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US Army to Field Rifleman Radio in Afghanistan

By on Wednesday, January 25th, 2012

The General Dynamics C4 Systems JTRS HMS Rifleman Radio (AN/PRC-154) and the General Dynamics Itronix GD300 wearable computer deployed this month to Afghanistan with elements of the 75th Ranger Regiment. The Rangers are equipped with the Rifleman Radio for intra-squad communications and with the GD300, running the Tactical Ground Reporting (TIGR) tactical ‘app,’ to send text messages, situation reports and other information to individual solders. Feedback from planned operational assessments will be used to inform the future fielding of the Rifleman Radio to the Army as a whole.

“This capability provides unprecedented communication and situational awareness that changes how soldiers fight,” said Chris Brady, vice president of Assured Communications for General Dynamics C4 Systems. “The JTRS HMS Rifleman Radio is ready for combat and could reduce the military’s dependence on interim radio solutions that are unable to deliver anything like this.”

The JTRS HMS program office and the Ranger Regiment decided to conduct the operational assessment following three separate successful evaluations in 2011. The Rifleman Radio is part of the Joint Tactical Radio System (JTRS) Handheld, Manpack, Small Form Fit (HMS) radio family.

The JTRS HMS Rifleman Radio provides reliable networked voice and data communications in austere and cluttered urban environments using the government’s Soldier Radio Waveform (SRW). The General Dynamics GD300 is an Android®-based, full-rugged, wrist or body-worn computer. When paired with the Rifleman Radio, the GD300 displays the position-location information of all soldiers in the network. Soldiers can also use the GD300 touch-screen display to place pictorial graphics and send maps to team members or their leaders using the TIGR ‘app.’

The75th Ranger Regiment, a rapidly deployable strike force, is the largest special operations combat element in the U.S. Army. The 75th Ranger Regiment has been continuously deployed in support of the War on Terror since October 2001.

General Dynamics C4 Systems is a business unit of General Dynamics.

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