Thursday, September 25, 2014

JTRS WNW v. Wireless LTE Development and Costs

DoD and Commercial Advanced Waveform Developments and Programs with Multiple Nunn-McCurdy Breaches, Volume 5 | RAND

Abstract

The report presents the results of two studies: The first compares the capabilities and development approaches used in the Joint Tactical Radio System wideband networking waveform (WNW) and the commercial long-term evolution (LTE) waveform, and the second analyzes military acquisition programs that have repeatedly exceeded certain cost thresholds. The first study compares differences in system designs, technical requirements, intellectual property protection schemes, and cost in the development of WNW. It also examined how technical risks and challenging requirements contributed to schedule and cost increases. The second study attempts to identify unique characteristics of programs that overrun their budgets more than once.

Key Findings

Several Issues Make the Comparison Between JTRS and LTE Less Than Favorable for JTRS

  • There was not enough money spent on research, development, test, and engineering for JTRS.
  • The more evolutionary development approach employed by LTE program personnel enabled them to deal with system performance and technology risk issues as they came up.
  • The JTRS program structure separated hardware and software, which complicated coordination needs and delayed the discovery of problems in the JTRS program.
  • The JTRS program's use of the intellectual property model may have prevented the incorporation of needed technologies into the program, which could have reduced technical risks and performance.
How to blow $6 billion on a tech project | Ars Technica
JTRS provides a textbook case of what not to do in a technology development program, proving that even a few great ideas can’t save a project that has been over-specified and under-tested, and that remains blinkered to what's going on in the world around it. 

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