NEW YORK CITY, 23 Sept. 2005. The market for North American strategic military communications is set to grow from $7.71 billion in 2004 to $9.37 billion in 2010, according to a new analysis from Frost & Sullivan.
The bulk of strategic communications spending is to increase the capability of military communications satellites and to upgrade the communications infrastructure on military bases.
That is in keeping with the U.S. government's vision for every service member and civilian in the Defense Department to have access to any information they need, whenever they need it, from anywhere in the world, says Frost & Sullivan Industry Analyst Bradley J. Curran.
More specifically, three powerful market drivers include: current operations in Afghanistan and Iraq, the transformation of the force structure to adopt Network Centric Warfare (NCW) doctrine, and the need to upgrade the communications infrastructure on military bases.
At the same time, Canadian armed forces are concentrating on strategic communications technologies that will transform current capabilities into a truly interconnected force that can operate with their coalition partners in complex operations.
An essential component of this growth is broadband via satellite, the key enabler for the Global Information Grid (GIG), a network-centric system envisioned as providing storage, management, and transport of information to support military, national security, and related intelligence missions and functions. GIG capabilities will be available from military bases to mobile platforms and warfighter deployments. GIG is expected to interface with allied, coalition, and non-GIG systems and provide decision-makers with information and decision superiority.
"Satellites are the only communication capability that can provide the transmission speed, wide bandwidth, remote accessibility over the horizon, and semi-mobile capability that military forces require," says Curran.
"The U.S. military has the most extensive and capable satellite communications constellation in the world, but it has not kept up with transmission methods and network centric doctrine. Commercial spacecraft has filled the gap adequately in most cases, but lack of tactical access, and concerns about security and access reliability during surge operations have ensured that more military communications satellites are necessary."
Another motivation for increased government spending is information security.
Hackers have penetrated sensitive military installation networks on several occasions. The possibility that terrorists or foreign governments are able to gain operational or personal information concerning the armed forces makes comprehensive communications and information security program a necessity. Each service and joint agency has increased its budget and deployed a variation of the Information Systems Security Program (ISSP).
"With over 120 million cryptographic devices and over 300 different types in the inventory, it is estimated that it will take over $6 billion to replace and upgrade the 40 percent of 2005 cryptographic equipment that does not currently meet, or soon will not meet established security and reliability standards," observes Curran. "Cryptographic modernization program leaders are seeking primarily COTS solutions to keep costs down, and to help ensure standardization, scalability, and easy upgrades."
"The North American strategic military communications market's most pressing needs are base communications and information technology security upgrades, along with strategic satellite communications expansion. Funding is stable and is increasing with broad service, DoD, and congressional support for these initiatives. The Network Centric Warfare (NCW) doctrine and the requirement to implement Internet Protocol (IP) convergence via the Global Information Grid (GIG) are driving strategic communications upgrades."
To learn more about the study, contact Frost & Sullivan. This report on the North American Strategic Military Communications Market is part of the C4ISR subscription. It provides comprehensive discussion of industry challenges as well as market drivers and restraints on various segments including aerospace and defense, communications and information technology (IT), as well as electronics and semiconductors. And it enables companies to align their positioning strategies to benefit from the changing market and obtain maximum return on investment. For more information, see www.defense.frost.com.
