NASHVILLE, Tenn. \u2014 The U.S. Army may take a new tack to the procurement of radios, launching an \u201cas a service\u201d pilot that officials say can drive down costs and increase communications adaptability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The as-a-service effort would kick off in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2023, according to Undersecretary Gabe Camarillo, who spoke last week at the Army\u2019s Technical Exchange Meeting 9<\/a> in Nashville, Tennessee. Under the model, the service contracts with a vendor who provides \u201ca minimal number of radios for training,\u201d centrally stores or leases radios for operations and would \u201cupgrade software as required,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The approach differs from the service\u2019s traditional means of buying and maintaining radios, which can be hamstrung by hardware limitations. Instead, it\u2019s more similar to the subscription model offered by some makers of consumer products and mirrors as-a-service deals in which companies furnish goods or services on a rolling basis and keeps them operating and up to date. The thinking initially encompassed software and information technology, but has since expanded to a wider range of wares.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The idea is preceded by a \u201cneed to experiment with different buying models, especially for our capabilities in which technology trends do not support the serial process of defining a requirement, entering a development phase and then pursuing a continuous fielding process of that exact same version of a capability over a long period of time,\u201d Camarillo said<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\t