The contract, with an overall value of more than $54 million to the team, is the first step in providing radios that are expected to be integrated into more than 150 airborne, shipboard and fixed station platforms.
The objective is to enable these platforms to communicate seamlessly and with greater efficiency in the joint battlespace environment.
The Boeing team, which also includes Harris Corporation, L-3 Communications, BBN Technologies, Northrop Grumman Mission Systems and MILCOM Systems Corporation, has been awarded one of two 15-month contracts by the U.S. Air Force.
In this Pre-SDD phase, the team will develop system architectures and initial designs for the next iteration of JTRS software-defined radios and complete a Preliminary Design Review after 11 months.
The ensuing SDD phase will be based on a full and open competition with contract award anticipated in the fall of 2005.
Under the program, Rockwell Collins is responsible for radio design, fixed site radio integration and platform integration support.
"Rockwell Collins' unique expertise in airborne and fixed site communications, and expanding presence in the maritime domain, will enable the Department of Defense to achieve its transformation objectives," said Greg Churchill, Rockwell Collins executive vice president and chief operating officer, Government Systems.
"This win, combined with our previous JTRS awards, positions Rockwell Collins as a leader in advanced communication systems for all branches of the U.S. military."
Rockwell Collins is also on the Boeing team that is developing and will be producing a software-defined radio communications system for the U.S. Army JTRS Cluster 1 program and is a member of the General Dynamics Cluster 5 team.
All of the JTRS programs support the Department of Defense vision to create an Internet Protocol-based network that is an extension of the Global Information Grid.
The JTRS radio is a layered, software reprogrammable open architecture system. Rockwell Collins' unique packaging concept functionally partitions modules, enabling flexibility of operation, adaptability for future growth and substantially improved mission effectiveness.