The Air Force on Thursday awarded more than $110 million to Raytheon, L-3 Communication, and ViaSat Inc. to demonstrate the ability to perform anti-jamming for tactical use of the Wideband Global Satellite Communications constellation. The contracts from the Air Force’s Space and Missile Systems Center—$39 million to Raytheon, $38 million to L-3, and $33 million to ViaSat—call on the companies to demonstrate the anti-jam capability by Sept. 30, 2020, according to a Defense Department announcement. (See also: Never Assume Space is Safe, Hyten Cautions.)
U.S. Air Force F-35s and F-22s regularly deploy deep into the Pacific region from Alaska, Utah, and Hawaii. In the future, though, the head of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command would like to see the Air Force permanently station fifth-generation aircraft west of the international date line—closer to China.