The United States Army has approved the Warfighter Information Network-Tactical Increment 2 communications system for full-scale production through 2028. Designed and built by General Dynamics, the latest WIN-T system will provide soldiers on the ground with voice and data communications without having to set up command posts.
As the second phase of a three-part communications project, the Increment 2 system will support highly-mobile wireless networks. The hardware will be installed onto mine-resistant vehicles so that networks can be established quickly on the battlefield. It provides a major upgrade to the WIN-T Increment 1 system, which had to be deployed on trailers and parked at different points around the battlefield.
It was first deployed in Afghanistan in 2013. Since then, four division headquarters and 12 brigade combat teams have been deployed with the WIN-T Increment 2 system. The next phase of the project, WIN-T Increment 3, is still under development. General Dynamics is aiming to improve the range and resilience of the system in isolated areas.