Major European MODs Outline Milsatcom Strategies of the Future

[Via Satellite 11-09-2016] Future investments in European military satellite communications dominated conversations on day one at Global MilSatCom in London this week. The morning had major speakers from the United Kingdom’s Ministry of Defense (MOD), as well as France’s and Italy’s; all touched upon future systems and where their countries may invest next. One of the first speakers was Air Commodore Nick Hay, head capability C4ISR, Joint Forces Command (JFC), at the U.K. Ministry of Defense. He admitted there are many challenges facing the U.K. MOD, with space becoming more contested and congested.

“Space is becoming increasingly complicated and cluttered. There are nearly 17,500 objects around the Earth. We will have to cater for these increasing number of hazards. One of the challenges is highlighting the fact our space based capabilities can be disrupted,” he said.

At the start of 2015, The U.K. JFC outlined its vision of the future as it relates to milsatcom. Hay admitted the country sees that “we are now standing in the foothills of the information age.” The command now believes that, with the advent of connectivity, almost everything of consequence and inconsequence can now be connected via the internet. So, how is this changing how the U.K. is using milsatcom? According to Hay, as a result, there are now more shorter engagements overseas, but these are now increasingly complex. There are also greater interoperability requirements as a result of the changes in this dynamic.

One of the big themes of the event is where the likes of the U.K. MOD will invest next. Its Skynet 5 program, back in the first part of the millennium was a new concept, and the first time that the U.K. MOD had used a Private Finance Initiative (PFI) to acquire satellites. They Skynet 5 satellite constellation consists of four satellites. Hay admitted that the U.K. now has a much broader coverage than originally envisioned for Skynet 5, particularly after the Skynet 5D satellite was launched in 2012.

However, with some of those satellites nearing the end of their lifespan, thoughts are inevitably turning to Skynet 6 and what that might look like. Hay admitted that “the U.K. needs to get something up in the air quickly” and that it needs “to maintain its UHF and SHF capability.” Right now, the U.K. is in the concept phase in terms of evaluating Skynet 6’s enduring capability. “We will assess emerging technologies. We anticipate by the end of this decade making a decision. We need to look at new generations of technology such as LEO and OneWeb. We are going to do COTM trials next year. It is not just what we want, but what is out there. We will consider different routing technologies for example, and how we can respond to emerging threats,” Hay added.

The challenge for the MOD is to try to accurately predict future demand. “We need to achieve the right mix of protected sovereign capability and commercially available capacity. We need to figure out anti satellite threat development. We are also looking to recruit an acquisition partner in 2017,” said Hay. “Space delivers benefits for all. We need to defend our assets. We cannot be naïve. We most not have a blinkered focus. There is a lot to do to develop a U.K. MOD space policy. We want to develop an affordable capability for Skynet 6.”

France

Another of the major speakers on the opening morning was Colonel Laurent Jannin, head of the Syracuse 3 and 4 programs and milsatcom operations at DGA France. Jannin is relatively new in the role but was at the event to give an update on France’s milsatcom capabilities. Right now France has access to four satellites, Syracuse 3A and 3B, and it shares Sicral 2 and Athena-Fidus with the Italian MOD. Jannin spoke of an “IP transformation” at the heart of everything the French MOD is looking to achieve and called it “a long-term transformation” indicating that, when undertaking this, the French MOD needs to take into account a lot of legacy ground stations, which it needs to adapt, for example. “It is not only technology issues, but a real system approach,” he added.

In late 2015, French defense procurement agency DGA, part of the Defense Ministry, signed a deal with Thales Alenia Space and Airbus Defence and Space to build and deliver the military satellite communications system, Comsat NG. The Comsat NG contract covers the construction and launch of two military communications satellites for the French armed forces, to replace the Syracuse 3A and Syracuse 3B satellites, launched in 2005 and 2006, respectively. These new satellites will enter in service in 2021 and will give France a higher performance system featuring new services. Jannin said these two satellites will be threat-resistant to cyberattacks, jamming and High Altitude Nuclear Event (HANE). It is he next phase of France’s milsatcom strategy.

When looking at France’s future milsatcom needs, Jannin repeated it will be all about completing this IP transformation. “We need to increase the satcoms on the move capacity. We need to unify milsatcom systems into a coherent approach,” he said.

Italy

Italy is another major nation in Europe which is currently evaluating its space strategy, both in terms of milsatcom, as well as more generally. Lieutenant Colonel Luigi Mauro, chief of the sitcom section at Italy’s Ministry of Defense, gave a presentation that went beyond the current collaboration with the French MOD and looked at where Italy may go next. He highlighted the fact that in August this year, the Italian government approved the allocation of 1.1 billion euros ($1.2 billion) for its first plan to put together a framework to have a national strategy in space. Mauro said the main the main driver of the space economy is the downstream, the uses and applications of space commodities.

Mauro admitted that Italy has a requirement for a minimum of two military satellites to meet its national military needs, disaster relief and homeland security. He describes the upcoming Sicral 3 program as “the most important future satcom program for the Italian defense” as it will guarantee the survivability of the Sicral constellation.

In terms of some of the requirements for the program, Mauro said the Italian MOD wants to see a narrowband and broadband services improvement. He also highlighted capabilities such as satellite routing, smaller UHF terminals, and improvements in interference detection and rejection capabilities. The Italian MOD would also want to see increased flexibility in terms of spot beam coverage as well as better coverage in general. When looking at how Sicral 3 might be funded, Mauro added, “we are open to PPP [Public Private Partnership]; we are also open to international partnerships if respective programs can be aligned. We are also open to hosted payloads.”