Joint Tactical Radio System: Tactical Network Planning and Management

The Joint Tactical Radio System (JTRS) is the tactical edge communications system and a key enabler for the Department of Defense´s (DoD)´s migration toward a Net-Centric Warfare vision. JTRS provides a family of next generation, software-defined military radios that will support future battlefield tactical communications for all services. JTRS is the tactical edge supporting the GiG´s net-centric environment; therefore the Network Management tool(s) for JTRS can not work as a stovepipe environment. Network Management at the tactical level must move towards a universal approach for Network Planning and Management. This is a change from today´s tactical networks. The effectiveness of the JTRS portion of network centric warfare will depend largely on the operator´s ability to plan complex mobile networks, share the network planning data across a joint battlefield, view network performance data and provide situational awareness data across the different tiers of the JTRS networks. The future JTRS network management tool must enable the war-fighter to operate in this net-Centric environment without overburdening the network planners and mangers with unachievable complexity.