Summary: SSC’s New Protected Tactical SATCOM Family of Systems increases near-term Protected Tactical Waveform Anti-jam capability enabling greater warfighter lethality. Moves from current Protected Tactical SATCOM - Resilient competition.
EL SEGUNDO, Calif. – U.S. Space Force’s (USSF) Space Systems Command (SSC) has announced a new, innovative acquisition approach is in development to deliver critical Anti-jam (AJ) wideband satellite communications capability faster to warfighters across the globe. This new approach, titled Protected Tactical SATCOM (PTS) Family of Systems (FoS), increases near-term Protected Tactical Waveform (PTW) AJ capability enabling greater warfighter lethality by capitalizing upon PTS Prototype technology matured to date.
Wideband tactical communications are vital to worldwide Department of Defense (DoD) and international partners’ operations. Protected Tactical SATCOM is a critical capability that enables protected, all-weather communications in contested and non-contested environments. The PTS FoS is DoD’s approach to providing robust communications using PTW.
“We have initiated a new approach to bound cost and technical risk while rapidly delivering incremental capability,” said Mr. Cordell DeLaPena, Jr., Space Force Program Executive Officer for Military Communications and Positioning, Navigation, and Timing. “The benefits of this innovative approach include saving near-term costs by utilizing lower cost-risk contracts, and providing incremental capabilities faster by operationalizing current PTS-Prototype satellite capabilities after they launch next year.”
This approach retains the current baseline for most tactical SATCOM programs (Protected Tactical SATCOM Global (PTS-G), Protected Tactical Enterprise Service (PTES), Enterprise Management and Control (EM&C), and Air Force-Army Anti-jam Modem (A3M)). In order to focus on implementing faster and more robust capabilities, including bringing PTS-P prototypes into operation as quickly as possible, current Protected Tactical SATCOM—Resilient (PTS-R) competition has been cancelled. Opportunities to make incremental improvements to two existing prototypes will be investigated, and the new PTS FoS acquisition strategy will deliver full PTS-R capability in the future.
“The USSF remains committed to fully meeting the requirements of the Anti-Jam capability with PTW on-board processing in the future,” said DeLaPena.
About Space Systems Command
Space Systems Command is the U.S. Space Force field command responsible for acquiring, developing, and delivering resilient capabilities to outpace emerging threats and protect our Nation’s strategic advantage in, from, and to space. SSC manages a $15.6 billion annual space acquisition budget for the Department of Defense, working with joint forces, industry partners, government agencies, academia, and allied nations. For more information, visit ssc.spaceforce.mil and follow @USSF-SSC on LinkedIn.
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