The US Army has successfully completed the first developmental test of the warfighter information network-tactical (WIN-T) Increment 2 enhancements at the Aberdeen Test Center in Maryland, US.
The army has upgraded the capabilities of the WIN-T Increment 2 soldier network extension (SNE) vehicle, and the point of presence (PoP), based on soldier feedback from theatre and the semi-annual Network Integration Evaluations (NIE) exercises.
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Specifically, the army automated the PoP and SNE startup, through replacement of more than a dozen buttons and switches with a single startup switch, significantly reducing the complexity and length of the startup process from 12 minutes to four and a half minutes.
WIN-T Increment 2 product manager lieutenant colonel LaMont Hall said that the army also reduced the time taken by the system to conduct operational tasks, the number of logins and clicks, in a bid to simplify everything as much as possible to reduce the burden on the soldier.
"We also spent a lot of time looking at the user interface and what we could do to improve it so it is easier for the soldier to operate," Hall added.
"It’s much more intuitive now, more of the smartphone mentality, easier to understand and use, with larger buttons that are easier to see."
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By GlobalDataWIN-T project manager colonel Ed Swanson said, "We will continue to improve both ease of use and reliability in advance of the next operational test and then beyond that we’ll never stop improving this system for our soldiers."
The second developmental test is slated for June, while a follow-on operational test and evaluation is planned for the NIE 15.1 in October to November.
Image: The WIN-T Increment 2 Point of Presence during the developmental test at the Aberdeen Test Center in Maryland, US. Photo: Dan Augustyniak, ATC.
