TSAT satellites will represent a “huge step” in capability with their ability to provide wideband and secure communications down to the squad level of ground troops, Gary Payton, the Air Force’s point man for space issues, said last week. Tying dismounted soldiers to the US military’s information-sharing networks is “absolutely pivotal” to future warfighting concepts, he said during a Jan. 16 telecon with reporters (see above). In fact, Defense Department wargames have shown that the connectivity afforded by TSAT would allow ground troops to execute missions in about 70 percent less time than it takes today, which also equates to fewer friendly casualties, he said. Plans are to field an initial tranche of four TSAT Block 10 satellites, plus one spare. First launch is expected in 2019, with each successive placement in orbit about a year apart. Payton said the Air Force will let the warfighter drive the schedule for when improvements, such as laser communication links, are incorporated onto later blocks.
Lockheed Martin projects more than a billion dollars of losses on a classified program, but company officials said April 23 they are confident it will turn profitable by 2028 and become a "franchise" system in the U.S. military.