Big-ticket army program still lacks communications network.

THE COMMUNICATIONS network that is the basis for the Army's $160 billion "future combat systems" continues to suffer setbacks and its costs are expected to soar.

A hacker-proof high capacity network that would connect Army vehicles and soldiers is a fundamental underpinning of the future combat systems, or FCS, which the service has billed as the linchpin of its modernization plan.

The network is in development as part of the Defense Department's Joint Tactical Radio System. One of the components of JTRS is a "ground mobile radio" networking device that would be installed on all FCS combat vehicles, missile launchers and robotic systems. But the GMR program has been sidelined by a series of technical glitches and, according to sources, by the Army's difficulties in obtaining the critical certification from the National Security Agency. Meanwhile, the research-and-development costs of GMR have gone from $400 million to more than $1.5 billion, while the program continues to see delays.

One official who follows the program closely said that the FCS has yet to come to grips with NSA's network security requirement. The Army had expected that the JTRS program would address those issues on behalf of FCS.

Miscommunications between the Army and NSA contributed to the problem, the official said. The Army initially had described FCS as a "closed" network of only U.S. users, but later revised its request to allow foreign allied participation. The JTRS office currently is restructuring the GMR program. At the same time, the Army is trying to move FCS forward even though it lacks the required radios. In a recent experiment of FCS technologies, 125 "surrogate" JTRS radios were made available. Those radios were not full-up prototypes but simulated "form factor" devices, the official said.

The misunderstandings that contributed to the delays in obtaining NSA certification are expected to be ironed out.

"NSA has supported JTRS since the program's inception in 1997," said agency spokesman Ken White. "NSA approves of the use of software defined radios for secure communications."

Because FCS is relying upon JTRS radios for tactical networking communications, White said, "NSA is closely linked to both programs, and we support the use of JTRS in the FCS program.

"Although addressing security problems may cause program setbacks, the security of the products on which our war fighters rely is paramount," White said.

NSA recently certified two handheld radios that subsequently were endorsed by the JTRS program office. It took about two years for each radio manufacturer to secure NSA certification.

The GMR program began in 2002. In a recent report, the Government Accountability Office warned that the Army "has not yet been able to mature the technologies needed to generate sufficient power as well as meet platform size and weight constraints."

Although the program's management was revamped in 2005, it has yet to produce "formal acquisition strategies, independent cost estimates, and test and evaluation plans," GAO said. "It is unclear whether the capabilities will be available in time for the first spin-out of FCS capabilities in 2008. Fully developed prototypes of JTRS radios are not expected until 2010 or later."