New Army lab troubleshoots radios before field tests.

• Author: Beidel, Eric
• Position: Defense Technology Newswire - Radio Evaluation and Analysis Lab - Brief article

* A recent version of the Army's Joint Tactical Radio System failed so often during tests last year that troops had to relay messages on foot.

The Army hasn't done that since World War II, the Pentagon's operational test and evaluation chief, J. Michael Gilmore, told lawmakers this spring.

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The service's Communications-Electronics Research, Development and Engineering Center recently established a laboratory at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md., to work out kinks in new radio systems before they are sent out for field tests. The Radio Evaluation and Analysis Lab, or REAL, will serve as the main location for vendors and programs of record to send devices for a preemptive scientific review.

Army officials said the goal of REAL is to allow for repeatable, controlled study in an environment that avoids time-consuming and costly delays that occur when things go wrong during field tests.

The lab features a set-up that...