The Air Force is conducting market research to determine how it can enhance the anti-jam capability of the Wideband Global Satellite Communications satellite system. According to an Aug. 26 notice to industry, the Space and Missile Systems Center MILSATCOM Program Office “intends to release a solicitation” later this month “to acquire enhanced ground based X-band anti-jam capability for the Wideband Global SATCOM (WGS) satellite constellation.” The solution will be applied via hardware and/or software upgrades to the satellite’s ground control system and will enhance “existing satellite telemetry and functionality to detect, locate, and respond to WGS X-band jamming events.” The four-year project will begin in Fiscal 2015, with the new anti-jamming capability to begin fielding no later that FY17. Sources are to be submitted by Sept. 10.
The last remaining T-1 Jayhawk at JBSA-Randolph, Texas, took its final flight to the "Boneyard" at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz., on July 15. The 99th Flying Training Squadron will train pilots using T-6 and simulator until it gets T-7 Red Hawk in fiscal 2026.