Innovative Designs, Smart Manufacturing Deliver Soldier Readiness

Estimated reading time: 4 minutes

Product Manager, or PdM Radars, contacted the C4ISR PIF team to redesign the LCMR's cab kit, which houses various C4ISR equipment, so that it could be easily integrated into a High-mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle, or HMMWV, for on-the-move capability.

"The original kit did not account for all of the LCMR-specific mission equipment and was a safety concern for Soldiers while on the move," said Mark Miltenberger, C4ISR PIF project lead. "Our redesign-enabled Soldiers to easily mount their SINCGARS [Single Channel Ground and Airborne Radio System] radios, mission command situational awareness capabilities, a laptop, and peripherals onto a HMMWV."

PdM Radars also required a power distribution box that allowed the radar to be powered directly from the HMMWV while on-the-move or from a generator when parked. C4ISR PIF engineers completed both designs in seven months, then integrated the first set of HMMWVs from top to bottom. Members of the TYAD team joined the PIF engineers at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, to cross train on the power box assembly, wiring and testing.

"We completed the redesign to meet customer requirements and then produced a sufficient number of boxes to support the initial fieldings," Manning said. "That production rate shifted once we transitioned the work to TYAD, but throughout the process, both teams have been working in concert."

PdM Radars realized additional efficiencies by shifting all full-production integration services to the regional support center in Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and CERDEC C4ISR PIF engineers assisted with this transition by providing training to the engineers on Fort Bragg.

"Building capabilities organically within the Army gives us the flexibility to shift production functions to ensure the best value for the Army," Miltenberger said. "We all have one common goal, and that is to field new technologies to the Soldiers as quickly and cost effectively as possible."

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