motorola and First, JTRS must be the boon to the mil- ' " tt ^ ` ' �' `" • 4, Boeing are major play- itary that the Pentagon claims it will be. : 4 1 . 1 , " -i ers, although virtually JTRS is a program driven to an uncom- . ' i 3 " • , . every radio manufac- mon degree by the civilian defense lead - I 6 , ` tumr has an interest. ersh and not the services themselves, Not everyone is hap- and such arrangements do not always • BATTLEFIELD RADIOS may become obsolete if software py with JTRS, though. run smoothly. Overall, according to the • programmable units take over. According to the De- Defense Science Board, military commu- • fense Science Board, a nications funding is inadequate for cur - Tactical Radio System (JTRS), as the Pen- group of influential advisers to the U.S. rent and future requirements. But if in- tagon refers to it, will also simultaneously defense secretary, JTRS isn't the revolu- dustry can be driven to work together on carry video and data transmissions. It tionary leap forward the military needs. a common architecture that meets every - will be the military's first widely used In a February report the board singled one's needs, "then everyone can build to software -based radio, relying on a com- out JTRS as one of the most egregious ex- it," and Cox concludes, "everybody wins." puter to generate multiple waveforms be- amples of a flawed Pentagon communi- — Daniel G. Dupont tween five and 2,000 megahertz. The cations improvement strategy. The "po- software will be based on a wholly tential impact" of JTRS, the advisers said, DANIEL G. DUPONT is editor of the news- , ` "open" architecture, in which the operat- is "clearly under appreciated." letter Inside the Pentagon in Washington, • • ing system is made publicly available, al- JTRS could be the foundation of a Pen- D.C. He described military Image- recognition • though it will have security features such tagon -wide Intranet the panel believes is technole1firc g n the December 1999 • as encryption. Jets, helicopters, tanks, sorely needed. The networking aspects of issue. a ' - , I8 SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN July 2000 Ref. To: ]News & Analysis __ -_ _ ___ _ _ ._ _ _ - - - Ref. Date_ Comm. No, - File No. Ref.. To: eat • • Ref. Dat O 6 . '