On April 14, Boeing displayed its Protected Wideband Satellite (PWS) design. Wideband Global SATCOM (WGS)-11 will host the Protected Tactical SATCOM Prototype (PTS-P) payload developed by Boeing.
Charlotte Gerhart, chief of the Tactical SATCOM division at the U.S. Space Force’s Space Systems Command, said that the joint force is counting on Boeing to deploy capabilities that allow secure communications in a high-jamming situation. Boeing also needs speed and cost that make sense for the task and keep in mind the changing threats on the battlefield. He said that the Boeing PTS-Prototype package on WGS-11 is a big step forward for giving soldiers new ways to do their jobs.
The PWS is based on both military satellite communications (MILSATCOM) and the ability to stop interference. Both programmes are based on Boeing’s 702X software-driven technology, which lets beam-forming happen in real-time and automatically for better performance at a distance and signal security.
Michelle Parker, vice president of Boeing’s Space Mission Systems, stated that the Protected Wideband Satellite combines the PTS-P’s automated anti-jamming capabilities with the WGS’s significantly superior capabilities. This makes it possible for the next wave of protected wideband systems to work in the old transponded mode and the new onboard processed mode.
The programme is set to start in 2024, and tests in space are planned for 2025. The PTS-P payload will be ready for practical use after it has been tested in space.
The PTS-P design includes automated anti-jamming features such as geolocation of jammers, real-time adaptive nulling, and frequency hopping. These capabilities utilise the U.S. military’s Protected Tactical Waveform (PTW) to keep the warfighter connected in contested environments.
By putting PTS-P on the WGS-11 spacecraft as part of the WGS constellation, PWS works perfectly with all the existing WGS user terminals and allows for the gradual deployment of PTW modems in a theatre of action.
Most of the Department of Defense’s military communications go through the constellation of 10 satellites, which WGS runs.
