The U.S. Army has issued a draft Request for Proposals for manpack radios as part of a plan to acquire more than 60,000 additional systems through 2032.

Information received, it said, will be used to refine a final Request for Proposal for an open competition for multiple vendor contracts. The contracts will be indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity awards for five years and one five-year option.

A pre-solicitation day is planned for April 16, and a contract award is expected in Fiscal Year 2016 for radios to support laboratory and operational tests. Full-rate production would start the following fiscal year.

"We are relying on our industry partners to help us simplify the network and make systems such as the manpack radio easier to use and more intuitive for soldiers," said Col. James P. Ross, Project Manager for Tactical Radios. "The radio marketplace gives all vendors the opportunity to participate, driving down costs and promoting continuous innovation."

The manpack radio is a two-channel, software-defined radio capable of supporting advanced and current force waveforms and comes in vehicle-mounted and dismounted configurations and allows communications between soldiers in disparate locations and using different channels.

Through low-rate initial production, the Army has already procured and deployed 5,326 manpacks from General Dynamics and Rockwell Collins.