\u201cThis is a blanket purchase agreement with an approximate $3.6 million ceiling for each of the two vendors,\u201d Paul Mehney, director of public communications for the Army\u2019s\u00a0Program Executive Office, Command, Control, Communications-Tactical (PEO C3T),\u00a0<\/a>told Breaking Defense.<\/p>\n \u201cIt will provide commercial SATCOM subscription services, which include SATCOM coverage in different locations, terminals, bandwidth, training if required by the unit and help desk services. The goal of this pilot is to establish a managed subscription service (marketplace) that encompasses SATCOM capabilities that are currently being used in private industry. The \u2018marketplace\u2019 in essence entails a contractual vehicle for which funding can be placed to order within the scope capabilities for a period of 12 months,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n The\u00a0Satellite Communications (SATCOM) as a Managed Service (SaaMS)<\/a>\u00a0pilot is intended to \u201cinform decisions on the Army\u2019s potential use of commercially leased SATCOM network services that would be flexible and tailorable to changing mission needs, versus procuring, fielding, sustaining and modernizing the equipment in house,\u201d the Army said in an\u00a0announcement<\/a>\u00a0today. The actual contract was awarded on Tuesday.<\/p>\n \u201cA SaaMS business model could more efficiently support Soldiers in diverse locations with diverse mission challenges during large scale combat operations,\u201d said Col. Stuart McMillan, project manager for PEO C3T\u2019s Tactical Network, in the announcement.\u00a0\u201cA SaaMS business model could also provide for rapid tech insertions and opportunities to mitigate surge requirements.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSaaMS would not be a one-size-fits-all model,\u201d he added, rather one that could be tailored to a \u201cwide variety of different missions and threats.\u201d<\/p>\n Further, Mehney explained, the Army doesn\u2019t intend to hold only one event to evaluate the pilot\u2019s success, rather \u201cto enable operational units to use the capability to best suit their needs and roll it into their existing training events\u201d that each will provide feedback.<\/p>\n Commercial SATCOM providers\u00a0have long urged DoD and the services<\/a>\u00a0to move from buying bandwidth in fits and starts to service contracts. Major SATCOM providers \u2014 such as Hughes (a subsidiary of SATCOM giant Echostar), Viasat, Intelsat, Inmarsat, SES and Eutelsat \u2014 have argued that this would not only ease problems with service gaps that have long plagued troops in the field, but also be cheaper and allow speedier integration of new technology.<\/p>\n The Space Force \u2014 led by Space Systems Command\u2019s new(ish)\u00a0Commercial Space Office (COMSO)<\/a>, and the\u00a0Space Warfighting Analysis Center<\/a> \u2014 has been working to shift its acquisition strategy toward greater reliance on commercial solutions, in particular the use of SaaMS.<\/p>\n COMSO\u2019s\u00a0Commercial Satellite Communications Office<\/a>\u00a0has long bought SATCOM services from Iridium, and has served as a middleman between other SATCOM providers and military users via the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA), with funds coming the Defense Working Capital Fund. And\u00a0in July<\/a>, the office worked with DISA to grant its first-ever contracts for communications services from proliferated low Earth orbit satellites\u00a0to 16 providers. The five-year indefinite delivery\/indefinite quantity contracts guarantee each vendor a minimum of $2,000, and puts them in the running for future task orders. The winners included DRS and Intelsat, as well as ARINC, Artel, Capella Federal, BlackSky Geospatial Solutions, Hughes Network Systems, Inmarsat Government, KGS, OneWeb Technologies, PAR Government, RiteNet Corporation, Satcom Direct Government (SDG), SpaceX, Trace Systems, and UltiSat.<\/p>\n Further, the Pentagon has two separate top-level strategies underway to look at how to spur commercial space integration: one spearheaded by Chief of Space Operations\u00a0Gen. Chance Saltzman<\/a>\u00a0and Air Force Assistant Secretary for Space Acquisition and Integration Frank Calvelli, the other by the Defense Department\u2019s Space Policy czar John Plumb. So far, however, the Space Force\u00a0has been slow<\/a>\u00a0to shift significant funding to the use of commercial satellite services.<\/p>\n The Army effort thus is being watched keenly by commercial SATCOM firms, along with a\u00a0similar pilot<\/a>\u00a0being run by the Marine Corps.<\/p>\n Interestingly, while the Marine Corps is going alone on its pilot, the Army chose to go through COMSO to arrange contracting via the the\u00a0existing Commercial Satellite Communications (COMSATCOM) Subscription Services contract<\/a>\u00a0currently managed by DISA and the Defense Information Technology Contracting Organization. COMSO, however,\u00a0is due to take over<\/a>\u00a0such contracting authority.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.fie.undef.edu.ar\/ceptm\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/2580542249425951247.jpeg\")
Mehney said that pilot is expected to start in the first quarter of fiscal year 2024 in several regions around the globe. If successful, he added, the Army intends \u201cto open up to a multi-vendor approach so vendors that may not be part of this pilot will have an additional opportunity to compete.\u201d<\/p>\n