"My last look at the JTRS program was at the Institute for Defense and Government Advancement's (IDGA's) Software Radio Conference in February. There, Lieutenant Commander William Mason, program manager for Cluster 1, made a brief mention of the delays during his presentation on the Cluster 1 Program, but provided no details."

"The delays will hurt many of the smaller subcontractors who are not currently part of the program. Many of these vendors were hoping to win a piece of the Cluster 1 dollars during the next major contract bidding round, low rate initial production (LRIP), which was originally scheduled for Q1 2006," Hart added.

This month, military and industrial officials are scheduled to begin an 18-day test of three, five-channel ground/vehicle JTRS radios, one seven-channel tactical air control party radio, and the JTRS software communications architecture and information assurance features. The Army said it would use April for test development at the Army Electronic Proving Ground at Fort Huachuca, Ariz., with actual tests running from May 10-28. In August, the Defense Acquisition board will meet to discuss the test results and approve a strategy for JTRS Cluster 1.

"Overall, most vendors did not seem too surprised or overly concerned about the delays. Many industry participants have long thought JTRS was too optimistic in its original time lines, given the scope of the program and the state of SDR technology," concluded Hart.

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