By Marina Malenic
The Air Force issued a revised draft request for proposals for the Transformational Communications Satellite (TSAT) program last month.
In a Dec. 23 announcement, the service said it will close the existing program solicitation without awarding a contract. The service said it will host an industry day on Jan. 16 to discuss the draft RFP and acquisition strategy. A final RFP is expected in June.
Last month, chief Pentagon arms buyer John Young instructed the Air Force to move ahead with a restructure, admonishing the service for poorly running the program to date.
“This time, act immediately on this direction in order to make progress on TSAT and stop poorly using taxpayer dollars,” Young told Air Force officials in a handwritten note on a Dec. 3 acquisition decision memorandum. An initial satellite should be launched no later than Sept. 30, 2019, according the instruction (Defense Daily, Dec. 11).
“The TSAT program restructure complies with recent direction from the Undersecretary of Defense (Acquisition, Technology and Logistics) [Young] and the Joint Requirements Oversight Council (JROC) and balances affordability, technology maturity, and program complexity to meet required demand,” the Dec. 23 Air Force announcement states.
The initial increment will consist of five Block 10 satellites and related ground control systems, with a first launch capability by 2019, according to the statement. The capabilities solicited in the RFP include Internet Protocol routing for network management and new means to communicate with deployed forces on-the-move.
“Overall protected communications throughput of TSAT Block 10 will provide at least a factor of five growth over AEHF capacity,” the announcement states. “Future increments are expected to incorporate laser and Ka-band Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance communications support.”
Young had been critical of the service in the past, accusing officials of “playing games” with important military satellite acquisitions and intentionally “short-sheeting” space programs more generally (Defense Daily, Nov. 3).
Lockheed Martin [LMT] and Boeing [BA] were in competition for the TSAT contract. However, Young’s office scrapped the competition in October.
Earlier in the fall, an Air Force official admitted his concern that the service’s efforts to “protest-proof” the competition might lead to an award delay (Defense Daily, Sept. 26). The service has presided over a number of large, troubled acquisition programs in recent years and was loath to avoid another embarrassment along those lines, according to the official.
The new constellation was being designed to provide military users with secure communications on the move via lasers instead of radio waves. Senior defense officials decided in October to scale back the vision and use conventional radio waves after all.
“The TSAT program office developed system technical and performance increments to respond to shifting external demands,” Young explains in his memo.
“I direct the Air Force to immediately restructure the TSAT program in accordance with the results of the October 17, 2008 Deputy’s Advisory Working Group and Joint Requirements Oversight Council,” it adds.
A potential contract for the system had been said to be worth some $10 billion.
TSAT would provide worldwide, secure satellite communications to U.S. land, air and naval forces, special operations, strategic nuclear operations, homeland security, space operations and intelligence.