Communications Difference

Oct. 8, 2009

Audio of this article is brought to you by the Air & Space Forces Association, honoring and supporting our Airmen, Guardians, and their families. Find out more at afa.org

WGS-2, the Air Force’s second Wideband Global Satellite Communications spacecraft, is now fully operational and supporting ground troops in Afghanistan and Iraq by relaying data and imagery across the battlespace at unprecedented high rates of speed, according to Boeing. Launched in April and now residing in geosynchronous Earth orbit over the Indian Ocean, WGS-2 was cleared for use back in August by US Strategic Command, the company divulged in a release Tuesday. STRATCOM announced back in August that it had taken control of WGS-2, but not that the satellite was operational. WGS-2 is supplanting the commercial communications satellites that have been used over that region in the past to support the US military. It is also designed, as all WGS spacecraft are, to replace the Air Force’s legacy Defense Satellite Communications System spacecraft. Continue

Audio of this article is brought to you by the Air & Space Forces Association, honoring and supporting our Airmen, Guardians, and their families. Find out more at afa.org

Trending Stories

Former ACC Command Chief Wolfe Tapped as New CMSAF

Air Force Installations Nominee Endorses More Privatized Housing

Air Force Issues New Mustache, Sideburn Standards

Air Force Conducts Unarmed ICBM Launch as Trump Ponders Nuclear Tests

Related

Dick Cheney’s Legacy with the Air Force

Nov. 6, 2025
Dick Cheney, who died Nov. 3 at 84, is best remembered by most Americans as among the most powerful Vice Presidents in history, a consummate Washington insider who had previously served in the Nixon administration, was Chief of Staff for President Gerald Ford, a Congressman for a decade, and Secretary…

Three Air Force MAJCOMs Get New Leaders

Nov. 6, 2025
With less pomp and public attention because of the government shutdown, three Air Force major commands have gained new leaders in the past week—continuing a major revamp of the service’s senior leadership.

Airmen Cleared to Start Training on New EA-37 Compass Call Simulator

Nov. 5, 2025
The Air Force has approved Airmen to start training with the EA-37B Compass Call Mission Crew Simulator, BAE Systems announced. The system will provide realistic training and mission rehearsal for EA-37B crews, who perform long-range electromagnetic warfare missions.

Air Force Conducts Unarmed ICBM Launch as Trump Ponders Nuclear Tests

Nov. 5, 2025
Air Force Global Strike Command tested an unarmed Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile in the early hours of Nov. 5, the service announced. The test, the latest in a series of launches which have been carried out at regular intervals for decades, came as Russian President Vladimir Putin has touted…

Air Force Installations Nominee Endorses More Privatized Housing

Nov. 5, 2025
In written testimony to the Senate, the nominee to oversee the Air Force’s installations and energy enterprise endorsed the continued privatization of military housing and called for the department to think more during the acquisition process about how it will power new weapons systems when the logistics supply chain is…

Report: Pentagon Can’t Forget About PNT for Golden Dome

Nov. 5, 2025
The Pentagon should establish a dedicated budget to support Golden Dome’s positioning, navigation, and timing needs and assign a PNT lead to coordinate needed improvements to ground and space-based navigation systems, according to a new report from the National Security Space Association. 

New Report: Space Force Must Take ‘Decisive’ Steps Toward Dynamic Operations

Nov. 4, 2025
The Space Force should take bold, decisive steps—and soon—to develop the capabilities and architecture needed to support more flexible, dynamic operations in orbit and counter Chinese aggression and technological progress, according to a new report from AFA’s Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies.