News From Washington

Harris Corp. Selected for Phase 1 of US Army's WIN-T Program

Harris Corp. announced that it anticipates the award of a major subcontract from Lockheed Martin Mission Systems, Gaithersburg, MD, for the design and test of the wireless transmission system architecture as part of the three-year competitive down-select for Phase One of the US Army's Warfighter Information Network-Tactical (WIN-T) program. WIN-T is the next generation of military tactical communications systems, featuring an integrated framework of standards and protocols that will optimize offensive military communications. The production phase of the program, if awarded to the Lockheed Martin team in 2005, could increase the total value of the program for Harris to $1 B over a 15-year period.

Bringing enhanced mobile bandwidth and networking capability to the battlefield, WIN-T will provide modern networking technology to US Army war fighters, enabling battlefield situational awareness on-the-move and giving commanders new capabilities to synchronize combat power. The system will provide a highly secure network backbone for high speed communications for voice, data and video on the battlefield, and ensure interoperability with joint and coalition forces.

During the three-year, competitive, down-select phase of the program, Harris will design the transmission systems architecture for WIN-T, applying the company's proven enabling technologies for wireless, on-the-move communications including phased arrays and SecNet-11ª, a revolutionary, Type 1 Secure Wireless Local Area Network (SWLAN) solution. The contract is divided into two phases. Over the 12-month Phase One period, the team will define the architecture for WIN-T, focusing on risk management, technology readiness and coordination with other US Army transformation programs such as Future Combat System. In Phase Two, which runs 23 months, the team will demonstrate modeling and simulation of the WIN-T architecture and develop a prototype system for testing by Army users.

Northrop Grumman and Flarion Promote Scalable Homeland Security Wireless Network

Northrop Grumman Corp.'s Information Technology (IT) sector, a leading provider of advanced IT solutions, engineering and business services for government and commercial customers, and Flarion Technologies, the architect of a mobile broadband network technology for personal computing for data and voice using the industry standard Internet Protocol (IP), announced that the two companies are working together to promote a Homeland Security network communications system based on Flarion's flash-OFDM™ technology (a).

Northrop Grumman IT and Flarion are promoting the network system to government customers wanting the most advanced, secure and flexible broadband network for homeland security and emergency response applications.

The Northrop Grumman IT and Flarion Homeland Security solution provides many significant improvements over existing network solutions, including:

  • A packet-switched voice and data airlink technology (flash-OFDM) for nationwide coverage that replicates the wire broadband computing transport experience.
  • Flarion RadioRouters™ for wireless coverage and access, deployed at cellular base stations around the country.
  • PC cards for personal computing for use with PDA and laptop wireless computing devices.
  • Applications access to any standard office and operational system: Operational Database Applications, Customer Specific Applications (IP), Data Mining as well as Instant Messaging.
  • Communications support for: "Push to Talk" for mobile voice services and "Always On," fully mobile broadband data access and support for priority access.
  • Interoperability with the industry-standard IP network with full support for network and device security (VPN and encryption), Quality of Service (QoS) and seamless handoff to 802.11-based wireless access points.
  • Network management tools which allow for Remote Network Management, ad-hoc/Mobile IP Network Design.
  • Rapid Deployment Cellular Base Station: Cell-on-light-truck (COLT) is equipped with two base stations and an IP network enables the COLT to offer up to five miles of cellular coverage and access to secure or public networks can be deployed at major disaster scenes to ensure continuous communications capabilities regardless of local carrier problems.

"In our own review for national High Speed Wireless Network for Homeland Security, we determined that a completely new approach would be necessary," said Jim Lindenfelser, Northrop Grumman IT TASC vice president and director, Space and Communications. "Flarion's IP friendly airlink and the business case for flash-OFDM convinced us that the communication network could scale to the demands of a federal network system."

"Along with Northrop Grumman IT, Flarion is pleased to offer help and assistance to the US government with their review of solutions for a secure and spectrum efficient wireless network for voice and data," said Ray Dolan, CEO of Flarion Technologies. "Together, we will demonstrate a highly scalable packet-switched end-to-end network which meets and exceeds the current objectives for a Homeland Security communications system."

Flarion's mobile broadband technology is a packet-switched radio access network, which allows licensed mobile operators to offer customers a seamless, always-on connection to the Internet and private networks, extending the personal computing experience beyond the limits of voice or LAN-based network technologies. The flash-OFDM PC-card modem is plug-and-play compatible with existing IP devices, operating systems and applications and does not require any changes to protocol, settings, devices or content.

Teledyne Wins $22 M Contract from Space and Missile Defense Command

Teledyne Technologies Inc. announced that Teledyne Brown Engineering Inc. has received a five-year, $22 M contract from the US Army's Space and Missile Defense Command, to continue the development of Teledyne's Missile Defense Systems Exerciser (MDSE). The contract contains provisions for five one-year award-term options, which, if exercised, would increase the contract value to $46 M and extend the performance period to ten years. The Missile Defense Agency (MDA) uses MDSE to test tactical hardware and software of a variety of missile defense systems in different locations under realistic battlefield scenarios. For example, controllers in Huntsville, AL, can link MDSE with Patriot and Aegis systems in other locations and then exercise the various software systems. MDSE is the MDA's only accredited tool for assessment of interoperability among its theater missile defense components.

Raytheon Awarded $11.4 M for Light Thermal Weapon Sight Production

Raytheon Co. has been awarded an $11.4 M contract by the US Army's Communications and Electronics Command for the production of the Light Thermal Weapon Sight (LTWS). Deliveries are set to begin in the second quarter of 2003, to be completed within one year. The LTWS is designed and manufactured by Raytheon's Tactical Systems business unit in Dallas, TX.

Additional contract award options in excess of $12 M remain available for future production of the LTWS. Developed by Raytheon and the US Army, the LTWS combines rugged, lightweight construction with Raytheon's advanced thermal imaging technology to give the infantry man the ability to shoot equally well day or night, through battlefield obscurants, adverse weather and zero-illumination situations. Weighing less than three pounds, it features a 2-to-1 electronic zoom, electronically programmable reticles and a liquid crystal display. The LTWS successfully completed the US Army's initial operational testing in December 2001 and is part of proven, fielded weapon sights that include the AN/PAS-13 medium TWS and Heavy TWS configurations.