The Army's Wireless Communications Programs

The Armys plans for operating its forces rely on the ability of those forces to rapidly process and exchange large amounts of information during battle. The availability of new, high-capacity radios purchased by the Army under a number of wireless communications programs is key to the service s achieving that capability. Capacity refers to the rate at which a radio can transmit and receive data measured in bits per second. The Army divides its wireless communications efforts into two sets tactical programs and strategic programs. Tactical programs enable Army units in the field to communicate among themselves when deployed to conduct a particular military operation. For the most part, strategic programs provide Army units with long-range communications capabilities using satellites. In particular, strategic programs enable units in the field to communicate with higher headquarters above the division and brigade headquarters level, for example located outside the vicinity of the units operations they also enable communications among higher headquarters and other Army facilities and installations. In this report, the Congressional Budget Office CBO summarizes the content of the Armys wireless communications programs and how that content has changed during the past several years. CBO also examines the past and projected costs of those programs and the extent to which the Armys plans for one of the most expensive of its tactical wireless programs the Joint Tactical Radio System are consistent with the services plans for equipping its future forces.