SatCom For Net-Centric Warfare JanuaryJuly 20092008 MilsatMagazine ISR — EYES IN THE SKY COMMAND CENTER Lieutenant General John T. Sheridan, SMC Rick VanderMeulen, ViaSat EXPERTISE Columnists Chris Forrester Commander Joseph and Jos Heyman A. Smith, NGA Robert Demers, Howard Stevens, Brian Watson, AGS Dan Losada, Steve Gardner, Enerdyne Hughes José Prieto, GMV Terry Benson, Overwatch Tactical Prashant Butani, NSR Operations INCOMING Jeffrey Weaver, XipLink The Height Of Surveillance Paul Scardino, Globecomm MILSATMAGAZINE January 2009 CONTENTS INCOMING COMMAND CENTER Height Of Surveillance Lt. General 03 by Hartley Lesser 12 John T. Sheridan, USAF Commander, SMC, L.A.F.B. A Conversation With AGS Rick VanderMuelen, ViaSat 05 Robert Demers, Howard Stevens, V.P., Government Satcom, ViaSat Inc. Brian Watson 16 A Conversation With GMV Commander Joseph A. Smith, 08 José Prieto 33 Military Deputy, NGA interviewed by Susan Sheppard Paul Scardino BRIEFINGS 42 V.P. Sales + Marketing, Globecomm FAME Speeds Up SatImagery Use Dan Losada 37 Dr. Director, D&I Systems, Hughes by Susan Sheppard 49 Wireless Capacity In 44 Tactical Environments Terry Benson by Jeff Weaver, Director, XipLink 52 Sr. Bus. Mgr., Overwatch Tactical Operations 1st Military & Government Summit Comes Vol. 2 No. 6 65 January To 2009 NAB Show 2009 COMM OPS INFO History: EW, ELINT + 2009 MilsatMagazine + 21 Surveillance Satellites 67 SatMagazine Editorial by Jos Heyman Calendar Satcom Is Critical For Real- Advertiser Index 47 Time, Accurate Information 68 by Prashant Butani, NSR Trends In Communica- 57 tion Systems For ISR UAVs by Steve Gardner, GM, Enerdyne 2 MilsatMagazine — January 2009 MILSATMAGAZINE Height Of Surveillance INCOMING January 2009 command + control iable intelligence requires surveillance of the highest cal- Silvano Payne iber. To attain such, altitude is one of the mandatory tools Publisher required for mission success. Hartley Lesser V Editorial Director From the earliest days of human- pattie lesser kind’s history, intelligence regard- Editor ing enemy positions and activities simon payne required some form of surveil- development director lance and reconnaissance to aid in p.j. waldt determining the proper position- Associate Editor ing of force, and counter force, to Jill Durfee Assistant Editor best effect. In early June of 1783, SALES DIRector Joseph-Michel and Jacques-Etienne Susan Sheppard Montgolfier launched their first al- contributing editor titude balloon, sans habitant, with the first human ascent in the buoy- ant craft just five months later. (Im- THIS ISSUE’S AUTHORS age, right) Balloonists could finally relish, observe and record an en- prashant butani, columnist tirely new perspective of the world around them. robert demers The French, in 1794, established steve Gardner the first balloon reconnaissance unit with use throughout the Napoleonic wars. So effective was the intelli- jos heyman, columnist gence received from such surveillance other countries adopted this tactic during the mid-19th century with aplomb. The Austrians found balloons at height became unique platforms for bombing the enemy. They en- José Prieto gaged the Venetians in 1849 with 200, unpiloted balloons, which per- formed the first aerial bombardment in history. Unfortunately, weather howard Stevens prognostication was rather poor at that time, and the bomb-laden bal- loons were blown back into the brian watson Austrian lines due to inconsiderate, poorly timed winds. jeff weaver With height comes useful recon- naissance. The most successful American Civil War proponent of Published bi-monthly by such use for balloons was Thad- Satnews Publishers deus Lowe who, with a telegraph 800 Siesta Way, Sonoma, CA 95476 USA officer, rose to a height of 500 feet Phone (707) 939-9306 (152 meters) in a Union balloon to Fax (707) 939-9235 view Confederate efforts. Running email: [email protected] from the balloon rigging were tele- website: www.milsatmagazine.com © 2008 Satnews Publishers graph wires, which enabled direct (albeit rather slow) communication Author content does not to the White House and the Union necessarily reflect the views or War Office. With brothers Ezra and opinions of SatNews Publishers James Allen, Lowe built the aero- nautic service for the Union and MilsatMagazine — January 2009 3 INCOMING developed other leading technologies for the Little known is that some 89,000 ships were es- time — how to avoid trees while gaining altitude corted by airships that, although slower than being one of the foremost. They also developed aircraft, could remain at altitude for up to 60 a complete system for ground to air signaling. hours — not a single ship so escorted was lost As the Confederates noted the effectiveness of during the war. The photo at the bottom of the the Union balloons during the waning years of left hand column is of L-class airships on a the Civil War, they, too, manufactured a balloon training flight near the Naval Air Station at Mof- constructed of silk dresses. During its maiden fet Field in California in February of 1944. voyage, however, the Union immediately cap- tured their reconnaissance craft. The image at Balloons at altitude, even when used strictly for the bottom of the preceding page shows a bal- defensive purposes, helped win the day. During loon being launched from a coal barge during WWII, the British used balloons to force German the Civil War. planes on bombing runs higher into the sky dur- ing the Battle of Britain — the aircraft either had Other historical successes for balloons included to climb or become entangled with the guide another win-win for the French. During the Pari- wires anchoring the balloons to the ground. The sian siege in 1870, through the use of balloons, higher in altitude the bomber, the more accurate the French were able to move two million pieces the AA fire. of mail and 102 people over German emplace- ments. In 1880, Britain initiated a training regi- During Eisenhower’s presidential administration men for balloons and Russia initiated aeronautic during the Cold War, a project known as GEN- training near St. Petersburg. The reason for all ETRIX launched 516 balloons carrying cameras of this balloon activity was to ensure one’s mili- over the Iron and Bamboo Curtains. Some bal- tary had the latest intelligence gleaned from the loons gained altitudes of 45,800 feet Only sev- reports of those who had a heightened view of en percent managed to survive their missions, conditions — such reconnaissance was crucial to but those photographs provided the best re- battlefield success. connaissance content available at that time. The balloons also recorded wind current data, which Airships, also known as blimps, improved upon was used in helping to determine the U-2 spy the basic balloon gondola and the U.S. Navy plane’s flight paths when that extremely high found them to be highly useful throughout altitude aircraft made its debut. World War II, becoming the only service to use them during this conflict. Following the Pearl For governments, the military, NGOs, and first Harbor attack, the U.S. Congress authorized 200 responders, today’s satellites are the link to airships to be constructed. The navy used them control a variety of resources. From determining for a variety of tasks, from search and rescue to where to establish defensive lines when battling scouting and reconnaissance. a wild fire, from tracking enemy combatants and equipment and UAV flight routes to destroy hostile capabilities, to determining weather con- ditions, satellites play a surveillance and intel- ligence role that is without equal. With pinpoint accuracy, many of today’s military satellites pos- sess capabilities that remain highly secretive in order to play their roles in future force planning and national defense. The technologies involved are simply astounding and would read as intriguing, futuristic science- 4 MilsatMagazine — January 2009 INCOMING fiction plots — save for the fact that today they MilsatMagazine are doing their work and ensuring life, liberty, What is AMERICOM Government Services doing and the pursuit of happiness. Getting high is the to support current UAV intelligence missions? key to success. Has the demand for these missions increased or decreased in recent years? What do you an- We are delighted to present a number of subject ticipate the demand curve will create in the next matter experts and their views on intelligence several years? and surveillance, as well as other topics of inter- est in this issue of MilsatMagazine. Howard Stevens and Brian Watson We are currently providing capacity to support In combination with satellites, Umanned Aerial the Predator, Reaper, and Global Hawk train- Vehicles (UAVs) now provide highly detailed ing, research and development missions over the surveillance for use by field commanders and continental United States. In preparing the pilots first repsonders. Who better to discuss such in- to operate these vehicles, we supply the satellite telligence and surveillance issues with than sub- bandwidth necessary to operate communications ject matter experts Robert Demers, Senior Vice and surveillance systems onboard the aircraft. President, Howard Stevens and Brian Watson, Sales Directors, at Americom Government Ser- Through our DSTS-G contract with both Ar- vices (AGS) as well as Jose Prieto, the Business rowhead and DRS to support these missions, Development Manager for the I&S Business Unit we’ve seen a within GMV? rapid increase in demand A Conversation With AGS for our sat- AGS was formed on November 9, 2001 as an ellite capac- independent corporation, and a wholly owned ity for these subsidiary of SES AMERICOM. The Company of- activities. fers satellite bandwidth The initial and custom satcom requirement network solutions to has doubled U.S. government agen- in size over cies, including Defense, Civilian, State, Depart- the past two ment of Homeland Security and Intelligence, as years and has well as to commercial contractors who support increased by government contracts. Prior to the formation of more than 50 AGS, AMERICOM had continuously served the percent over U.S.