November 2010

Multinational Experiment 6 sends one concrete solution directly into Afghanistan and creates inroads into coalition collaboration concepts that are being integrated into individual nations' military and political doctrine.

Part of the USS Cole has found new life in a field in New Jersey. Engineers at the Vice Adm. James H. Doyle Jr. Combat System Engineering Development Site (CSEDS) Aegis Technical Representative (TECHREP) in Moorestown refurbished the SPY-1B/D antenna that was installed on the ship when it was attacked by terrorists in 2000.

On June 25, 2010, the Army issued a request for proposals for the migration of information technologies into a cloud environment. A statement of work defines this as the “Army’s Private Cloud.” The contract reportedly could total $249 million over five years, or an average of $50 million per year. When one compares the proposed spending with the Army’s fiscal year 2009 information technology budget of $7.8 billion, the project accounts for only 0.6 percent of the Army’s budget. That is a modest start for moving in the direction in which commercial firms already are progressing at an accelerated pace.

The U.S. Army’s Program Executive Office Soldier is working with a focused fervor to carry out its responsibility to refine the development of and supply virtually every piece of equipment soldiers wear or carry. As troops engage in persistent conflicts around the globe, they require a new set of technologies to achieve their missions. To ensure victory on the battlefield, these tools must make forces more lethal, survivable, sustainable and agile. Office personnel are working to ensure they do just that, whether the situation calls for a new uniform or a state-of-the-art technical device.

In an effort to improve situational awareness down to the squad leader level, the U.S. Marines Corps and Army intend to provide the next-generation situational awareness software on ruggedized handheld platforms similar to smart phones or personal digital assistants. The Joint Battle Command-Platform is the second increment of Force XXI Battle Command Brigade and Below software that was fielded more than a decade ago. The new platform is intended to provide integrated, on-the-move, timely, relevant command and control and situational awareness information at all echelons, enabling units to become more survivable and lethal. It also will improve combat effectiveness, reduce risk of fratricide, improve latency, security and interoperability within the joint environment, and provide an integrated network with increased bandwidth and a more user-friendly interface.

Members of a tactical operations center soon may be able to count on chatting as a reliable means of second-to-second communications with each other and those in other centers. As part of a Small Business Innovation Research project, the Space and Naval Warfare Center–Pacific is exploring readily available commercial solutions that would enable numerous centers’ members to keep up to date even after systems go down. If fielded, the system also would increase bandwidth usage efficiency and communications dependability.
Research into the capability is being conducted as part of the larger Joint Tactical Radio System (JTRS) program. The most recent development includes the move to the second phase of a contract with CoCo Communications Corporation, Seattle, and comprises continued research and new testing of a distributed chat capability.

Be honest. When was the last time you thought about the frequency spectrum? For most of you, the answer is probably, “not lately.” We take spectrum for granted. As with water and air, we figure there always will be spectrum when we need it. Just as we have found in recent years that there isn’t always enough clean water and air, we are starting to realize there may not be enough spectrum to meet all requirements.

The great green Hulk of comic-book lore becomes superstrong when angered. Now, the U.S. Army is investigating a tool with a similar name that will allow warfighters to extend their strength, enabling them to carry heavy weights without straining their bodies—and without the need to take on a broccoli-like hue. By equipping troops with an exoskeleton, developers believe they can help reduce military members’ burdens and assist them in better conducting their missions.