SATCOM STREAMLINE
T
he Army is working to consolidate the variety of ground satellite equipment in its portfolio, using a more versatile family of systems approach, while retaining the acquisition flexibility to insert new
technologies as they evolve. In this new approach, fewer system variants will provide more capability and be able to support a broader range of mission sets.
During past conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Army designed each of its ground satellite terminals to support specific missions and phases of operations—from early entry to network buildup, to more mature operations with huge static command posts. Each system had to go through laborious and antiquated testing and acquisition processes that took years to get new capabilities into the hands of Soldiers.
Currently, there are over a dozen and a half different ground satellite terminal variants in the Army’s satellite communica- tions (SATCOM) fleet, with well over 10,000 terminals fielded globally, which doesn’t include thousands of combat service support logistics network terminals. Army investment dollars used to sustain this large SATCOM fleet have been eating into the service’s limited resources.
A CATALYST FOR CHANGE In early 2022, Gabe Camarillo, the undersecretary of the Army, initiated the network capability portfolio review to accelerate digital transformation and the modernization of the Army’s network. Te capability portfolio review process evaluates and aligns system requirements and resources with Army priorities and creates a sustainable coherent and flexible strategic path for transformation, leveraging feedback from network stakehold- ers Armywide.
As part of capability portfolio review outcomes, Project Manager Tactical Network (PM TN), at the Program Executive Office for Command, Control and Communications ‒ Tactical (PEO C3T), is looking to reduce the number of SATCOM terminal variants and equipment through multiple approaches:
• Going after solutions that can meet more than one mission set.
• Separating the baseband solution from the terminal solutions.
• Changing business models.
Te program office is working with Army stakeholders to address several challenges and opportunities along the way, such as how to consolidate similarly sized platforms; how to identify the optimal baseline requirements where potential trade-offs can be made to enable variant reduction; how to insert new technology from the network modernization road map; and how to align the acquisition and contract strategy across PM TN while providing flexibility for technical insertions of new technologies.
KEEPING IT IN THE FAMILY One of PM TN’s ways to streamline the Army’s SATCOM port- folio is to implement a Family of Terminals strategy, which PM TN anticipates will reduce the current number of terminals by more than half by fiscal year 2025.
Tis SATCOM Family of Terminals would be operationally flexible, modular, scalable and tailorable, providing a variety of expeditionary terminals to units worldwide to best support different formations, echelons, mission phases, requirements and locations. Tere would be fewer terminal variants that would come in different sizes: extra small, small, medium, large and extra large. Te strategy is expected to realize substantial cost savings and avoidance, while delivering the right array of solu- tions to enable the needed operational flexibility, signal path diversity and enhanced capability to support multidomain oper- ations while easing sustainability and training burdens.
Industry has significantly expanded the options available in today’s commercial market, offering DOD new and more scal- able and tailorable solutions without specific operational phase limitations. For example, terminals that once would have only been used for early entry are now more generically considered “light” terminals. Tey can be tailored to different missions at all stages of operations and scaled up or down to support differ- ent-sized units. Today’s expeditionary light SATCOM terminals are easy to deploy and can be set up or torn down in under 30 minutes, for rapid mobility and survivability in a near-peer fight.
One of the critical linchpins to making a “family of” approach is the normalization of requirements. Te Common Transport Layer Capabilities Development Document—which specifies the operational requirements of current and emerging integrated, unified network components—is a critical enabler to do that. In the past, requirements traditionally would lead to a program of record solution that the Army would field across the force and sustain for decades. Now, the service is normalizing the require- ments between all of the disparate requirement’s documents, which could lead the Army to an optimal range in terms of the
68 Army AL&T Magazine Spring 2023
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