Can the Air Force Prepare for Space War?

by Kris Osborn

To determine a path for its constellation of Wideband Global Satellites (WGS) – a course which could result in wider use of existing commercial technologies or an effort to engineer and build a new dedicated constellation of satellites, Air Force and industry officials said.

The first group of WGS is expected to begin coming to the end of its service life in coming decades, spurring a need for a modernization strategy for the technology.

Air Force officials told Scout Warrior the AoA will evaluate alternatives spanning air, space, cyberspace, and ground systems to address the required wideband communications capabilities in both benign and contested environments.

Frank Kendall, former Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics, formally signed an Acquisition Decision Memorandum for the Wideband Communications Service AoA on Dec. 23, 2016, said Air Force spokeswoman Capt. Annmarie Annicelli.

“We look forward to working with our industry and international partners over the course of the AoA to determine the best mix of military and commercial SATCOM to ensure the SATCOM architecture is resilient in a future contested environment,” Annicelli added.

Annicelli said that the AoA will provide an analytical comparison of the operational effectiveness, resiliency, suitability, and life-cycle costs to enable the full consideration of possible trade-offs among cost, schedule, and performance for each alternative.

The increasingly high-threat environment, referred to by Annicelli, includes anti-satellite weapons and other emerging technologies which have increased the risk to the functionality of operational satellites. Such a phenomenon underscores the need to modernize or replace the existing aging constellation, officials explain.