Military space communications lacks direction, critics say.

• Author: MaGnuson, Stew
• Position: Communications - Cover story

* The Defense Department is at a standstill when it comes to figuring out what it will require to maintain its future military space communications architecture, both industry and government officials said at a recent industry conference--and nobody seems to be in charge.

The backbone of military communications for expeditionary warfare is increasingly dependent on satellites. U.S. forces showed up in Iraq in 2003 with satellite terminals, and left eight and half years later having never bothered to tap into landlines.

During that time, the demand exploded for communications satellites as a means to link between long distances. The U.S. military, lacking the capacity to send large amounts of data through its own systems, was forced to go to commercial satellite operators and lease transponders at high costs--currently some $1.2 billion per year. An estimated 80 percent of all U.S. military satellite communications now travels through about 50 private sector spacecraft, which do not provide the highly protected, jam-resistant capabilities the military needs.

Lt. Gen. Ellen Pawlikowski, Air Force Space and Missile Center commander, said the demand for satcom coverage will increase, even as the service's budget in the current defense spending downturn is expected to decrease. Commercial satellites will be an integral part of the military's communication architecture for years to come, she said.

The current fleets of military satellites can't keep up with demand, and there are no new programs undo. way.

"We are not in an environment where I can afford to start large programs," she said at the Satcon conference in New York City.

Someone in the Pentagon needs to take charge, but it isn't dear who that should be. No one has a 51-percent vote on which direction the Defense Department should go, military and industry officials said at the conference.

The office of the secretary of defense, the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) and the chief information officer all have roles to play. The Air Force and Navy build and launch communication satellites and the four services separately acquire the terminals needed to link to the spacecraft. Lawmakers on Capitol Hill also have a say.

Every few years, the OSD produces a roadmap for the robotics community. It spells out what capabilities the military wants in its unmanned systems and by what date, projecting its needs out 20 years. No such roadmap exists for the communications enterprise.

"This is a true leadership challenge because not everybody has the same boss," said Charles Beames, strategic advisor for space and intelligence at the office of the undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics (ATL).

Beames has been called one of the few officials in the Pentagon who understands the nexus between military satellite needs and the commercial sector. He is spearheading two efforts to sort out some of these issues.

Beames has asked Deputy Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter to request that the Defense Business Board look into...