Electronic warfare (EW) experts at the Boeing Co. will upgrade the anti-jam and information-security capabilities of an important military satellite communications (SATCOM) system. Under a $55 million U.S. Air Force contract, Boeing experts will provide an X-Band anti-jam upgrade for the Wideband Global SATCOM satellite constellation, increasing its resilience to unintentional and hostile electronic threats. The Wideband Global SATCOM satellite, successor to the Defense Satellite Communications System-III, is the backbone of U.S. military global satellite communications. One WGS satellite has about 12 times the bandwidth of a DSCS-III satellite; just one WGS satellite provides more SATCOM capacity than the entire DSCS constellation. The WGS constellation provides flexible, high-capacity, high-data-rate, and long-haul communications to warfighters. In addition to providing global SATCOM for Marines, soldiers, sailors, and airmen, the WGS provides SATCOM capability to the White House Communication Agency, the U.S. State Department, international partners, and other users. International partners participating on the WGS program are Australia, Canada, Denmark, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and New Zealand.
