ST. LOUIS, March 25 (UPI) -- Boeing has announced a new breakthrough with the U.S. Army in using JTRS Ground Mobile Radios.

Boeing said in a statement Tuesday that working with the U.S. Army it had used software-defined Joint Tactical Radio System Ground Mobile Radios -- JTRS GMR -- to receive data from unattended ground sensors and then send it to nearby vehicles equipped with the Future Combat Systems network integration system.

Boeing said the tests were carried out in a FCS training exercise in January at Fort Bliss, Texas. Information from Tactical-Unmanned Ground Sensors -- T-UGS -- was transmitted through a gateway and successfully picked up by JTRS GMR radios in FCS vehicles.

The JTRS radios were part of the FCS "B-kits" that also have the Integrated Computer System, the Battle Command System software and the System of Systems Common Operating Environment -- SOSCOE -- software. These B-kits are being added to Bradley fighting vehicles, Abrams Main Battle Tanks and High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicles.

"Increased situational awareness through information from unattended ground sensors will immediately help soldiers in the field by improving target detection and perimeter defense missions," said Ralph Moslener, Boeing JTRS GMR program director. "JTRS GMR is delivering important transformational networked communications capability at the tactical edge to support information sharing and combat readiness."