JTRS on track for milestones

Lockheed Martin Corp. officials said at the Surface Navy Association Symposium this week that the company is on track to meet key milestones for the Joint Tactical Radio System program, reports Defense News.

Lockheed Martin won an initial $766 million prime contract last year to develop the system for the airborne, maritime and fixed stations components of the JTRS program. BAE Systems Inc., General Dynamic Corp., Northrop Grumman Corp. and Raytheon Co are all part of Lockheed Martin's JTRS team.

The critical design review for Lockheed Martin’s system is set to take place in May. Demonstrations of the small airborne portion and the maritime/fixed station portion of the program are scheduled for March 2010 and September 2010, respectively. Lockheed expects a Milestone C production decision and the start of the low-rate initial production in November 2011, and the development test and evaluation phase will be complete in November 2012 with the close of the contract.