GD to help modernize mock battlefield

General Dynamics Corp. will provide communications networks as part of an upgrade of the battlefield environment at the Army's National Training Center in Fort Irwin, Calif., the company said today.

AT&T Government Solutions chose General Dynamics' Network Systems division to work on the project. AT&T Government Solutions, which is responsible for the program's communications infrastructure, is a subcontractor to Lockheed Martin Corp.'s Simulation, Training and Support unit, which has overall responsibility for upgrading and modernizing the center's live-training capability.

The National Training Center is a desert area the size of Rhode Island. It provides a setting for war games needing up to brigade-level engagements. General Dynamics will provide the network architecture design for local area, campus area and metropolitan and wide area networks as well as information technology services, including technology insertion, information assurance, instruction and training.

During the project's first phase, General Dynamics will evaluate the training center's communication systems and determine what can be reused. The company also will evaluate the use of fiber optics and oversee integration of the communications system.

Headquartered in Falls Church, Va., General Dynamics employs about 69,400 workers worldwide and had 2003 revenue of $16.6 billion. The company is No. 6 on Washington Technology's 2004 Top 100 list of government contractors.