TAUNTON, Mass. -- General Dynamics C4 Systems, a business unit of General Dynamics, and Lockheed Martin today announced that they had held the U.S. Army`s preliminary design review (PDR) on the Warfighter Information Network-Tactical (WIN-T) program, the Army`s next-generation battlefield communications network.

During the PDR, the Army reviewed the "first draft" of the WIN-T system design, including the top-level architecture and key component technologies. The comprehensive PDR is a detailed analysis of the selected system design to determine that it meets the performance and engineering requirements documented in the development specifications.

The Army performed the PDR to evaluate program progress, technical adequacy, proposed architectures and risk resolution, including the existence and compatibility of the physical and functional interfaces with other systems, equipment, facilities, computer programs and personnel. The overall result is that WIN-T is on schedule for a critical design review (CDR) in September followed by development test/operational test (DT/OT) in November. "This major milestone is an important step to achieving the vision of WIN- T: giving warfighters access to critical battlefield information, seamless connectivity to the global information grid, unified network operations, joint interoperability and security across a host of platforms and points of presence," said Bill Weiss, vice president of future force programs for General Dynamics.

With the PDR accomplished, the General Dynamics/Lockheed Martin team will proceed with building a prototype WIN-T network, which will be used for extensive field testing in November of this year. Completion of that test, combined with the upcoming critical design review milestone, are essential requirements in advance of Army authorization for low-rate initial production (LRIP) of the WIN-T system, currently slated for March 2006. The WIN-T program, currently estimated to be worth $7 billion through 2018, was awarded to a joint General Dynamics/Lockheed Martin team in September 2004.

WIN-T is a secure, high-bandwidth wireless communications network that will deliver mobile connectivity to soldiers across the battlefield. Integrating voice, data and video into a single network, WIN-T will keep troops in the field connected to joint and allied forces with unprecedented reliability. The General Dynamics/Lockheed Martin team has made significant progress in designing a stable, mature WIN-T system that is on track for initial fielding in 2008. In addition to General Dynamics and Lockheed Martin, the WIN-T program team includes Harris Corporation and BAE Systems - North America as collaborators on the transmission system.

General Dynamics
09.07.2005