Air Force seeks new nuclear command-and-control terminals

[The Straight Story]

Air Force seeks new nuclear command-and-control terminals

By Bob Brewin 08/16/2010

After more than a decade of delays, the Air Force launched an advanced satellite on Aug. 14 to provide jam-proof communications for nuclear forces, but the service is rethinking its strategy to develop terminals for bombers and ground stations to avoid further extensions.

The Air Force plans to acquire six Advanced Extremely High-Frequency satellites for a project that has stretched over more than a decade, starting in 1999 at a cost of $3.2 billion to develop and put in orbit the first satellite. The Air Force estimates it will spend another $4 billion for five more satellites.

The AEHF satellites, developed by Lockheed Martin Corp., operate at data rates ranging from a little faster than a 1990s dial-up modem (75 bits per second) to about the same as a home cable modem or telephone high-speed Internet connection (8 megabits per second).

Gary Payton, deputy undersecretary of the Air Force for space programs, told the House Armed Services Committee in April that the AEHF satellites will increase the throughput for the jam-proof communications needed for overseeing nuclear forces from kilobytes per second to a megabyte per second.

http://www.nextgov.com/nextgov/ng_20100816_8329.php?oref=rss

[Turbineguy]

1. Any word on the Mineshaft Question?

We must not allow a Mineshaft Gap!