During exercise Stellar Avenger, the Aegis-class destroyer USS Hopper launches a standard missile 3 Blk IA, successfully intercepting a sub-scale short range ballistic missile, launched from the Kauai Test Facility, Pacific Missile Range Facility, Barking Sans, Kauai. (DVIDS)
SPACE SYMPOSIUM — In the run up to this year’s International Telecommunication Union (ITU) rule-making summit, global pressure is growing to turn over radio frequency spectrum now reserved for radar and satellite systems to wireless telecommunications, especially 5G — raising the risk that Pentagon access for its ever-growing intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance needs will be curtailed.
The 193-nation ITU will debate changes to the rules allocating spectrum bands at its Nov. 20-Dec. 15 World Radiocommunications Conference (WRC-23) in Dubai. While each member country has the right to regulate RF spectrum use inside its borders — in the US, this occurs via the semi-independent Federal Communications Commission (FCC) — the ITU manages usage that crosses borders to prevent interference and ensure that all nations have equal access.
And while perhaps little recognized outside of specialized circles, decisions made at WRC-23 could have enormous consequences for the Defense Department. The meeting’s outcome on use of several frequency bands could force DoD to overhaul everything from fighter jets to ground-based radars to change their receiver bandwidth — costly both in terms of money and operational impacts.
Much of the tension ultimately comes down to governments weighing the economic benefits of handing over bandwidth to commercial cell phone communications against the potential impacts on legacy users — including government agencies and militaries — of satellite-based telecom and ISR systems, as well as ground-, air-, sea- and space-based radar. It’s a fight the Pentagon has become familiar with domestically, but now playing out on an international stage.
“At DoD, you have many, many space-based assets that you rely on on a day-to-day basis. And so you need to be very cognizant of your current assets and the special uses that they have, but also future spectrum needs. You have your own services, but also commercial services that you might want to enlist, and you want to make sure that you’re protecting both equities at the same time,” explained George John, an attorney at Hogan Lovells specializing in spectrum issues who will be part of the WRC-23 US delegation.
The potential for negative impacts on those equities was made clear, a handful of experts involved said, at a March 27-April 3 WRC-23 preparatory meeting in Geneva attended by national delegations from ITU member states. The US delegation, led by the State Department’s Anna Gomez, numbered some 150 government and industry representatives, including from DoD and FCC.
Jennifer Manner, a spectrum lawyer at satellite communications provider Hughes’ parent company Echostar, summed up: “There were controversies.”
In particular, a number of nations are pushing for the ITU to reallocate what is known as mid-band spectrum, a swath of frequencies now heavily used by DoD for terrestrial and space-based radar systems for targeting and remote sensing to commercial wireless communications. This could cause DoD to face problems with interference at a minimum, or, in the worse case, to refit current equipment or simply build new systems with receivers that use different frequencies.
“The ITU is looking at mid-band spectrum, and mid-band spectrum is called the ‘Goldilocks of frequencies’ because of its propagation capabilities. It can go pretty far. You can also penetrate obstacles. And so for this next generation of wireless services, they’re looking at the spectrum between about three gigahertz up to 10 gigahertz,” John said.
Radar At Risk
It’s not hard to look for an example of how the ITU’s ruling this fall could have major operational and cost impacts on the Pentagon.
DoD already facing domestic pressure on frequencies at the lower edge of the mid-band, with the FCC leaning toward reallocating S-band spectrum (at 3.1-3.45 GHz) now used by military radars, in particular those equipping the Navy’s Aegis Combat System for missile defense, to providers of 5G wireless cell phone networks.
“The Navy, we’re at sea. We don’t have Cat5 [ethernet] cable connecting us to anything. We’re dependent on that spectrum to do our distributed maritime operations,” Vice Adm. Jeffrey Trussler, deputy chief of naval operations for information warfare, told the Navy League’s April 3 Sea Air Space conference.
Trussler explained that DoD has “spent decades and billions of dollars” on radar systems in the disputed S-band spectrum for missile defense, air traffic control and those at “the heart of the Navy’s weapons systems at sea and the Aegis system.”
DoD Assistant Secretary for Space Policy John Plumb told the House Armed Services strategic forces subcommittee on March 8 that replacing just the Aegis radar with one capable of using different frequencies would likely cost $120 billion.
But a Pentagon spokesperson told Breaking Defense that this is only the tip of the iceberg, noting “That $120 billion reflects the cost of replacing systems, including Aegis, but is nowhere near the total. Vacating spectrum would require immense R&D, training, and other costs.”
Thus, the Pentagon has been pressing for the FCC to delay a decision until after the completion of a congressionally mandated study by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration on the impacts of transferring the spectrum, as well as whether there is a possibility of sharing between DoD users and commercial 5G providers. That study, in which DoD is participating, must be completed by Sept. 30, the Pentagon spokesperson said.
But even if the FCC were to come down on DoD’s side in the end, there is a chance that the ITU will decide at WRC-23 to open those frequencies up in a way that would, for example, cause interference with Aegis radar on ships in the Pacific. In that case, the same issues would still occur, and the Pentagon may need to make the choice between spending tens of billions of dollars to repair and retrofit its systems, or accept heavy risk that key parts of its missile defense strategy in the Pacific could be compromised during a shooting war.
SAR, Radio Frequency Geolocation Satellites May Lose
S-band spectrum is just one of the fights brewing for WRC-23.
Currently, the upper range of the mid-band frequencies (10-10.5 GHz) is allocated to synthetic aperture radar (SAR) and radio frequency geolocation satellites that both provide much-needed ISR capabilities to US military operators and spy agencies. SAR satellites can take “pictures” at night and through cloud cover. Radio frequency geolocation satellites work by detecting the sources of RF emissions, such as GPS jammers, on Earth.
Over the past two years, the National Reconnaissance Office, charged with building and operating US spy satellites, has contracted multiple commercial providers of both types of imagery to supplement its own capabilities. And the capability has become popular globally.
“Just look at the Ukraine war as a good example of how SAR is put into play,” John said.
The possible transfer of 10GHz rights, now used by SAR-sats, to 5G providers will be a subject of discussion at a meeting in May of the Inter-American Telecommunication Commission (CITEL). That meeting will bring together countries belonging to the ITU’s Region 2 covering the Americas, Greenland and a few of the Pacific Islands in preparation for WRC-23.
The ITU often allows regions to set spectrum policy for their collective territory, as long as interference with the policies of other regions can be avoided. In addition, regional groups often serve as a lobby group for or against for certain proposals during WRC-23 meetings — and engage in horse trading with each other to broker deals. And if CITEL approves the shift in May, it makes it more likely allied nations in the Pacific and Europe will go along during WRC-23.
“The situation at the Inter-American Telecommunication Commission is dire: 5 countries (Brazil, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Peru, Uruguay) are supporting the repurposing of the 10GHz band to 5G. They only need one additional country and they can issue an Inter-American proposal that will reach WRC-23,” one SAR sat industry exec told Breaking Defense.
Making matters worse for the Pentagon is the fact that the FCC since 2015 has been considering opening the 10 GHz band up to 5G, if not outright transferring usage rights away from the Pentagon. At the moment it is unclear whether the FCC will make a decision prior to the CITEL meeting, or in time for WRC-23 — but even if the domestic situation remains up in the air, the US delegation may be behind the ball in this argument.
The WRC-23 meeting in the fall will also consider, under Agenda Item 1.4, whether to open frequencies below 2.5GHz to high-altitude aerial vehicles (such as balloons and stratospheric drones) serving as relay hubs for terrestrial wireless communications. The issue here is potential interference with the systems relying on the nearby 2.7-2.8 GHz bands, which are widely used by military aircraft for radio navigation as well as by RF geolocation systems.
Politics At Play
As with any international body, the ITU often falls prey to geopolitical wrangling. One of the most politically fraught issues up for debate at WRC-23, experts said, is the question of whether certain frequencies can be used to allow the use of broadband and narrowband satellites in geosynchronous orbit for command and control of drones.
A coalition of countries, led by Iran and Russia, are fighting hard to ensure this is prohibited — whether for military or commercial uses.
“This is very controversial, because there are certain countries in the world that are very fearful of these [drones] and where they might be used. And I suspect that they view this as: ‘If we can impede their ability to use these frequencies above our borders, this would be a good way to keep them out,'” one industry expert who attended the recent preparatory meeting explained.
Another pair of highly political issues at WRC-23 revolve around the growing concern from developing countries about their future access to spectrum allocated to satellites — especially as the heavens become not just more littered with dangerous space junk, but also more crowded with ever-growing numbers of mostly Western commercial constellations.
“I think another big issue … is going to be space sustainability. What’s the role of the ITU there?,” Manner said. “And then perhaps maybe even more controversial, or as controversial, is access to the spectrum and orbit by developing countries. I think they’re very concerned, with these mega-constellations and other uses of space, that space isn’t going to be available for them.”