|
AT&T Upgrades Army's Battlefield Training System
TMCnet VoIP Minute Watch Columnist
AT&T's Government Solutions division announced on Tuesday that it was a $15 million contract extension to develop the Army's next generation of live battlefield training systems.
The One Tactical Engagement Simulation System (OneTESS) contract calls for AT&T to develop realistic war-game technologies that simulate non-line-of-sight weaponry. AT&T and its team of IT companies will be awarded $5.8 million to achieve this particular project. The new system will eventually replace the Army's "laser tag" technology. The system requires the AT&T team to use both wired and wireless networks to determine whether a target was hit and the degree of damage it sustained.
Under a second contract, called Combat Training Center Objective Instrumentation System (CTC-OIS), the telecom giant and its subcontractor teammates will be awarded $9.1 million to develop a communications network to handle mobile voice, data and video traffic at the U.S. Army National Training Center in Fort Irwin, Calif. The award will be made by Lockheed Martin's Orlando-based Simulation, Training & Support Company, the prime contractor on the project.
The second contract will require AT&T to design and implement a complex communications network infrastructure in Fort Irwin, a rugged desert training area about the size of Rhode Island that is used by the Army to prepare soldiers for combat. The backbone network will handle the high-speed communications needed to simulate a realistic battlefield, including the timely feedback to the training unit's soldiers and unit commanders, which will result in a better analysis of battlefield performance and improved training.
OneTESS and CTC-OIS were initially awarded in April 2004, and both are managed by the U.S. Army Program Executive Office for Simulation, Training and Instrumentation.
"We're delighted to be able to use our expertise in communications to help the Army and Lockheed Martin with this critical job," said Lou Addeo, president of AT&T Government Solutions. "The network we're building will be the foundation for a new and improved way of training and preparing our soldiers for tomorrow's battle."
AT&T Inc. made news last week when it announced it won a networking contract from Ducks Unlimited (DU), a wetlands conservation organization. The deal calls for the telecom giant to provide a portfolio of data, voice, hosting and high-speed Internet access services supporting DU' locations around the country. DU's Web site is hosted at AT&T's Internet Data Center (IDC) in the Atlanta area. AT&T operates 30 IDCs around the world.
"Reliability is the main reason we do business with AT&T," said Andy Pulliam, director of Information Systems of Ducks Unlimited. "Our business operations rely heavily on e-mail, as most businesses do today, and we need a provider we can count on. In addition, our Web site is a key way of keeping in touch with our 700,000 members. After doing business with others in the past, we can really appreciate the value of AT&T."
AT&T Inc.
-----
Johanne Torres is contributing editor for TMCnet and Internet Telephony magazine. To see more articles by Johanne Torres, please visit Johanne Torres' columnist page.
[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
|
TMCnet LOGIN
Webinars
