WRANGLING RADIO REQUIREMENTS
opportunity to ask and answer questions about the proposed requirements, and the Army uses the responses to determine if the requirements are achievable and if any changes need to be made before an RFP is released.
To incorporate the user perspective, the Army
gathers information from STAYING CONNECTED
Soldiers train on the MNVR at Fort Huachuca, AZ, in 2014. MNVR connects the lower-tier tactical network at the company level with the upper tier at battalion and brigade. It is the first radio to be procured using the NDI strategy that relies on industry to fill the hardware requirements for the radio. (U.S. Army photo)
and platform integration prior to planned fielding in FY17.
Te Army is now using the NDI approach to procure the next generation of radios in the PM TR fleet, including the full-rate production HMS Rifleman and Manpack radios and airborne radios. Similar to the smartphone concept, the HMS (Handheld, Manpack and Small- form Fit) acquisition strategy includes frequent competitions for delivery orders that will allow the Army to incrementally refresh its radio hardware as needed, as technology advances.
Te NDI approach will incentivize indus- try innovation and deliver better radios to Soldiers as they become available on the market. From a requirements per- spective, however, this path ahead poses unique challenges—and opportunities.
REQUIREMENTS PARTNERSHIP Writing requirements for an NDI purchase is a balancing act: Te requirements must
38 Army AL&T Magazine July-September 2015
give vendors enough specifics to direct their research and development invest- ments, yet also allow room for incremental innovation and improvement. In develop- ing a request for proposals (RFP), PM TR works closely with the TRADOC capabil- ity manager for tactical radios (TCM TR) to shape the requirements for each radio as part of the capability production docu- ment (CPD), which defines the necessary elements for each radio. Soldier feedback informs requirements to ensure that the radios meet user needs and expectations. Industry also informs the requirements based on what they know to be techni- cally feasible today and in the future. We also leverage the latest technologies emerging from research and development efforts at the U.S. Army Research, Devel- opment and Engineering Command’s Communications-Electronics Research, Development and Engineering Center to additionally refine the radio requirements.
One way that we gather information is through requests for information (RFIs). Te RFI process gives vendors an
TRADOC’s Maneuver Center of Excellence (MCoE), which works with mission-command elements of BCTs. In response to feedback from the MCoE for a lighter dismounted Manpack Radio, the Army released an RFI to help deter- mine if and when a reduced weight could be achieved and what capability trade- offs would be involved. Feedback from the RFI will help refine requirements for the radio over time, which will become part of the CPD and feed into the full and open competition for the Manpack.
We also worked together to include the requirements for a secret-and-below version of the Rifleman Radio, when dismounted leaders started using the handheld radio in conjunction with the secret-level Nett Warrior device. Te original AN/PRC-154 version of the Rifleman Radio did not pass classified data such as Soldier position location information. By amending the CPD and modifying the existing low-rate initial production Rifleman contract, the AN/ PRC-154A Rifleman Radio was certified for secret-and-below information and can seamlessly attach to the Nett Warrior to pass messages and GPS locations.
Te Army has added several potential Rifleman Radio features as objective requirements, which indicate to industry the improvements the Army is seeking in the future. When we released the RFP in January for full-rate produc- tion of the Rifleman Radio, we added a two-channel option as an objective
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