A new enterprise business model for the Joint Tactical Radio System (JTRS) is responsible for a $104 million cost savings and has provided significant momentum for the program, according to Dennis Bauman, Joint Program Executive Officer for the JTRS program, and Howard Pace, Deputy Joint Program Executive Officer, at a media roundtable held Dec. 13 at the Pentagon. The savings were achieved in a recent purchase of 39,000 Army single-channel handheld radios.
Bauman stated that over the past three years, program leadership has taken decisive action to turn JTRS around, including a new governance structure that brings the acquisition, requirements and resource processes together; a new business model that fosters competition in production and drives down costs; and an open systems approach for software development that better meets joint interoperability needs at the most detailed tactical levels.
Program milestones for 2007 were met and future benchmarks are on schedule as a result of improved business practices, including competitive production with back-loaded incentives. "We have developed and are executing a new business model," Bauman said. "First and foremost is competition in production. Manufacturers can submit their own JTRS-capable radio, where we didn't pay for the development, but we will allow them — in fact, welcome them — into the competition when we buy in production."
JTRS has also implemented an open standards approach with interchangeable software for "plug and play" operability; government purpose software rights for increased competition to drive down costs and promote private research and development; and, finally, a joint governance structure unlike anything else in the Department of Defense. The streamlined governance process simplifies decision making while including participation by all branches of the military and Department of Defense interests.
"The increased trust in the program, established as a result of these improvements, was reflected in recent Congressional authorization actions," said Bauman. Critical to bringing net-centricity to the tactical level, the JTRS program is now meeting developmental benchmarks, producing cost-savings, and delivering on its promise to provide capability to the warfighter on the battlefield today.
JTRS
The Joint Tactical Radio System, headquartered in San Diego, California was initiated in early 1997 to improve and consolidate the Services' pursuit of separate solutions to replace existing legacy radios in the Department of Defense inventory. The JTRS program has evolved from separate radio replacement programs to an integrated effort to network multiple weapon system platforms and forward combat units where it matters most – the last tactical mile.
JTRS will link the power of the Global Information Grid to the warfighter in applying fire effects and achieving overall battlefield superiority.
JTRS is developing an open architecture of cutting edge radio waveform technology that allows multiple radio types (e.g., handheld, aircraft, maritime) to communicate with each other. The goal is to produce a family of interoperable, modular software-defined radios which operate as nodes in a network to ensure secure wireless communication and networking services for mobile and fixed forces. These goals extend to U.S. allies, joint and coalition partners and, in time, disaster response personnel.
