Navy satellite program navigating obstacles.

• Author: Harper, Jon
• Position: Industry Viewpoint

* A critical Navy satellite program continues to face challenges as the Defense Department and its industry partners seek to improve the communications capabilities of deployed troops.

The $7 billion mobile user objective system, known as MUOS, is designed for narrowband communications. It aims to give U.S. forces a global smartphone-like capability with its new wideband code division multiple access waveform.

The system is expected to provide troops with higher data rates and voice quality, improved operational availability, and access to the Global Information Grid and Defense Information Systems Network voice and data services.

Lockheed Martin is the prime contractor. "MUOS is bringing a game-changing technology to the joint warfighter," said Rear Adm. Christian "Boris" Becker, program executive officer for space systems as well as command, control, communications, computers and intelligence.

"It's a cell phone network with towers at 22,000 miles" above the Earth, he said during a recent conference at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

But the program has encountered difficulties that have hindered it from reaching its full potential.

MUOS was originally expected to achieve full operating capability in March 2014. That date was later pushed back to January 2017, and the schedule appears to have again slipped significantly. The FOC milestone is now projected to not be reached until fiscal year 2019, according to Steven A. Davis, a spokesman for Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command.

"While MUOS [wideband code division multiple access] is an extremely promising, game-changing capability, we recognize that there is still work to do to deliver the system's full suite of capabilities to warfighters," Davis said in an email.

'We also recognize that the transition from legacy UHF sat-com to MUOS WCDMA is a large leap for our end users, and we are working closely with Army Forces Strategic Command to improve [the system's] ease of use ... and address any challenges in the transition," he added.

When asked why the expected FOC date had been pushed to the right, Davis said: "The schedule for reaching FOC is dependent on completing all the operational testing and evaluation required to make sure the system is fully ready for war-fighter use."

The capability has been in the early combatant commander use phase since July 2016. This provides operators the opportunity to exercise, train and develop concepts of operations using the new system, Davis noted.

The technology will remain in this phase until the program successfully completes follow-on operational test and evaluation, currently projected for fiscal year 2019. A declaration of FOC will immediately follow, he said.

A major challenge for the program is...