[Satellite TODAY Insider 05-16-11] Warfighter Information Network-Tactical (WIN-T) prime contractor General DynamicsC4 Systems has awarded a $105 million subcontract to Lockheed Martin to produce additional communications equipment for the WIN-T Increment 2 program, Lockheed Martin announced May 12.

The Lockheed Martin solution includes subsystem radios, modems, antennas and mast systems that will be integrated into a variety of U.S. military combat vehicle platforms. The communications hardware will be designed to deliver on-the-move broadband networking capability to U.S. military personnel using satellite and radio links.

“This ‘self-healing’ network will make up the backbone of WIN-T by adding to its data transfer capability over a highly dispersed, non-contiguous area,” Lockheed Martin C4ISR Systems Vice President Jim Quinn said. “The network also integrates satcom, line-of-sight and terrestrial waveforms to ensure the availability of high-bandwidth, on-the-move connectivity that switches between terrestrial and satellite waveforms, depending on the terrain, allowing commanders to stay connected from company through division echelons, which is greatly needed in today’s dynamic battlefield environment.”

            Earlier this month, the U.S. Air Force accepted Lockheed Martin’s WIN-T solution for integration into its fleet of 1,763 production-model Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning 2 stealth fighters that are currently in production. The WIN-T program’s next iteration, Increment 3, will introduce an airborne network node to the WIN-T system, which aims to increase network reliability and capacity and decrease the size of integrated communications and networking gear for users.

            This is the second WIN-T subcontract that Lockheed Martin has won from General Dynamics in the last year. In August 2010, General Dynamics awarded Lockheed Martin a $71 million contract to provide communications hardware and equipment for WIN-T’s transmission subsystem. General Dynamics’ other WIN-T subcontractor team members include BAE Systems, Harris Corp. and L-3 Communications.