SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., 14 May 2009. Soldiers in the U.S. Army 4th Brigade - 2nd Infantry Division in Fort Lewis, Wash., and 3rd Infantry Division in Fort Stewart, Ga., have completed a Limited User Test (LUT) of the Warfighter Information Network - Tactical (WIN-T) Increment 2. As a result, WIN-T Increment 2 for the first time delivers on-the-move, Internet-like broadband networking capabilities to military units across geographically dispersed areas.
A General Dynamics-led team supported the testing, during which soldiers from the two units planned and executed multiple missions, sharing command-and-control information from the command post down to the company level using WIN-T, reveals a representative.
"This is the largest and most complex user test for WIN-T and demonstrates just how critical a weapon the network is in the Army's arsenal because it is what soldiers will depend on to communicate on the battlefield," says WIN-T project manager Colonel William C. Hoppe, Program Executive Office for Command, Control, Communication-Tactical for the U.S. Army Communications and Electronics Command at Fort Monmouth, N.J.
The military exercises, which began March 18 and ended March 30, constitute the first time that soldiers used the WIN-T network across multiple geographic locations. During the LUT, soldiers carried out realistic mission scenarios that tested WIN-T's ability to support continuous command, control, communications, and intelligence functions used by warfighters and commanders during an operation.
If deemed successful by the Army's Evaluation Center, completion of the LUT paves the way for the Army to approve low-rate production of the system, continues the company official. Upon final approval, fielding of the new equipment to the first unit will begin in late 2010.
General Dynamics C4 Systems is the prime systems integrator for WIN-T and is teamed with Lockheed Martin, BAE Systems, Harris Corp., L-3 Communications, Juniper Networks, and CISCO Systems.
