Air Force AoA Could Open Door to Bigger Role for Commercial Satcom

The Air Force expects to launch a wideband analysis of alternatives (AoA) this fall that could see DOD increasingly turn to commercial communications satellite providers for a much bigger slice of the military’s communications needs. But satcom operators said in interviews that commercial satcom capabilities could be a secondary issue to the challenge in changing military procurement procedures. "The number one issue is cultural," said Myland Pride, Intelsat director-government and regulatory affairs. DOD and other government agencies increasingly recognize commercial capability improvements in satcom and other mission areas, Pride said, but "to switch from how they have done business for many, many years is difficult."

Pentagon leadership is pushing for more reliance on commercial capabilities, many agreed. “As you go farther down in implementation, that’s when you run into a ‘we have done it this way’ perspective," said Inmarsat Senior Vice President-Government Strategy and Policy Rebecca Cowen-Hirsch. “It’s certainly a cultural challenge. It’s not a technology challenge -- it’s cultural, it’s procedural, it’s policy and process.”

The wideband AoA will look at DOD options for high-capacity communications beyond the completion of military owned-and-operated Wideband Global Satcom (WGS) system now in service, with one aspect of the AoA involving more consideration of commercial options, the Air Force told us in a statement. The AoA is expected to formally begin in October or November, it said.

The three likely scenarios are the DOD opts to continue the status quo by continuing to build owned-and-operated systems, creates a flexible architecture system that integrates a government system with commercial overlay, or relies heavily on commercial enterprise, Pride said. "We are as an industry getting our heads around how we approach this from the enterprise perspective." The AoA also could include a managed services approach, incorporating both ground and space in one package instead of the military buying all the major components -- from terminals to launches -- separately, Cowen-Hirsch said.

While the military traditionally has done its analysis internally, it seems that this time, the satcom industry will be involved, Cowen-Hirsch said. "Regardless of the outcome, they really are trying to be as inclusive as they can," Pride said.

Driving the AoA is "a current or projected gap in warfighter capability," the Air Force said. It said the aim is to assess potential solutions by looking at such criteria as operational effectiveness, cost, integration risk, manufacturing feasibility and technology maturation and demonstration needs.

The department also faces “a recapitalization gap” with military owned-and-operated constellations likely needing tens of billions of dollars in the next decade but not being budgeted for that by Congress, Cowen-Hirsch said. She said commercial satcom affordability is one of the keys of the industry’s sales pitch, along with its flexibility and diversity of assets and its ability to quickly insert new technology.

DOD needs for commercial satcom capacity are going to grow, with ongoing anti-satellite weapon capabilities being developed in China and Russia, meaning more U.S. needs to distribute its military satellite architecture and to not be solely dependent on WGS, House Science, Space and Technology Subcommittee member Jim Bridenstine, R-Okla., told a Future Space 2016 audience (see 1607140053) last week. "We need to rely on a much more robust constellation" through accessing more commercial capacity, though it also has to have encryption and anti-jamming capabilities, he said.

The AoA will look at various options and combinations, from developing "purpose-built" platforms to acquiring general-purpose commercial offerings that are projected to be available in the 2026-27 time frame, when WGS is expected to reach the end of its service life, the Air Force said. It said contributors would be principal stakeholders from across the DOD, including the Joint Chiefs and the combatant commands, plus international partners and the private sector.

Any Defense effort should include consideration of the full range of commercial satcom capabilities, developing an integrated architecture using commercial and government architecture and affording enough time for a Wideband AoA “robust industry participation,” said SES Vice President-Government Affairs Jeff Rowlison in a blog post. Congress needs to act to give the government the ability to plan and purchase a satcom architecture that includes commercial satcom capabilities “as an enduring, baseline component,” he said.

If the DOD opts for more commercial satcom provision, it likely will be across a number of different service providers operating in the Ka, Ku, L and X bands for different needs, Cowen-Hirsch said.

Before the AoA, the Air Force said it has been laying some groundwork such as regulator interactions with industry experts to get information on new technologies and tell the commercial sector about DOD long-range plans to replace WGS. It said the AoA could take up to 24 months to complete, and the results won't be released publicly.