Photo Credit: Boeing PhotoNeg #: SEF07-00453
Satellite Collapse Threatens Army 'Future' -- The Danger Room
So the Transformational Satellite (TSAT) program -- which is supposed to provide secure, high-bandwidth satellite communications for the future military -- is in major trouble. At this point, it looks like the Pentagon has put off a decision to go ahead with the program until at least 2010. That means the super-duper satellite constellation probably won't be in orbit until 2020. If it ever gets up.
Ironically, the service that may be hurt the worst by the collapse of this space program is the Army. Its gajillion-dollar modernization project, Future Combat Systems, is supposed to trade heavier armor for a better network. If troops can swap data quickly, the thinking goes, they won't need to roll around in such hulking tanks and armored vehicles. Now, that plan may be screwed. Bill Sweetman over at Ares writes:
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My Comment: For the past 7 years all the focus, money, resources, and people has been on Terrorism, Iraq and Afghanistan. Strategic investments and procurements have been put on the back burner. One can say that the chickens are now coming home to roost.