"The ubiquitous user terminal that could interoperate across frequency bands and orbits was a key part of [the Space Force's SATCOM Vision], and to date, no one's been able to deliver it," said Ryan Stevenson, Kymeta's chief scientist.
Ground platform situational awareness is critical as vehicle crew survivability depends upon it.
“Tactical operating system” for warfighters has evolved to provide more situational awareness of the battlefield.
Command posts that aren’t mobile are vulnerable to attack from electronic warfare and long-range drones.
Expeditionary forces jumping from island to island in the Indo-Pacific need a mobile way to command and control from vehicles, hotels, and homes.
The draft FY25 NDAA language would force DoD to create a new pilot project designed to kickstart its nascent plans to create a so-called hybrid space architecture linking national security, commercial, civil and allied satellites into a massive mesh network.
The plan is designed not just to improve Luxembourg's military space capabilities, but also specifically to improve defense cooperation with the US by "jointly exploiting" the new SES satellites.
Why edge and endpoint security can’t be an afterthought.
The Space Force's goal is to create a resilient SATCOM architecture by using multiple types of satellites with better encryption and dispersed over various orbits to flummox adversary jamming attempts — with US national security planners fully expecting sophisticated electronic warfare attacks against satellites in future conflicts.
The Army units involved operate a payload for the Wideband Global SATCOM system; the Navy's are connected to the Mobile User Objective System sats.
"Now we're just really working out the details for the timing that that will happen, and how frankly how it will happen," Lt. Gen. Daniel Karbler, Army SMDC commander, says.
"The Joint Force depends upon SATCOM communication services as part of its JADC2 and Internet of Things," says Maj. Gen. Kim Crider, Space Force acting technology innovation officer.
Reducing cognitive overload on warfighters while improving “time to trust” for autonomous systems is a matter of design.
"Adversaries understand the advantage SATCOM brings our warfighters and are working to deny, degrade, and destroy these capabilities," says the new strategy, released today.
DoD currently maintains 17,000 terminals with "approximately 135 different designs," GAO said. Those terminals operate across diverse platforms—such as ships, backpacks, vehicles -- all with differing system requirements.
Joe Welch, Army deputy PEO for tactical command, control and communications, says current satcom network in Geosynchronous Orbit creates a "single point of failure" for which there are few backups available.
"Deterrence only works if can communicate our capabilities, and we must tell our adversaries what we have waiting if they choose to cross a red line," says Maj. Gen. Rick Evans.