The TROJAN Network is the U.S. Army’s premier intelligence network, responsible for delivering operational intelligence capabilities and enhancing combat readiness for the warfighter, while enabling military decision-makers to make better, more data-driven decisions on the battlefield.

SES Space and Defense has been delivering satellite services in support of INSCOM and the TROJAN Network for more than two decades. To learn more about the Army’s TROJAN Network, why it’s essential for empowering the Army intelligence community, and why SES was chosen to continue delivering essential satellite services to INSCOM, we sat down with G. RamosCarr, a Senior Account Director at SES Space and Defense.

Government Satellite Report (GSR): Can you tell our readers a bit about the TROJAN Network? What does it do, and what role does it play for the Army?

G. RamosCarr: The U.S. Army has a large ecosystem of intelligence (intel) analysts and leads stationed all across the globe. These intel analysts all need access to the same data and intelligence information as their associates, and to be able to share important intelligence information.

That is the role of TROJAN.

The TROJAN Network functions to enable information and intelligence data sharing for the global network of intel analysts – whether they report to an individual combatant command or to INSCOM. By enabling intel data sharing and analysis, TROJAN effectively helps the U.S. Army make better, more informed, data-driven decisions.

GSR: Why is satellite an important component of TROJAN?

G. RamosCarr: This network of intel analysts and leads across the globe aren’t all operating in the same conditions and environments. In fact, many may be operating in austere environments where there is little or no terrestrial network connectivity, or where the existing terrestrial networks are denied or untrusted.

“Military intel is a highly prioritized user of MILSATCOM networks. However, when there are multiple satellite requirements happening concurrently, there is always the opportunity for satellite service to be preempted for other missions. There is only so much capacity available.” – G. RamosCarr

Satellite is essential in these environments because of its ability to deliver seamless, resilient connectivity and deliver essential intelligence data from in-theater to a known, trusted enclave. Satellite effectively gives a distributed network of intel analysts the same capability when they are deployed as when they are in headquarters.

GSR: Why are COMSATCOM solutions used for carrying TROJAN data and Army intelligence information instead of dedicated MILSATCOM resources?

G. RamosCarr: Military intel is a highly prioritized user of MILSATCOM networks. However, when there are multiple satellite requirements happening concurrently, there is always the opportunity for satellite service to be preempted for other missions. There is only so much capacity available.

Having a commercial partner that can deliver trusted, resilient satellite connectivity when and where it’s needed ensures that important intel data sharing and analysis doesn’t have to be interrupted because other missions preempted satellite communications. But there are other benefits that COMSATCOM brings to TROJAN and the U.S. Army intelligence community.

Considering the importance of military intelligence, and understanding that higher-quality intelligence data and information makes our military better and more effective, it’s understandable that the military would want to leverage the innovation of the COMSATCOM industry for its intel community.

Working with COMSATCOM gives the Army access to innovative new commercial technologies that are available today. Technologies that they would have to wait years to develop and deploy on their own. For example, at SES Space and Defense, we’ve built a Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) constellation in O3b. And, later this year we’re going to be launching the next generation of that MEO constellation when we launch the O3b mPOWER satellite service.

“When O3b mPOWER is launched, the number of HTS beams in a region will increase dramatically – from approximately 10 to literally thousands. These powerful beams will allow for the use of different transponder sizes, and for capacity to be scaled to meet requirements.” – G. RamosCarr

The unprecedented scalability, capacity, and automation that will be delivered via O3b mPOWER will be available this year to the U.S. Army. It would take them years to field a comparable, purpose-built solution.

GSR: Are there any security concerns when it comes to using COMSATCOM for this use case? How do companies like SES assuage those concerns?

G. RamosCarr: SES Space and Defense has a very mature information assurance and mitigation strategy that is constantly being iterated and improved on. One of the reasons why we’re a trusted partner for the military – and for the Army on the TROJAN Network – is because of our steadfast commitment to protecting our customers’ data.

Security is clearly a concern with something like TROJAN, but we can work with the customer to design their network and utilize security solutions that keep their data safe. In addition, there are inherent security benefits with our O3b MEO and O3b mPOWER satellite services. The satellites are always moving, making them much harder to track and jam. The beam steering and other features built into the O3b mPOWER satellite service also make them more secure and assured.

Finally, if there is a need in the specific areas of responsibility (AORs) where there is access to our GOVSAT-1 solution, the Army intelligence community could benefit from the added security and reliability of our commercially-available military X-band and Ka-band capacity.

GSR: This was a recompete for the TROJAN contract. What about SES’s delivery of service for the original contract made the Army want to continue working with the company?

G. RamosCarr: Our team has developed and executed on a strategy to support the customer and their mission needs based on hard measurement metrics and processes that we’ve put in place that enable the customer to success and accomplish their mission.

We’ve also been dynamic – changing and evolving the network to meet their shifting mission requirements. In addition, we’ve been innovative – bringing new and exciting solutions to the marketplace such as the O3b mPOWER satellite service.

GSR: Is the TROJAN Network operated at GEO only, or is there also a need and use case for NGSO satellite services, as well? How does the multi-orbit satellite constellation that SES operates help the Army when it comes to sharing intelligence data?

“The TROJAN Network functions to enable information and intelligence data sharing for the global network of intel analysts – whether they report to an individual combatant command or to INSCOM.” – G. RamosCarr

G. RamosCarr: Today, the requirement is for capacity from GEO, which we’re providing to meet the Army’s satellite requirements. There have been mission requirements in the past that warranted leveraging our different capabilities, including high throughput satellites (HTS) at GEO and MEO.

However, while there is a path to utilize those other technologies – and while we’ve been able to leverage them for the Army in the past when the mission required it – GEO is specifically what is required for this solution.

GSR: With the launch of MPOWER imminent, will this new contract enable the Army to leverage those satellites for their intelligence requirements? If so, what do they bring to the table?

G. RamosCarr: This contract doesn’t specifically enable the Army to leverage MEO services. However, we do have a BPA for MEO capabilities and there is a follow-on BPA in the works that will give the U.S. Army access to O3b mPOWER, which will be launched in 2022.

When O3b mPOWER is launched, the number of HTS beams in a region will increase dramatically – from approximately 10 to literally thousands. These powerful beams will allow for the use of different transponder sizes, and for capacity to be scaled to meet requirements. This new service can also be utilized by the U.S. Army with no ground infrastructure changes, since there is no need to send data through a SES gateway – it can be sent directly to where the U.S. Army needs it.

O3b mPOWER will be game-changing for the military, in general. But it will be revolutionary for the U.S. intelligence community.

For additional information on the TROJAN contract, click HERE.

Featured image courtesy of U.S. Army National Guard. Photo by Sgt. John Stephens, 49th MP Brigade. The appearance of U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) visual information does not imply or constitute DoD endorsement.

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SES Space and Defense was awarded the initial TROJAN contract in 1998 and has expanded the network as it exists today – providing satellite bandwidth, systems engineering support, operations, and maintenance of the SATCOM network globally.

“We’ve had the honor of supporting INSCOM’s efforts for over two decades on the TROJAN Network, and it is a great privilege to continue serving their mission,” said the President and CEO of SES Space and Defense, retired Air Force Brig. Gen. Pete Hoene. “We look forward to providing advanced SATCOM capabilities and delivering secure and reliable multi-band solutions in support of Army military intelligence missions worldwide in the coming years.”

For additional information click HERE.

Featured image: U.S. Marine Corps Lance Corporal Ariana Romero, a satellite transmission operator, sets up a satellite terminal. (Photo by: U.S. Marine Corps SSgt. Marcela Diazdeleon.) The appearance of U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) visual information does not imply or constitute DoD endorsement.

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The critical nature of COMSATCOM to the military was reinforced at both of this year’s largest satellite industry conferences – SATELLITE 2015 and the Space Symposium – where attendees discussed the importance of COMSATCOM for increasing the mobility and agility of the military while helping to defend satellite constellations from attack.

COMSATCOM has become increasingly important for the federal government today, and the reliance on service providers will only increase as the government continues to move towards more cost efficient operations. This means that more government agencies and acquisition professionals will be tasked at identifying the correct COMSATCOM provider for their organizational needs.

Unfortunately, the selection of a COMSATCOM partner often requires looking beyond the ability to meet the mission requirements. Here are some of the things federal agencies should be looking for in a partner:

Commitment to performance above revenue – the federal government prizes performance and accomplishing a mission for the betterment of the country and its people over individual profit – their COMSATCOM provider should function similarly. Short-term and profit-focused thinking by a company, intended to enhance its bottom-line, at the expense of performance, should be unacceptable from a government COMSATCOM partner.

A government agency’s COMSATCOM partners need to focus less on profit and more on performance and problem solving by accepting no easy or simple rationale for complex problems, anticipating client needs and proactively improving functionality at all levels, even if these actions and activities cut into the bottom-line.

Reliability and staying power – when a federal government agency awards a five or ten year contract to a COMSATCOM provider they should feel assured that their partner will go the life of that contract without being sold or traded, and that the management team that was dedicated to the sale and delivery of service will be the same at the beginning and end of a project.

A history of upright business practices – with taxpayer dollars on the line and government budgets already stretched thin, federal agencies need to ensure that their partners are practicing responsible accounting practices and have never been accused of, held liable for, or settled allegations of fraudulently charging the government.

Today, COMSATCOM services are essential for both civilian agencies and branches of the military. Choosing a COMSATCOM provider simply for their ability to provide a marginally-compliant, lowest-price technically acceptable proposal puts the government in a high risk situation. When choosing COMSATCOM providers, it’s essential that Government agencies select a partner that can meet mission objections, are stable, will be dedicated to identifying answers to the most complex questions and have a long track record of operating ethically.

In upcoming posts on the GovSat Report, we will provide ideas that Government end-users and acquisition professionals can adopt to ensure that their COMSATCOM services are provided by high-reliable corporations, reduce areas of risk that can generate significant mission problems and cost overruns, and incentivize exceptional performance over the long-term.

To learn more about SES Space and Defense and the services it provides to the federal government, click HERE.

The post How to choose a COMSATCOM partner for government programs appeared first on SES Space and Defense.

Ultimately, the military needs the ability to keep warfighters and military intelligence personnel connected in the field, and they simply can’t rely on only terrestrial networks to accomplish that.
Therefore, it makes sense that the military would rely on satellite networks to deliver essential data and IT services to the “tip of the spear”. But what is surprising to many is how frequently the military relies on commercial satellite services (COMSATCOM) to shoulder this load.

There are many different networks currently being run across the United States military that illustrate just how extensively our armed forces run on COMSATCOM. But let’s focus on two programs currently being facilitated by SES Space and Defense – Trojan and Thule Air Force Base.

The Trojan Program provides access to a global, end-to-end network complete with multi-band service tailored to meet specific U.S. Army Intelligence and Security Command (INSCOM) requirements. This network also includes terminals and ground infrastructure to the United States Army’s warfighters and decision makers from multiple locations across the globe – including sites in the U.S., its outlying territories and locations in the Middle East, Europe and Asia. Performance on the program is based on delivering operational availability at the highest levels.

The Trojan Network effectively allows the United States Army to deploy mobile communications systems attached to vehicles – such as Humvees. These systems allow the two way communication of military intelligence information – such as voice, video and data – from decision makers and warfighters in the field to military leadership and intelligence officers back home. Trojan effectively connects all deployed Army personnel with the information and communication services they need to accomplish their military intelligence mission, while simultaneously delivering actionable insight back to senior level military leaders to help determine strategy.

While Trojan illustrates how the military relies on COMSATCOM to deliver bandwidth and communications to the tip of the spear quickly –wherever it may be, the Thule DS3 Program – which is run out of Thule Air Base – is an incredible example of how COMSATCOM can deliver similar services to locations whose conditions make the traditional, terrestrial networks difficult or impossible to implement. The Thule DS3 program provides missile warning, space surveillance and space control support to the U.S. Department of Defense.

Thule Air Base is located on the north west of Greenland, where the high temperatures rarely gets above freezing (32^o F).  In other words – it’s very cold. The base’s remote location, extreme conditions and three consecutive months without sunlight contribute to its lack and difficulty of build out of traditional communications infrastructure. As the military has become reliant on advanced technologies that require an ever-increasing amount of bandwidth – existing communications solutions simply weren’t capable of handling the base’s bandwidth requirements.
COMSATCOM solutions were implemented to overcome this lack of terrestrial connectivity while also overcoming unique challenges created by the base’s location – specifically, the base’s near-horizon location which creates an extremely low look angle, and orbital mechanics constraints.

These two networks are incredible examples of how today’s military truly relies on COMSATCOM providers to keep the warfighter connected, deliver the most up-to-date intelligence to military decision makers and ensure that every necessary application and system is available at any location. In our next post, we’ll take a deeper dive into what – specifically – the government looks for in a COMSATCOM provider to ensure these essential services are delivered.

To learn more about SES Space and Defense and the services it provides to the federal government, click HERE.

Other Additional Resources:

• Google Earth App: Satellite & Ground Network Coverage via COMSATCOM
• Read more about Thule AFB
• Photo Gallery: Thule AFB

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