The U.S. Army Communications- Electronics Research and Development Engineering Center awarded Lockheed Martin a contract valued with options at $5.2 million to develop the Coalition Joint Spectrum Management and Planning Tool (CJSMPT). The technology will automate and accelerate spectrum planning, making it easier for troops to communicate while avoiding interference from jamming operations.

The increasing demand for wireless communication has created a critical shortfall in useable spectrum for coalition operations. CJSMPT will help planners manage the spectrum by displaying a real-time, three-dimensional view of frequency use in the battlespace for land, air, and space emitters. By better coordinating radio frequencies within the available spectrum, CJSMPT will allow full and complete communications between field commanders and their assets while not interfering with or receiving interference from jamming activities.

"In the short term, CJSMPT will immediately optimize spectrum use to mitigate the effects of jamming on coalition military systems," said CJMSPT principal investigator Bill Kline, Advanced Technology Laboratories (ATL). "In the long term, it will provide an automated planning tool to mange battlefield spectrum much more efficiently."

A key feature of CJSMPT is its faster-than-real-time simulation capability that can predict and visualize potential interference from on-the-move forces. Prior to this tool, military planners predicted interference based on static analysis, which tended to cause overly pessimistic solutions and loss of opportunity for spectrum reuse. By coordinating all emitters and knowing their locations in a region, spectrum planners will now be able to boost reuse and significantly increase communication bandwidth to coalition forces.

For the first phase of this two-part program, ATL will deliver semi- automated de-confliction technology to the theater in just 11 months. This first delivery will address the immediate requirement to de-conflict the effects of jamming and other critical communications. For Phase II, ATL will deliver a fully automated, networked de-confliction capability for all coalition forces in 11 months.

ATL leads a team that includes Alion Science and Technology.

Headquartered in Bethesda, Md., Lockheed Martin employs about 135,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration, and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products, and services.

For information on Lockheed Martin Corporation, visit: http://www.lockheedmartin.com/

SOURCE: Lockheed Martin