{"id":31770,"date":"2024-01-11T21:34:36","date_gmt":"2024-01-11T21:34:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/uncategorized\/2024\/01\/11\/kitz-eyes-commercial-software-to-coordinate-us-army-firepower\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T18:41:53","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T18:41:53","slug":"kitz-eyes-commercial-software-to-coordinate-us-army-firepower","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/battlefield-tech\/it-networks-battlefield-tech\/2024\/01\/11\/kitz-eyes-commercial-software-to-coordinate-us-army-firepower\/","title":{"rendered":"Kitz eyes commercial software to coordinate US Army firepower"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

McLEAN, Va. \u2014 Overhauling aging U.S. Army software that coordinates firepower on the battlefield can be achieved with off-the-shelf products and the system need not be built from ground up, according to Program Executive Office for Command, Control and Communications-Tactical boss Mark Kitz.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI do not want a from-scratch software development program,\u201d Kitz<\/a> said Jan. 11 at the Army IT Day conference in Northern Virginia, hosted by the nonprofit Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association International. \u201cThe Army has enough failed software-development programs.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Advanced Field Artillery Tactical Data System<\/a>, or AFATDS, has been used by troops for decades to coordinate mortars, guided missiles and close air support. PEO C3T is pursuing a replacement after considering the system\u2019s age and back-end clunkiness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"U.S.
U.S. Army soldiers fire mortars from a cannon mounted on a M113 armored personnel carrier in the Fort Hood training area. (Staff Sgt. Jennifer Bunn\/U.S. Army)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

But rather than rely on a single contractor to create an original, monolithic program, the office is taking a modular, consortium-based approach that plays off the specialties of each prospective vendor and their existing offerings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe want to adapt things that exist today, and we want to be able to iterate and integrate across multiple commercial technologies and government- and industry-developed technologies,\u201d Kitz said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The service in November posted a request for information for AFATDS<\/a> and the development of the related Joint Targeting Integrated Command and Coordination Suite, or JTIC2S.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The automated AFATDS program is meant to shrink the window between when information is collected and a shot is fired in response. It fuses situational awareness and targeting data in near-real time. It is also considered a digital cornerstone of several ventures tied to the Long Range Precision Fires Cross-Functional Team, including the Extended Range Cannon Artillery and the Precision Strike Missile endeavor.<\/p>\n\n\n\t