The Space Development Agency (SDA) is working on the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture (PWSA) with Link 16 being the top choice for communications in the satellite constellation. Derek Tournear, the director of SDA, emphasized the importance of Link 16 as it is a system that American soldiers and U.S. allies heavily rely on. The agency aims to minimize changes to user equipment, opting to modify satellites instead of requiring the Army, Navy, and Air Force to field new radios, which would be a challenging task.
The PWSA system will consist of hundreds of satellites, delivered in tranches every two years, with each tranche offering more capabilities than the previous one. The network of optically connected satellites will provide two primary capabilities to ground warfighters. The first capability is beyond line-of-sight targeting for mobile missiles and ships, enabling detection, tracking, fire control solutions, and target destruction. The second capability is for enemy missiles already in flight. Link 16 will play a significant role in the PWSA system due to its widespread use by the U.S. military and its allies globally.
While Link 16 offers valuable communication capabilities, the need for greater bandwidth has led to the integration of laser communications in the PWSA system. Tournear highlighted that missions requiring higher data rates than Link 16 could benefit from laser communications. Laser communications provide low latency connectivity and the ability to move large amounts of data efficiently. The plan for PWSA includes utilizing laser communications for space-to-space, space-to-ground, and space-to-air communications in Tranche 0 and Tranche 1.
In the development of PWSA, tradeoffs were made to optimize laser communications for both space-to-space and space-to-air communications. Tournear emphasized the importance of laser communications in a contested spectrum environment, where the enemy also has the ability to interfere with radio frequency communications. By prioritizing laser communications, the PWSA system aims to ensure reliable and efficient communication channels for space-based operations in the future. The successful demonstration of space-to-space and space-to-ground laser communications in 2021 has paved the way for the integration of laser communications into the PWSA system.
