Boeing, Lockheed Martin targeting AMF JTRS PDR in August By Rodney Pringle Aerospace Daily & Defense Report 06/08/2005, page 30 The next milestone in the Department of Defense's Airborne and Maritime/Fixed Station Joint Tactical Radio System (AMF JTRS) program will occur this August when the department conducts a preliminary design review for the program. DOD officials said June 3 that Boeing and Lockheed Martin - the two companies vying for the system development and demonstration (SDD) JTRS AMF contract - recently submitted successful designs for the program's system design review phase. The approved designs have set the stage for the PDR in August, the DOD said. "The AMF JTRS industry partners have developed innovative solutions that appear to meet Joint Services requirements," Capt. Matt Kercher (USN), deputy program manager for AMF JTRS, said in a statement. "We have seen some exciting product development over the past six months and look forward to seeing more as the system matures." Pre-SDD JTRS is a family of common, software-defined programmable interoperable radios built around a standard open architecture. The radios will enable warfighters to communicate with each other regardless of the frequency, modulation or bandwidth being used by their equipment. In September, the DOD awarded Boeing and Lockheed Martin contracts for the presystem development and demonstration phase of the JTRS AMF program. JTRS AMF is designed to integrate radios onto airborne fixed wing and rotary wing platforms, unmanned aerial vehicles and ships, submarines and fixed ground stations worldwide. The DOD could select a winner for the SDD phase of JTRS AMF as early as this year. Cluster 1 problem Analysts recently told DAILY affiliate NetDefense that Boeing's ongoing problems with the DOD's JTRS Cluster 1 program could hurt the company's bid to be lead contractor for AMF JTRS. JTRS Cluster 1 will support communications for Army rotorcraft and Army and Marine Corps ground vehicles. "If Boeing is having trouble on [JTRS Cluster 1], I would guess the Army would think twice" before it gives them another part of the program, Paul Nisbet, a principal analyst with JSA Research, told NetDefense. "I'm pretty sure of that." In April, the DOD issued Boeing a "show cause" letter saying it was considering terminating its billion-dollar JTRS Cluster 1 contract with the company "due to Boeing's anticipated failure to meet cost, schedule and performance." Boeing said its response to the Pentagon this past month was "a first step toward developing a realistic plan for moving forward" with the JTRS Cluster 1 program. Steven Davis, a spokesman for the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command in San Diego, told NetDefense last month that the JTRS Joint Program Executive Office (JPEO) is "conducting a thorough assessment of the JTRS program to synchronize cost, schedule and funding health for all clusters." He also said the JPEO will engage Boeing in subsequent discussions "to chart the best path forward for Cluster 1."