Boeing

Boeing [NYSE: BA] and a team of industry leaders has delivered its proposal to meet the Department of Defense's (DoD) emerging airborne, maritime and fixed station tactical radio requirements.

The Defense Department is in the process of selecting two companies to receive $54 million pre-System Development and Demonstration contracts for its Airborne and Maritime/Fixed Station Joint Tactical Radio System (AMF JTRS) program. The DoD will award the 15-month contracts in June.

"Boeing is at the forefront in bringing network-centric-enabling technologies to the warfighter," said Jake Volkert, vice president, Battle Management/Command, Control, Communications & Strategic Systems, a Boeing business based in Anaheim, Calif. "We are committed to creating an affordable, innovative design ensuring commonality across platforms and providing airborne and maritime forces with unprecedented communications capability well into the 21st century."

The Boeing team is comprised of leading platform integrators, hardware providers and networking experts. Teammates include Rockwell Collins' Government Systems division of Cedar Rapids, Iowa; Harris Corporation's RF Communications and Government Communications Systems divisions of Rochester, N.Y. and Melbourne, Fla.; L-3 Communications' East, West and Integrated Systems divisions of Camden, N.J., Salt Lake City, Utah, and Greenville, Texas; Northrop Grumman Mission Systems sector of Reston, Va.; BBN Technologies of Cambridge, Mass.; and MILCOM Systems Corporation of Virginia Beach, Va.

Boeing, the prime system integrator for JTRS Cluster 1, has extensive experience in JTRS program management, systems and software engineering, joint mobile networks and airborne platform interfaces. Rockwell Collins is a leader in aviation electronics and communications, and has expertise in JTRS radios, airborne communications systems, and airborne platform and fixed station interfaces. Harris, a leading maritime radio developer and manufacturer, has experience in JTRS radios, maritime communications systems, maritime platform interfaces, and security and cryptographic systems. L-3 Communications is a leader in maritime platform radio room design, maritime baseband systems and interfaces, airborne platform system integration and high-rate networked communications. Northrop Grumman is a leader in JTRS network management. BBN is an innovative research and development company with more than 30 years of experience in developing advanced networking technologies. MILCOM is a leader in the installation and integration of advanced U.S. Navy command, control, communications, computer and intelligence (C4I) systems and subsystems.

Together, the Boeing AMF JTRS team combines airborne, maritime and fixed station communications systems development and platform integration experience and methodology, state-of-the art JTRS radio products and technology, high-rate manufacturing capability, and joint mobile networking expertise with lessons learned from JTRS Cluster 1 to provide a high-capability, low-risk and cost-effective approach to implementing the JTRS vision in the airborne, maritime and fixed station domains.

The AMF JTRS program is under joint Air Force and U.S. Navy oversight. Program leadership will rotate between the two services during the acquisition cycle with the Air Force's Electronic Systems Center (ESC) at Hanscom Air Force Base, Mass. having the initial lead. Two contracts will be awarded in June 2004 for the 15-month pre-SDD phase, which will be executed concurrently by two prime contractors with support from two radio houses. The ensuing SDD phase will be full and open competition with contract award anticipated in the fourth quarter of FY2005.