Ramona Adams
The U.S. Air Force will release a request for information on commercial satellite communications offerings for the military within the next few weeks, Space News reported Wednesday.
Col. George Nagy of the office of the Defense Department‘s principal space adviser has said the Air Force began a $7.8 million Wideband Analysis of Alternatives in December as part of the effort, Phillip Swarts writes.
The report said Wideband AOA could run through 18 months.
“The purpose of the RFI really is to make sure we capture, particularly from a technology standpoint, those potential enabling technologies that should be considered in whatever vein for the wideband enterprise,” Nagy added.
Norman Yarbrough, co-leader of the analysis with Nagy, said Air Force officials will assess companies’ RFI responses based on the survivability and resiliency of the space systems as well as the capacity to integrate with ground- and air-based communications.
Swarts reports Yarbrough indicated the Navy is looking to explore various contractual mechanisms for the future wideband satcom system.
