The Joint Tactical Networking Center (JTNC), in collaboration with several Department of Defense service labs and test agencies, announced initial operational capability for the Tactical Communications Marketplace (TCM) October 1, giving registered DoD users a modernized approach to critical procurement decisions.
The TCM provides a single source for
commercial vendors in the defense industry to display their latest tactical
radios, waveform technology and other tactical communication products.
“Service Acquisition Authorities now
have a new tool for making best-value procurement decisions via a secure,
cloud-based portal,” said JTNC Director Jeff Mercer. “The TCM is supporting the
modernization of DoD acquisition and providing actionable data for informed
purchasing decisions using a systematic verification approach while giving
commercial vendors the opportunity to showcase their innovative technology.”
The TCM lets users filter and search
for tactical communications products based on desired capability
characteristics or attributes. Some selected products will undergo a tailorable
capability characterization and technical analysis process designed to provide
insight on the product’s capabilities.
“The method to evaluating communication
products across multiple and critical domain elements, the Capability
Characterization process will be extremely informative for acquisition
authorities prior to procurement,” said Director of JTNC DoD Communications
Standards and Technical Analysis Bill Brickner. “Using a consistent and
repeatable process, the characterization intends to capture the extent to which
particular techniques and technologies support the designated capability
attributes, functions, specifications, or characteristics of a product.”
Since March, the JTNC has been working
with industry to get Commercial off the Shelf (COTS) and Non-Developmental Item
(NDI) communications offerings into the TCM before its official launch.
The TCM will enable the early identification, characterization, and reporting on innovative capabilities that can fulfill critical capability gaps and will ultimately speed delivery to the warfighter.
Source: U.S. Navy
By Loren Blinde
October 7, 2019
