The General Dynamics-led Cluster 5 team is now completing preliminary design review, the next critical phase in the U.S. Department of Defense program that leverages software-defined radios to meet stringent size, weight and power requirements for the future warfighter.

"Cluster 5, a program that will revolutionize battlefield communication, is well on its way toward meeting the required performance and functionality needed for production unit tests of the next generation handheld, manpack and small form fit embedded radios by 2008," said Chris Brady, vice president of Assured Communications for General Dynamics C4 Systems.

"Working closely with our customer, we have met all program milestones to date, including systems requirements reviews, program baseline reviews and engineering development test unit deliveries."

Each JTRS Cluster 5 radio is driven by an advanced core receiver the size of a credit card which supports the primary radio functions for each form factor. The flexibility inherent in the 14-variant family of small, light-weight radios will permit warfighters to be more agile and covert than current technology allows. Soldiers will use handheld or manpack configurations to communicate with sensors, remote systems and other warfighters to get an accurate picture of the battlefield.

"Cluster 5 is an integral part of the effort to support joint military operations and distinctly aims to meet advanced tactical communications needs of the Army's future force, including the ability to run the networking waveform (Soldier Radio Waveform) for missions requiring fewer network nodes, lower data rates and lower power requirements," Brady added.

The Cluster 5 radios' "form factors" include three stand-alone manpack and handheld radios and 11 platform-mounted small form fit radios. The small form fit radios include three variants that are embedded into the communications gear carried by warfighters such as the Land Warrior communication systems; four larger variants that can be integrated into unmanned aerial vehicles or attack missiles; one variant for aircraft telemetry; and three variants for unattended intelligent munitions sensors, unattended environmental sensors and small unmanned ground vehicles. Each radio and each configuration will be reviewed during preliminary design reviews conducted by General Dynamics which started in September and continue through November 2005.

To reduce the size and enhance the reliability and performance of the software-programmable radios, the General Dynamics Cluster 5 radio design takes advantage of many advanced concepts such as packaging of semiconductor components and "middle ware" for launching needed applications.

The General Dynamics JTRS Cluster 5 team includes BAE Systems (Wayne, N.J.), which is providing expertise in unattended sensors and unmanned aerial vehicles and the ability to leverage design elements from other JTRS programs. Rockwell Collins (Cedar Rapids, Iowa) is contributing experience in UAVs and critical high frequency radios and encrypted GPS technologies, as well as its ability to leverage significant waveform domain knowledge. Thales Communications (Clarksburg, Md.) is relying on its experience in military tactical handheld radios, including the enhanced MBITR radio, to support the baseline design for the Cluster 5 approach.

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