[Satellite News 11-06-08] A number of key figures from the U.K. Ministry of Defense emphasized the importance of satellite communications in next generation warfare at the Global MilSatCom conference.
    Commodore Eric Fraser, assistant chief of staff of the PJHQ J6 Division, said the U.K. military is seeing more evidence of network enabled capability.
    “We now have more capable and resilient networks,” said Fraser. “There is more extensive satellite communications availability. There are now an increased number of satellite ground terminals. Satellite communications is crucial to the way we do business. There is an availability of extra channels through Skynet 5. We have been much more rigorous in information management. We can’t underestimate the challenges but improvements are being made.”
    Group Captain John Wariner, U.K. Ministry of Defense chief of staff for information systems and services, agreed with Fraser about the increasing influence of satellite communications in theatre.
    “Satellite communications is truly essential. It has worked well in theater. The Military are a satellite communications vacuum. We suck whatever capacity there is up,” he said.
Fraser questioned the role of commercial satellite operators in the military arena. “The risk of using commercial satellites is their availability and there are security issues. I see a role for commercial but I don’t want it to take over from X Band, which gives us the resilience and security we crave,” he said. “We want only a limited use of this (commercial) capacity.”
    Wariner believes that commercial satcom is extremely attractive. “We have to work out how we work with them going forward. However, there are issues such as response to stress, security, sovereignty etc. You have to weigh up the risks,” he said.
    Fraser said the demand for intelligence via satellite networks is stronger than ever and these demands are so high, that they can never fully be met. He commented,    “Expectations are enormous. What we have to face up to is that we will never fully satisfy user needs.”
    Wariner said such were the demands for information, that efficiently using scarce bandwidth resources was now a key task. “Capability should be designed with expansion in mind. We work in a multi-national sense,” he said. “We have got to find a way of utilizing the scarce capabilities we have in a more capable way.”
    Information sharing between different units is now key to success. Fraser commented on this topic, emphasizing on the point that the nature of operations is constantly changing. “The network stretches from the tactical level to the U.K. and beyond,” he said. “From a J6 perspective, there is a demand for a seamless network from Afghanistan back to base. We have the increasing problem of smaller units operating in difficult terrain. The boundaries between tactical and strategic have long gone. The demand for information intelligence is growing exponentially. There is an ever increasing range of systems. We also see our troops working daily as part of a coalition. So, information sharing is now key. We need to move information between different domains.”
    Information sharing was one of key trends to emerge at the 2008 Global MilSatCom conference.
    Fraser admitted that one of the big advances in recent years has been better communication between Allied forces.
    “We could not previously communicate with our allies,” said Fraser. “We are now all operating on the same system. Battlespace management is much more interesting. We are on the same page with our allies. A multinational information system makes a huge difference. We have made huge strides across the board. Many of our commanders have forgotten the days where we could not communicate with allies or Headquarters. This is huge. I don’t think we can go back now. Information must be shared and exploited, not hoarded.”
    Fraser added that another challenge for military satcom is the need for reliability and resilience, emphasizing that the U.K. military cannot afford to lose information in life and death situations.
    Commander Nigel Chandler of the U.K. Ministry of Defense’s J6 Operations commented, “There are efficiencies to be made in theater. No longer can all three services (air, land, sea) use their own infrastructure. You need a common infrastructure that will give efficiency. Across the board, we are all desperately short of UHF channels. We are 30 percent short of what we need. We need to improve operational agility.”
    The move to the Skynet 5 system and use of a PFI (Private Finance Initiative) has also changed the rules of the game according to Chandler, who said that the development of a new culture in terms of the demands for capacity is essential for it to prove a success. “You need to understand the links between sensible military risk and resource. Innovation is about understanding what a PFI offers. No longer do we have to go through tortuous process of acquiring capacity. However, you need something that is assured and delivered. We need to develop a PFI culture amongst the user community. You need to get the culture right,” he said.
    Wariner added, “Ownership is nothing – capability is everything. We are now out of the business of ownership. If we owned it, we could fight with what we got. Industry is there to deliver a profit and a service. You need to make sure the vision is shared and understood between the different parties. You need to know the risks then mitigate them.”