Defense asks industry for help to cut its communications cord

A Marine speaks into the headset mounted on his helmet while operating a machine gun. Lance Cpl. Kelsey J. Green/U.S. Marine Corps

At a time when even children have one, if not two, wireless gadgets, soldiers in armored vehicles still communicate the old-fashioned way: through headsets mounted on their helmets and connected by a cord to an intercom system on their tanks or personnel carriers.

The Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command wants to change that. In a request for information issued on Nov. 10, the agency asked industry to submit ideas for a wireless system that the crew in an armored vehicle could use to communicate.

The Joint Tactical Radio System program office at SPAWAR, which is developing a family of battlefield radios for the four services, said it will investigate the feasibility of fielding a cordless communication system for armored vehicles that would include headsets, antennas and an interface to the standard military vehicle intercom system, or AN/VIC-3 .

The current intercom system allows the crew of an armored vehicle, such as the driver and commander of a tank, to talk to each other using headsets in their helmets, which are connected via a cord to a control box where crew members are seated. The system also connects the crew to the vehicle's radios so they can communicate to commanders outside the vehicle. Soldiers use the control box to select of a number of radio channels or to switch to the intercom system.

The Joint Tactical Radio System program office wants the cordless system to provide the same functions as the current communications system but on a wireless platform and with enough range so a crew member can talk over the system from 300 to 550 yards outside the vehicle. SPAWAR also asked that the wireless system transmit high-resolution streaming and still video to a remote crew member over the same distance.

To eliminate vehicle and road noise, the program office wants the cordless system to use noise-canceling technology in the headsets, and also stipulated that they weigh about 2 pounds, if possible.

Army Lt. Col. Elizabeth Bledsoe, provisional product manager for JTRS handheld, manpack and small form fit radios, said in an e-mail that the intent is to eliminate the drawbacks of the corded system, which restrict movement. She said JTRS is conducting its research at the request of the four services.

Although SPAWAR has not issued a formal request for proposals for the system, the potential market could be significant. Cobham Defence Communications LLC has sold more than 120,000 vehicle intercom systems worldwide. With an average of four crew stations per armored vehicle, that could mean a market of nearly 500,000 wireless headsets for the company.

Bledsoe said she did not know how many armored vehicles are operated by all the services or how many cordless systems the services would need.