Breaking the bandwidth barrier

[unhappycamper]

Breaking the bandwidth barrier
Staff writer - Staff writer
Posted : Monday Jan 21, 2008 6:48:11 EST

Within five years, the Army may have too little radio spectrum to allow its next-generation networked force to work as it is being designed to work, the service’s outgoing procurement chief said.

Battlefield communications networks that allow friendly forces to exchange voice, data and video signals will be key to an Army equipped with 27-ton Future Combat Systems vehicles instead of 70-ton Abrams tanks. Even with Joint Tactical Radio Systems that move bits hundreds of times faster than earlier radios, the needs of an information-powered force are poised to overwhelm the available bandwidth.

“We have enough to do the job today, but I am not convinced we have enough to do the job I see coming five years from now,” said Claude Bolton, outgoing assistant Army secretary for acquisition, logistics and technology.

Beginning in 2010 and continuing for several decades, the Army will introduce elements of an ever-more-networked force that moves vast amounts of data from soldier-mounted sensors, aerial and ground robots, manned vehicles and more.

Bolton, who stepped down from his job Jan. 2, said the Army is taking several steps to head off a communications crunch.


Rest of article at: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/01/army_bandwidth_080121w/