Via Satellite: Will the increasing demand for military X-band sustain?
Harlow: Commercially provided X-band is still a fairly new concept. It has taken some time to get the awareness of its capability as an augmentation to the WGS (Wideband Global Satcom) system out there to the military user. With the cyclical nature of people coming in and out of military positions, operators and service providers have to constantly educate and remind people that this capability exists, especially in the United States. X-band is already seeing wide use by other governments. The Spanish government has been using it with very small terminals for several years already, however, the growing awareness is starting to show in the United States. We’re getting more inquiries about available capacity and capabilities, with a noticeable increase in the last few months.
While nobody knows where the next conflict will be or how long we’ll have to stay in the current battle areas, the military knows that it will always need to have flexible and reliable capabilities at hand.
Via Satellite: How has the relationship between commercial providers and military end-users developed as X-band awareness has grown?
Harlow: There have been many reports on the increased need for bandwidth all across the militaries due to the lack of C- and Ku-band capacity in critical areas of the world such as Africa and Afghanistan. The military’s relationship with X-band has developed in two significant ways. The first was the inclusion of X-band in the DSTSG and its continuing inclusion in the FCSA (Future Comsatcom Services Acquisition) procurement. The second is the inclusion of X-band in the U.S. Navy’s CBSP (Commercial Broadband Satellite Program) as a replacement for CWSP (Commercial Wideband Satcom Program). These developments show the military’s growing acknowledgement of and comfort level with commercial services.
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