General Dynamics picks Lockheed for $71M WIN-T project
High-speed communications network links soldiers with Global Information Grid
- By David Hubler
- Aug 03, 2010
General Dynamics Corp. has awarded partner Lockheed Martin Corp. a $71 million contract to provide communications hardware and equipment for the transmission subsystem as part of their work on the Warfighter Information Network-Tactical (WIN-T) Increment 2 project.
This is the first part of a multiple-year contract expected to be approximately $400 million in total value, according to an Aug. 2 Lockheed announcement.
According to General Dynamics, WIN-T is the Army’s on-the-move, high-speed, high-capacity backbone communications network that links soldiers on the battlefield with the Global Information Grid (GIG).
The transmission subsystem provides the foundation for the network’s dynamic capability to transfer data over a highly dispersed, non-contiguous area.
As a result, brigade combat teams maneuvering across wide geographic areas will soon be linked with commanders and the Global Information Grid through an on-the-move broadband networking capability.
When completed, WIN-T will provide the high-capacity network backbone that will link warfighters across the battlefield.
The next iteration of WIN-T, Increment 2, will equip tactical commanders’ vehicles with on-the-move broadband communications, enabling them to see and command the battlespace wherever the mission demands, the announcement said.
Under this contract, Lockheed Martin will produce tactical communications equipment that will be incorporated into a variety of combat vehicle platforms. Equipment produced will include Transmission Subsystem radios, modems, antennas and mast systems.
General Dynamics is the prime contractor with Lockheed Martin, BAE Systems, Harris Corp., and L-3 Communications serving as subcontractors on the WIN-T program.
General Dynamics Corp., of Falls Church, Va., ranks
No. 6 on Washington Technology’s
2010 Top 100 list of the largest federal contractors. Lockheed Martin, of Bethesda, Md., ranks
No. 1.
About the Author
David Hubler is the former print managing editor for GCN and senior editor for Washington Technology. He is freelance writer living in Annandale, Va.