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Results for "aehf"
Next-Stage C4ISR Bandwidth: The AEHF Satellite Program
21-Oct-2009 12:23 EDT |
Related Stories: Americas - Other, Americas - USA, Boeing, Britain/U.K., C4ISR, Contracts - Awards, Contracts - Modifications, Design Innovations, Electronics - General, Europe - Other, FOCUS Articles, IT - Cyber-Security, L3 Communications, Lockheed Martin, New Systems Tech, Northrop-Grumman, Other Corporation, Project Management, R&D - Contracted, Raytheon, Satellites & Sensors, Transformation
AEHF concept
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DID’s FOCUS articles offer in-depth, updated looks at significant military programs of record. This article offers a look at the AEHF system’s rationale and capabilities, while offering insight into some of the program’s problems, and an updated timeline covering over $5 billion worth of contracts since the program’s inception.
The USA’s new Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) satellites will support twice as many tactical networks, while providing 10-12 times the capacity and 6 times higher data rate transfer than that of the current Milstar II satellites. With the cancellation of the higher-capacity TSAT program, AEHF will form the secure, hardened backbone of the Pentagon’s future Military Satellite Communications (MILSATCOM) architecture. Its companion Family of Advanced Beyond-line-of-sight Terminals (FAB-T) program will give the US military modern capabilities, and more flexibility on the receiving end. The program has international components, and partners include Britain, Canada, and the Netherlands.
This article has been updated with a recent contract for Boeing to provide engineering development models for the FAB-T, and a $50+ million order from Canada…
EELV Contracts: After the Merger
20-Oct-2009 10:31 EDT |
Related Stories: Americas - USA, Boeing, Contracts - Awards, Launch Facilities, Launch Vehicles, Lockheed Martin, Satellites & Sensors, Spotlight articles
Boeing Delta IV Heavy
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The EELV program was designed to reduce the cost of government space launches through greater contractor competition, and modifiable rocket families whose system requirements emphasized simplicity, commonality, standardization, new applications of existing technology, streamlined manufacturing capabilities, and more efficient launch-site processing. Result: the Delta IV (Boeing) and Atlas V (Lockheed Martin) heavy rockets.
Paradoxically, that very program may have forced the October 2006 merger of Boeing & Lockheed Martin’s rocket divisions. Crosslink Magazine’s Winter 2004 article “EELV: The Next Stage of Space Launch” offers an excellent briefing that covers EELV’s program innovations and results, while a detailed National Taxpayer’s Union letter to Congress takes a much less positive view.
This DID Spotlight article looks at the Delta IV and Atlas V rockets, as well as the contracts that have been placed since the merger, which formed United Launch Alliance. The latest news is the successful launch of a Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) satellite by an Atlas V rocket…
- Delta IV
- Atlas V
- Military Satellite Payloads
- Contracts & Key Events
- Additional Readings
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The Wideband Global SATCOM Program
16-Sep-2009 07:37 EDT |
Related Stories: Americas - USA, Australia & S. Pacific, Boeing, C4ISR, Contracts - Awards, Contracts - Modifications, FOCUS Articles, New Systems Tech, Northrop-Grumman, Other Corporation, Satellites & Sensors, T&C - SAIC, Transformation
The WGS program is actually a set of 13-kilowatt spacecraft based upon Boeing’s model 702 commercial satellite. These satellites will support the USA’s warfighting bandwidth requirements, supporting tactical C4ISR; battle management; and combat support needs. The program name has been changed for some reason from “Wideband Gapfiller Satellite” to “Wideband Global SATCOM,” presumably to avoid the (correct) suggestion that it fills an emerging gap. Readers should be aware that references to either title in documents, archives, or the media denote the same program.
Upon its first launch into geosynchronous orbit, WGS Flight 1 became the U.S. Department of Defense’s highest capacity communication satellite. This is DID’s FOCUS Article covering the WGS program. The most recent developments include storage for WGS F3, as it prepares for launch…
Modernizing Canada’s Halifax Class Frigates
04-Aug-2009 12:33 EDT |
Related Stories: Americas - Other, Americas - USA, BAE, Boeing, Contracts - Awards, EADS, Europe - Other, Events, Finmeccanica, General Dynamics, IT - Software & Integration, L3 Communications, Lockheed Martin, Middle East - Israel, Missiles - Anti-Ship, Other Corporation, Protective Systems - Naval, Radars, Raytheon, Sensors & Guidance, Simulation & Training, Spotlight articles, Support & Maintenance, Surface Ships - Combat, Thales
HMCS Montreal & sub:
HMCS Windsor
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Launched between 1988-1995, and commissioned between 1992-1996, Canada’s 12 City Class (now Halifax Class) frigates currently form the high end of its naval capabilities. The Canadian Navy has declined drastically from its post-WWII status as the world’s 4th largest navy, and the Halifax Class itself is finding that its open-ocean design is not suited to cope with modern littoral threats and improving anti-ship missiles. Replacement vessels are still many years away, which means that the 4,750t frigates will need to be modernized within the limits of their design if they are to remain effective.
Canada’s government has decided to fund that modernization, much as Australia and New Zealand are modernizing the Halifax Class’ ANZAC Frigate contemporaries. Refits are scheduled to begin with HMCS Halifax in 2010, and that ship is scheduled to re-enter service about 18 months later in 2012. By 2017, all 12 frigates are scheduled to be upgraded as part of a C$ 3.1 billion (about $2.9 billion) program.
This DII Spotlight article explains the scope of the upgrades, notes the current systems, and covers the contracts and developments involved. The latest addition is a contract for Indentification Friend-or-Foe systems, and the opening of a key program facility in Nova Scotia…
- Upgrading The Halifax Class
- Contracts and Key Events [updated]
- Additional Readings
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One for All: AAI Textron’s UAV Control System
30-Jun-2009 13:38 EDT |
Related Stories: Americas - USA, Avionics, C4ISR, Contracts - Awards, Contracts - Modifications, Design Innovations, IT - Software & Integration, New Systems Tech, Other Corporation, Signals Radio & Wireless, Support & Maintenance, Support Functions - Other, Transformation, UAVs, Warfare - Trends
OneSystem UGCS
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Can the Army create a universal ground control system for UAVs? The ability to use hundreds of comparatively cheap UAVs from different manufacturers has been a blessing to ground forces, who finally have the comprehensive aerial coverage they want. It can also be a curse. If each system has its own unique controller and vehicle – or worse, its own receiver and screen – the result will be chaos.
Enter AAI’s One System ground control offerings, which are a step toward a more universal future. This Spotlight article covers the One System concept, its ongoing development, its current reach, and future technology initiatives and requirements that will affect UAV ground control…
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Special Report: The USA’s Transformational Communications Satellite System (TSAT)
08-Jun-2009 20:29 EDT |
Related Stories: After-Action Reviews, Americas - USA, Boeing, Budgets, C4ISR, Contracts - Awards, Contracts - Modifications, Design Innovations, FOCUS Articles, General Dynamics, IT - Networks & Bandwidth, IT - Software & Integration, Interoperability, Issues - Political, L3 Communications, Leadership & People, Lobbying, Lockheed Martin, Military Overall, New Systems Tech, Northrop-Grumman, Official Reports, Other Corporation, Partnerships & Consortia, Policy - Doctrine, Policy - Procurement, Procurement Innovations, Project Methodologies, R&D - Contracted, Raytheon, Satellites & Sensors, Security & Secrecy, Signals Intercept, Cryptography, etc., Signals Radio & Wireless, Space Warfare, T&C - CSC, T&C - SAIC, Testing & Evaluation, Transformation, Warfare - Lessons, Warfare - Trends
Raytheon: C4ISR Future?
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As video communications is integrated into robots, soldiers, and UAVs, and network-centric warfare becomes the organizing principle of American warfighting, front-line demands for bandwidth are rising faster than the US military can add it. The Transformation Communications Satellite (TSAT) System is part of a larger effort by the US military to address that need, and close the gap.
DID’s FOCUS articles offer in-depth, updated looks at significant military programs of record – and TSAT is certainly significant. The final price tag on the entire program has been quoted at anywhere from $14-25 billion through 2016, including the satellites, the ground operations system, the satellite operations center and the cost of operations and maintenance. Lockheed Martin and Boeing each won over $600 million in risk reduction contracts to develop key TSAT SS satellite system technologies, and TSAT’s $2 billion TMOS ground-based network operations contract was already underway.
The TSAT constellation’s central role in next-generation US military infrastructure makes it worthy of in-depth treatment – but its survival was never assured. There was always a risk that outside events and incremental competitors could spell its end, just as they spelled the end of Motorola’s infamous Iridium project. This FOCUS article examines that possibility, even as it offers an overview of the US military’s vision for its communications infrastructure, how TSAT fits, the program’s challenges, and complete coverage of contracts and significant events. New additions are highlighted in green for your convenience.
The latest developments revolve around the end of the program. Despite a positive recent report from the GAO, key components of TMOS/TSAT are being canceled outright as part of the program’s planned termination…
Aerovironment’s Global Observer: Flying High, Again
03-Jun-2009 15:58 EDT |
Related Stories: Americas - USA, Contracts - Awards, Design Innovations, FOCUS Articles, Forces - Special Ops, New Systems Tech, Other Corporation, R&D - Contracted, Transformation, UAVs
ISR
CONOPS
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The late Dr. Paul McReady’s Aerovironment, Inc. has achieved just renown for the success of its small UAVs like the Army’s RQ-11 Raven and the US Marines’ RQ-14 Dragon Eye/Swift. Outside the military sphere, however, it is best known for civil successes like the human-powered Gossamer Condor, the giant, solar-powered Pathfinder and Helios aircraft, and the flying Quetzalcoatlus northropi ornithopter on display in the Smithsonian museum.
Now the firm’s tradition of military successes and aerial innovation are about to fuse, as it receives a major Advanced Concept/Joint Capability Technology Demonstration (ACTD/JCTD) contract for a UAV that runs on hydrogen fuel cells and can cruise at 55,000-65,000 feet for up to 7 days at a time, while carrying a 1,000 pound payload. Meet Aerovironment’s Global Observer, which promises formidable advantages in roles as diverse as communications relay, persistent ISR, maritime patrol, even storm tracking and weather applications…
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Gates Lays Out Key FY 2010 Budget Recommendations
06-Apr-2009 23:42 EDT |
Related Stories: ABM, Americas - USA, Bases & Infrastructure, C4ISR, Coastal & Littoral, Fighters & Attack, Force Structure, Heavy Bombers, Helicopters & Rotary, IT - Cyber-Security, IT - Networks & Bandwidth, Issues - Political, Lobbying, Medical, Specialty Aircraft, Surface Ships - Combat, Tanks & Mechanized, Transport & Utility, UAVs, Warfare - Lessons
Gates & Cartwright
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On April 6/09, US Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates did something unusual: he convened a press conference to announce key budget recommendations in advance. That’s a substantial departure from normal procedure, in which the Office of the President’s submitted budget is the first official public notification of key funding decisions. Gates’ departure was done with full official approval, however, as the Pentagon and White House begin their efforts to convince Congress.
That’s likely to be a difficult task. Congress (the US House of Representatives and Senate) has full budgetary authority within the American system, subject only to the threat of Presidential veto. In the past, this has kept a number of programs alive despite the Pentagon’s best efforts to kill them. Sometimes, that stubbornness has improved America’s defense posture. Sometimes, it has done the opposite. For good or ill, that process has now begun. Again.
Gates’ announcement, made in the presence of Joint Chiefs of Staff Vice Chairman Gen. James Cartwright, USMC, aims to make significant changes to America’s defense programs. Several would be ended or terminated. Others would be stretched out over a longer period. Still others will gain resources. DID provides the roundup, with links to related articles that offer program background…
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Special Report: The USA’s Transformational Communications Satellite System (TSAT - updated)
07-Jun-2007 06:06 EDT |
Related Stories: Americas - USA, C4ISR, IT - Networks & Bandwidth, IT - Software & Integration, Issues - Political, Official Reports, Satellites & Sensors, Transformation
Raytheon: C4ISR Future?
(click to expand)
As video communications is integrated into robots, soldiers, and UAVs, and network-centric warfare becomes the organizing principle of American warfighting, front-line demands for bandwidth are rising sharply. The Transformation Communications Satellite (TSAT) System is part of a larger effort by the US military to address this need.
The final price tag on the entire TSAT program is expected to reach $14-18 billion through 2016, which includes the satellites, the ground operations system, the satellite operations center and the cost of operations and maintenance. By mid-2007, the U.S. Air Force will either decide to build the TSAT system on its current schedule and launch in 2013-2016, or postpone TSAT, take stopgap measures and add Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) satellites 4 & 5 to the three slated for launch from 2009-2012.
Lockheed Martin and Boeing have won a total of $514 million each in risk reduction contracts for the TSAT SS satellite system, in hopes of making that Plan B unnecessary. Meanwhile, TSAT’s $2 billion TMOS ground-based network operations contract has just been awarded.
TSAT has seen steady progress on several fronts, but remains behind schedule and has experienced funding cuts. A recent 1-page plea brief on its behalf by the Lexington Institute notes the doubts clouding TSAT’s future – its survival is not assured by any means. The program may find it difficult to survive the current budget environment – and outside events and incremental competitors could spell its end, just as they spelled the end of Motorola’s infamous Iridium service. This updated DID Special Report looks at the TSAT program, its challenges, and the potential future(s) of U.S. military communications…
Satellite Delays Cost Pentagon, Feed Alternatives
18-May-2007 10:43 EDT |
Related Stories: Americas - USA, Industry & Trends, Satellites & Sensors
From DID’s special report article covering the USA’s planned $15-20 billion “Transformation Satellite Network (T-SAT):
“In terms of long term trends, it’s also worthy of note that a combination of narrowband satellites and MARTS-type communications aerostats for theater communications, wideband AEHF satellites for mission-critical high-bandwidth transfers like UAV video, encrypted communications via commercial satellite carriers, and laid fiber-optic cables for strategic communications are already appearing on the scene…. Throw in the possibility of finding new ways to leverage existing systems, and this constellation definitely represents a potential “incremental competition” threat to TSAT.”
FCW.com, in their January 2007 article “Satellite development delays cost DOD $1B”:
“The Defense Department will launch a new generation of communications satellites to serve mobile users in 2009, even though it has no funds for satellite receivers. Meanwhile, DOD is spending $1 billion a year on commercial broadband satellite service because of schedule delays in developing advanced military broadband satellite systems. Air Force Maj. Gen. William Lord said he is considering the use of high-tech balloons and unmanned aerial vehicles as communications relays to help bridge the satellite gap.”
FCW also raises of MUOS satellites headed into orbit, without MUOS JTRS radios on the ground that can take advantage of them. MUOS JTRS remains a part of JTRS Increment II, which is unfunded. The US military will use the satellites’ legacy communications package in the mean time. As for MUOS JTRS, software waveform development was 99% on schedule, and General Dynamics C4 Systems tells DID that “General Dynamics is prepared to support the government when they find the funding for MUOS JTRS-compatible terminals.”
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