Military Readies Expansion of Satellite Communications
The U.S. Army will undergo a major overhaul of its communications network starting in 2005 with the launch of the first of 4 satellites designed to rapidly shift the military to an IP-based system and reduce its reliance on commercial vendors, U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Dennis Moran said Tues. in a keynote to the Satellite Application Technology Conference (SATCON) in N.Y.C.
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While the Cold War military relied largely on land- based communications, terrorist networks can be countered only by a more nimble system that expands and contracts depending on the size and scope operations, said Moran, Army dir. of information operations, networks & space.
The first of the satellites -- a combination X/Ka- band bird -- will be launched through the U.S. Air Force in 2005. It will be followed by an EHF Satellite System for protected communications (2007-2008); Multi User Objective System, cellphones and handheld PCs (2010-2011); and a “Transformational” network (2015) that’s designed to bring the military into a fully IP-based system. Previously, the U.S. Army provided only a small part of its satellite needs through the Defense Communications, Milstar and UHF satellite systems. The Army’s new IP- based network will give it “bandwidth on demand, assured connectivity and complete control of a military operation,” Moran said.
The result will be a reduction in the Army’s reliance on commercial satellites for communications capacity from the 80% of capacity commercial operators have provided in Iraq to an even split by 2015, Moran said. The Army’s nearly complete dependence on commercial satellites for communications is “almost a vulnerability,” he said. The military’s new satellite fleet will be reserved for the “most critical applications,” while commercial birds are used for more general purposes, Moran said. Despite the gradual shift to its own satellites, the “arrangement will always be half and half” with commercial satellite suppliers, he said.
Moran urged commercial suppliers to work with the military in developing waveform standards that would allow it to create a “hub and spoke” system. The U.S. Army wants to establish “unique military standards but take advantage of advances in the commercial space,” he said.
The goal in establishing a new communications network will be to allow, among other things, better “reach back” to military systems in the U.S. for intelligence and logistical information, Moran said. “Operational information and the ability to access it is key to victory in the battlefield,” he said.