The Army is no exception – especially with the introduction of the IVAS system. This new system has the ability to immerse deployed soldiers in a bevy of data – from targeting information, navigational waypoints, or augmented reality inputs. The network that delivers the IVAS systems will be a key factor in achieving overmatch in land warfare in the near future.

The problem is, the U.S. Army is often deployed across the world, and many of those locations either don’t have available terrestrial networks, or the networks that exist are denied or untrustworthy. This means the Army often lacks the trusted communications infrastructure necessary to power next generation applications. For these reasons, alternative means of connectivity in austere environments need to be considered as part of Army modernization initiatives.

Case in point, during the recent annual meeting of the Association of the U.S. Army (AUSA), Major General Peter Gallagher, who is leading the Army’s drive to modernize its network infrastructure, shared a clear example why high-throughput MEO satellites need to be part of that solution. “When I was at CENTCOM, we were selecting middle-earth orbit satellite constellations for certain heavy demand data exfil requirements from northern Iraq and Syria where we had to get a lot of data off target and transmit back. We didn’t have access to fiber optic cable, so we leveraged commercial MEO constellations.”

Commercial operators have put the infrastructure in place, have proved it out, and are utilizing that capability across the globe.

This is the beauty of MEO satellite constellations like O3b mPOWER. Critical advancements in commercial satellite technology make it possible to beam incredible amounts of data to anywhere in the world, and that opens up previously inconceivable capabilities: live, 4K HD video; 3D printing in-theater; and real-time augmented reality to name a few, all without the latency associated with constellations in higher, geostationary orbit.

As we see in Maj. Gen. Gallagher’s example, this capability is already a boon to warfighters and is already being deployed in one of today’s most crucial conflict zones. And it’s only going to be more important that the military can provide that level of network connectivity the world over.

When talking about how the force of the future will operate and laying out the roadmap for Army modernization, Lieutenant General Stephen Fogarty, the commander of U.S. Army Cyber Command (ARCYBER), made it clear that “the network is the foundational weapons system.”

That’s because so many of the most exciting capabilities that will come out of Army modernization and that will grant the individual soldier unprecedented amounts of intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) data – such as unmanned combat vehicles and helicopter-launched drones – need to send and receive huge amounts of data in real time order to be effective. Before their data can be delivered to soldiers on the move, the personnel controlling these remote platforms need to retain control and literally keep them flying, and the drones themselves need to offload the incredible amount of ISR data that their ever-increasing number of sensors are picking up.

As SES Space and Defense’s Eric Gunzelman said in a recent interview:

“When you combine the data generated from airframe sensors and the data generated by ISR sensors, it’s easy to see why the amount of bandwidth needed to and from the aircraft has jumped significantly. In fact, I recently read an Avascent industry briefing that showed the total number of UAVs and the total data rate from those UAVs will both double between 2015 and 2025. That’s going to require a lot more bandwidth.”

This point also highlights an implication of what both Generals Gallagher and Fogharty alluded to in their AUSA remarks. Two of the men entrusted with the task of Army modernization expect the role of network connectivity to grow, which may very well mean that they’ll need more bandwidth than what the current purpose-built, military satellite infrastructure can provide.

That may be a challenge given the process of building and deploying government satellites. Traditionally, the time it takes the military to design, develop, build and launch a new satellite means that, by the time they launch a new satellite, the technologies on it are no longer cutting edge.

By contrast, commercial satellite operators are constantly launching new satellites and replacing their older constellations, so the volume of satellites they’re launching simply gives them more of an opportunity to deploy breakthrough technology than what the government can do by its own devices.

Consequently, if the government takes advantage of this satellite renaissance, it may mean more secure bandwidth and less latency at a faster rate.

So, as cases like the one Maj. Gen. Gallagher described continue to arise, making use of already-trusted, still-expanding commercial resources like high throughput MEO satellite constellations may be one more way that our military can guarantee its technical overmatch against any potential adversary.

The post U.S. Army modernization requires next-generation satellite technology appeared first on SES Space and Defense.

This year’s upcoming AUSA Conference comes at a very interesting time for the service. Last year, the Army made the decision to effectively “pull the plug” on the next iteration of its WIN-T IT infrastructure and network for a myriad of reasons. The Army also announced a new, innovative approach to acquisition, which involved the creation of “Cross Functional Teams.”

Simultaneously, the Army is facing many of the same challenges that we heard discussed by the Air Force at the recent AFA Air, Space and Cyber Conference. The adversaries that the military needs to prepare for today are different than what we were focused on for the previous two decades – with near-peer adversaries once more a concern.

With so much change and so many large problems to tackle, this year’s conference is practically guaranteed to generate some interesting discussion and shed some light on the future direction and strategy of the Army. To get a preview of what could be the main points of discussion when it comes to Army networks and satellite requirements, we sat down with Army veteran, military satellite expert and the current Vice President of Government Programs at SES Government Solution, Bill Reiner.

Here is what Bill had to say:

Government Satellite Report (GSR): The annual AUSA meeting and expo is coming up in early October. What do you expect out of this year’s meeting? What do you think will be some of the most consequential topics and issues discussed?

Bill Reiner: One of the things I’m most anticipating and expecting is a report out from the CFTs (Cross Functional Teams). These CFTs were created in early October – right around AUSA 2017 – of last year, and each team is responsible for something different. There are six total teams, one each for:

• Long-Range Precision Fires (LRPF)
• Next Generation Combat Vehicle (NGCV)
• Future Vertical Lift (FVL)
• Network
• Precision Navigation & Timing (PNT)
• Air & Missile Defense (AMD)
• Soldier Lethality (SL)

Each of these CFTs rolls up into Army Futures Command, which is dedicated to helping modernize the Army, and is aimed at helping the Command identify products and solutions more quickly. The end goal is to enable the Army, as a whole, to acquire solutions in response to adversaries and requirements more quickly.

We’ve already heard some reports out of the Soldier Lethality group focused on longer range missiles. However, we haven’t heard much out of the other CFTs. With AUSA being held at around the one-year anniversary of their creation, I’d expect to hear more about the findings from the CFTs, and some feedback regarding their overall results and effectiveness.

GSR: Often when we talk about the military’s use of satellite, we think about the Air Force, since the space domain currently falls into their area of responsibility. How does the Army utilize satellites? What different capabilities and use cases are powered by satellite for the Army?

Bill Reiner: When it comes to the Army’s use of satellites, you really only have to think about their mission and their structure. If you look at the warfighting functions of the Army – every one of them requires communications. Also, the Army’s personnel are extremely distributed and spread out, which means that communications relies on satellite across all warfighting functions.

Satellite is essential for Command and Control (C&C) within the Army. Intelligence data needs to be transmitted and received at the edge. That requires the ability to pass large files to the edge, and that’s best done via satellite. This is essential if Army commanders are going to know what’s happening on the battlefield and reinforce soldierss as needed. This is also essential for the transmission of large GEOINT files, which are necessary for coordinating and planning troop movements.

Then there are other use cases for satellite within the Army that don’t often get mentioned or thought of. Take sustainment as an example – every logistics and maintenance unit needs a satellite system to access maintenance data, order spare parts, research vehicle maintenance issues, report issues to superiors and otherwise stay connected. If a maintenance team needs tires for a truck, or needs to schedule a refueling stop, the order will be placed and stops will be coordinated via satellite.

Satellite is essential for the Army now, and its importance will only increase in time. Future wars will have intense electronic warfare environments. Satellite allows the Army to operate in those environments globally. That’s especially true with the new generations of satellite that are inherently capable of overcoming jamming and are harder to deny or compromise.

GSR: Last year, the Army announced they were scuttling their investment in the beleaguered WIN-T Increment 2 network and evaluating other options. Why was this decision made?

Bill Reiner: The decision [to terminate WIN-T Increment 2] was made because the Army looked at their mission and what was happening in the world. We are now facing a threat from near-peer adversaries again in the form of Russia and China. These powerful adversaries are threatening our national security and building their military capabilities. With this more sophisticated threat, the Army realized that their networks simply couldn’t hold up.

Also – speaking anecdotally – I have seen through my own personal experience, and through the experience of my son in the Army National Guard, that communications via the existing network were hard to do.

The problem has always come down to the fact that it takes too long for the Army to field new solutions. If it takes a decade to pull together networks, the technology is now archaic. They need to more quickly identify the need, identify the solution and get that solution into the field. In the past, it has taken the Army three years to identify a requirement and then an additional seven years to field the solution – and then it’s no longer state of the art.

The CFTs were put in place to help overcome this. They’re designed to accomplish this by bringing together all of the stakeholders and decision makers under one command. This gets everyone responsible for making acquisition decisions in one place and keeps them engaged with the warfighter to develop what they need more quickly.

With the CFTs, the resourcing, costing and acquisition authority is all there in one spot. This concept was implemented with the intention of bringing the acquisition cycle time down. This enables the CFT to more quickly do technical demonstrations and pilot programs, and more rapidly make decisions to move the Army forward.

GSR: What role do you anticipate satellite – particularly commercial satellite – playing in the next generation Army network? What would make commercial satellite an invaluable part of Army networks moving forward?

Bill Reiner: Ultimately, commercial satellites are critical to supporting Army missions because they provide surge capabilities and fill that essential satellite role when military satellite solutions aren’t available or are depleted. But there are other reasons why commercial SATCOM will be in the Army’s future plans.

The commercial SATCOM industry has proven its ability to enable the military to bring new satellite technology to the user much more quickly. Speed of acquisition and deployment has always been an issue for the Army, commercial satcom helps to overcome that.

Commercial SATCOM providers are constantly innovating and integrating new satellite and new terminal technology that’s easier to use, smaller, lighter and offers more capability. By partnering with industry providers for their satcom requirements, the Army effectively reaps the rewards and benefits from this new technology immediately, instead of having to build and launch these new technologies themselves.

Also, with the move towards managed services across the satellite industry, the Army can get access to  this new technology as part of a managed service. In this format, everything necessary to connect disparate parties within the Army is provided – including ground terminals and antennas – as a recurring fee. With satellite managed services, the Army and other military branches could get access to advanced satellite technologies – including new waveforms that are more jam resistant – much more quickly and at lower cost.

Regardless of what the next generation of Army networks look like, commercial satellite providers are the key to unlocking advanced satellite capabilities and technologies, and bringing their benefits to soldiers more quickly and efficiently.

The post Exploring Army SATCOM requirements post WIN-T in advance of AUSA appeared first on SES Space and Defense.