Space Capabilities Bolster Netcentric Warfare

The MUOS Systems is Expected to Begin
Providing Enhanced Capability to the
Warfighter in 2010 Pending Terminal Availability.
The Air Force Continues to Define the Future of
Space Situational Awareness Systems.

by Erin Flynn Jay
MSMF Correspondent

The first mobile user objective satellite (MUOS) satellite is scheduled for on-orbit hand-over to the U.S. Navy in 2010 along with the entire ground system. Potential interoperability issues are being resolved. The Air Force’s Secure Information Access Analysis and Dissemination contract provides support to troops on the ground in Iraq and also covers space domain and building out net-centric infrastructures.

A much-discussed way to improve the speed-of-command on the battlefield is to create a net-centric battlefield operation. Each element of a tactical system performs its narrow mission, but shares data as needed with others in a way that provides a more complete and accurate representation of the battlefield and the role of that system in the environment.

The purpose of net-centric warfare is to translate an information advantage into a battlefield advantage through the networking and data-sharing between geographically dispersed forces. The shared situational awareness enables better strategic coordination of forces and enhances speed-of-command, which dramatically increases mission effectiveness.

Net-centric concepts make understanding and designing a battlefield architecture more intuitive. To actually implement a net-centric system, however, requires a transition from code- or architecture-centric thinking to net-centric design, said Dr. Stan Schneider, CEO, Real-Time Innovations (RTI), a company that supplies middleware and distributed data-management solutions for real-time systems. “This is a profound change. Instead of configuring clients and servers, or building objects and invoking remote methods, net-centric design implies that the system directly controls information exchange,” said Schneider. “Net-centric developers don’t write or specify code. They specify who needs what data when. Then they answer the information questions: How fast is the data coming? Does it need to be reliable? Do I need to store it? Where is it coming from? What happens if a node fails?”

The Object Management Group’s data distribution service for real-time systems (DDS) standard defines a network middleware architecture that enables net-centric design. “It allows developers to directly specify data requirements and qualities of service directly for a real-time system. This standard is becoming a central networking technology for many military platforms today,” Schneider said. “The U.S. DoD mandates DDS for all publish-subscribe communications. It is also gaining support internationally. DDS is a key technology.”

UPDATE ON MUOS

The Navy is responsible for the acquisition of MUOS the U.S. military’s next-generation narrowband global mobile satellite communications system. MUOS is an integral part of the DoD Net-Centric Warfare architecture. “It provides interconnectivity for tactical units as well as a minimal reachback capability to the Global Information Grid [GIG] for units in urban and dense jungle environments on the move and at the halt,” said Commander Jim Knoll, section head, SATCOM and Communications Systems.

Potential interoperability issues are being resolved by the use of the Joint Tactical Radio System (JTRS) family of radios as the MUOS terminal (interoperability inherent in the development process) as well as the impending standup of an “integration authority” at the direction of under secretary of defense, acquisition, technology and logistics in order to highlight and resolve integration issues between the MUOS satellite, JTRS user terminal, and teleport gateway programs, Knoll told MSMF.

The MUOS system is expected to begin providing enhanced capability to the warfighter in 2010 pending terminal availability. “MUOS is built by a government, Lockheed Martin, Boeing and General Dynamics team that have providing essential capability to the warfighter as their number one objective,” Knoll concluded. Lockheed Martin achieved a key milestone in the development of the MUOS in March with the successful completion of static loads testing of the first satellite in the program constellation.

The test, which validated the satellite’s strength and ability to sustain its launch weight of over 13,000 pounds (5,897 kilograms), was conducted by a team of engineers from Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Newtown, Pa., and ATK, Corona, Calif. The successful test demonstrated with high confidence that the structure can carry the physical loads it will experience during the satellite’s manufacturing, launch and operation in geosynchronous orbit.

MUOS satellites will be the largest of Lockheed Martin’s flight-proven A2100 spacecraft series. The first MUOS satellite, along with the associated ground system, is scheduled for on-orbit handover to the Navy in 2010.

SUCCESSFUL TEST COMPLETED

“Successful completion of this critical test is testimony to the team’s commitment to successful, on-schedule program execution for our customer,” said Paul Scearce, vice president, Lockheed Martin and MUOS program manager. “MUOS spacecraft will deliver significantly improved connectivity, and we look forward to providing this new capability to the mobile warfighter.”

The team is now preparing to deliver the spacecraft core structure to Lockheed Martin’s Mississippi Space & Technology Center at the John C. Stennis Space Center, while the panels and other components will be shipped to the company’s facilities in Newtown for the start of payload integration. The MUOS core propulsion structure and the integrated payload module are scheduled for delivery to Sunnyvale later this year for the start of final assembly, integration and test.

Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Sunnyvale, Calif., prime contractor and systems engineering lead for the MUOS program, is under contract to design, build and deploy the first two MUOS satellites and the associated MUOS ground system. The Navy’s Program Executive Office for Space Systems, Chantilly, Va., and its Communications Satellite Program Office, San Diego, Calif., are responsible for the MUOS program. The contract also provides for options on three additional spacecraft. With all options exercised, the contract for up to five satellites has a total potential value of $3.26 billion.

MUOS will provide significantly improved and assured communications for U.S. mobile warfighters. The Lockheed Martin design features state-of-the-art thirdgeneration (3G) mobile technology that will deliver simultaneous voice and data services, as well as the ability to increase capacity and features over the life of the program. Users of the current Ultra High Frequency Follow-On system will have improved service and complete interoperability with the MUOS legacy payload, which ensures a smooth transition to the next generation of 3G mobile user equipment.

DEPLOYMENT PREPARATION

In July, General Dynamics C4 Systems mounted three 18.4-meter (60.4 foot (ft)) satellite antennas on 53-ft-tall pedestals in Wahiawa, Hawaii, as part of the preparations to deploy the new MUOS. General Dynamics, under contract to Lockheed Martin, has overall responsibility for the ground-based segment of the MUOS system.

The MUOS system will provide cell phone-like services to ground-based warfighters around the globe, with the satellites acting as “cell towers” in space. The system will enable users to communicate directly with each other and their commanders virtually anywhere in the world.

Technicians raised the 34-ton dish up over 80 feet to its permanent spot where it will point to one of the five highly sophisticated satellites scheduled to be deployed into space starting in 2012.

“The General Dynamics Satellite Communications (SATCOM) team doing the assembly of the MUOS antennas are true professionals,” said James Cairns, project manager, Naval Computer and Telecommunications Area Master Station Pacific.

“There was lots of planning that went into this evolution behind the scenes, but once we got all the pieces in place everything went off like clockwork.”

Construction on the site began July 5, 2007 and will change the way the Navy transmits information into the 21st Century. “MUOS will use technological innovations to provide service to more military users and offer a truly effective communication capability tool in accomplishing the Navy’s maritime strategy mission,” said Cairns.

The Wahiawa ground station is the first of four that will be equipped with MUOS satellite antenna systems. The other MUOS ground stations will be located in Norfolk, Va.; Geraldton, Australia; and Niscemi, Italy.

“These antenna installations mark a significant milestone in the development and fielding of the MUOS Ground System,” said John Weidman, vice president, national systems, General Dynamics C4 Systems. “The MUOS Earth terminals utilize a stateof- the-art Ka-band antenna designed with highly accurate auto-tracking to meet system performance and availability. The large 18.4-meter antenna design pushes the envelope of what has been fielded in this frequency band in the past.”

MUOS leverages 3G wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA) cellular phone technology in the implementation of the ground segment. The MUOS Ground System provides communications and controls interfaces between the MUOS satellites and DoD Earth-based communication networks. It features Earth-terminal infrastructure and Internet protocol connectivity, including switching facilities, network management and satellite command and control elements.

General Dynamics is also developing the MUOS User Entry Terminal Waveform software library for future use by radios being developed under the JTRS program. The company will engineer the wireless protocol for communication between user terminals and the satellites.

General Dynamics began work in September 2004 with Lockheed Martin Space Systems to provide the userentry and integrated ground segments for the MUOS system.

AIR FORCE CONTRACT

In June, the Air Force awarded Intelligent Software Solutions (ISS), a software and IT solutions provider, a one-year, $4.5 million option to its Secure Information Access Analysis and Dissemination (SIAAD) contract. ISS performs a variety of software development, deployment and support tasks under the SIAAD vehicle. This includes supporting a range of analytical and operational users of ISS software and technology.

ISS does quite a bit of work in the Air Force. Their primary customer inside the Air Force is the Air Force Research Lab (AFRL) in Rome, N.Y., and Dayton, Ohio. ISS builds advanced intelligence and command and control systems through those organizations and has had several of them transitioned for use in Iraq and Afghanistan. ISS currently has about 35 engineers and analysts deployed in those two countries in support of these Air Force tools. They support the Army, Marines and USCENTCOM directly in combat operations.

ISS President Jay Jesse said, “We continue to expand our support for new and existing customers in intelligence, command and control, space, cyber and many other domains. It’s very exciting. We have over 150 separate and distinct projects being worked on this contract alone. It speaks loudly about the re-usability of our technologies. We’re most proud of how many of our customers return to us for continued assistance.”

“The Secure Information Access Analysis and Dissemination contract has several different subpaths underneath it that range from providing support to troops on the ground in Iraq to some of the work we are doing in the space domain to supporting building out netcentric infrastructures for the Air Force,” said Carl Houghton, vice president strategic planning, ISS.

The Air Force chose ISS in March to continue its leadership role in defining the future of Space Situational Awareness systems over the coming year. Work planned will expand upon research and development efforts undertaken over the past year.

Under an AFRL initiative in 2007, ISS participated in the construction of the Joint Space Operations Center (JSpOC) Situational Assessment and Reporting System (JSARS). This system integrated a variety of disparate space-related sensors at the JSpOC at Vandenberg AFB, Calif. The data from these sensors was fused into a cohesive space situational awareness (SSA) picture for visualization by operators and decision-makers at the JSpOC.

After a successful integration at JSpOC, and demonstrations for Lieutenant General William Shelton (14 AF commander and Joint Functional Component commander for Space) and General Kevin Chilton (commander, United States Strategic Command), JSARS officially transitioned to Air Force Space and Missile Center, as a part of the rapid attack identification, detection and reporting system (RAIDRS).

In preparation for the upcoming RAIDRS Block 20 program procurement, ISS is assisting to extend JSARS for deployment on additional DoD networks and integration of additional data sources. This risk reduction activity is formally known as the RAIDRS Block (RB20) 20 Pilot. The original JSARS system was redesignated RAIDRS Block 20 Increment 0. ISS continues this year to work with AFRL to deploy RB20 Increments 1 and 2.

Dr. David Rodvold, ISS principal engineer, Space Programs, said “ISS stands ready to assist the Air Force space community in defining the future of net-centric space situational awareness systems. Our JSARS work is just the beginning of several key projects ISS will be executing in the SSA business area. We look to expand our market leadership in this area of technology development critical to our nation’s defense.” ♦