Officials of the Army Contracting Command at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md., awarded the multi-year tactical networking contract to General Dynamics C4 Systems in Taunton, Mass., to support the Warfighter Information Network-Tactical (WIN-T) Increment 1, which provides data, voice, and video communications to battalion and above echelons using satellite communications (SATCOM).
WIN-T Increment 1, which was fielded between 2004 and 2011, establishes a network backbone that provides data, voice and video communications to battalion and above echelons using satellite communications nodes that set up at-the-quick-halt. General Dynamics is the WIN-T Increment 1 prime contractor.
Similar to a home Internet connection, WIN-T Increment 1 enables soldiers to pull over on the side of the road to communicate without setting up complicated infrastructure. It has three types of transportable network nodes that provide high-speed wide-area networking for secure voice, video and data exchange on the battlefield.
The Tactical Hub Node (THN) supports division headquarters; the Joint Network Node (JNN) supports brigade-level headquarters; and the Battalion Command Post Node (BnCPN) supports battalion-level headquarters. The fourth type of node, the Regional Hub Node (RHN), is a fixed installation equivalent to three THNs and supports theater-level operations.
While General Dynamics is building and maintaining components for WIN-T Increment 1, Army leaders are moving forward on successive increments of the WIN-T battlefield networking system.
WIN-T Increment 2 provides on-the-move capability and a mobile infrastructure with military and commercial SATCOM, as well as line-of-sight radios and antennas. It extends the network to company level for maneuver brigades.
WIN-T Increment 2 began fielding in October 2012. Army units that can operate with at-the-halt networking will continue using WIN-T Increment 1, while mobile units will receive WIN-T Increment 2, which enables mobile mission command from division to company in a mobile, ad-hoc, self-forming, self-healing network.
Later, WIN-T Increment 3 will develop network-operation software to simplify management of the tactical communications network to make communications systems easier to install, operate, maintain, and defend.
On this contract General Dynamics will do the work in locations relevant to each order, and should be finished by April 2018. For more information contact General Dynamics C4 Systems online at www.gdc4s.com, or the Army Contracting Command at Aberdeen Proving Ground at http://acc.army.mil/contractingcenters/acc-apg.
