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DID has covered the JTRS program extensively, from our in-depth article covering the concept and Boeing’s Cluster 1 problems to notes re: the program’s rising costs to the potential for interim solutions and speculation that the program may be scaled back. With Congressional cuts in the program almost certain for FY 2006, DefenseTech reports that the whole idea behind the JTRS program may be under review due to the complexity, cost, and technical overhead inherent in the concept.

DefenseTech explains some of the challenges inherent in JTRS, offers some analyst views, and explains a possible alternative approach that combines existing multi-capability software-defined radios with the routing of more transmissions via the Pentagon’s expanding digital networks. This would move JTRS closer in concept to Israel’s Tsayad program, which received the #2 ranking in C4SI Journal’s June 2005 ranking of the 30 Top Network-Centric Systems.