An FCC auction sale to commercial entities of the 3.3-3.45 HZ portion of the S-band could cost the Department of the Air Force more than $2 billion, Chief of Staff Gen. Charles Brown Jr. and Chief of Space Operations Gen. Chance Saltzman told the Senate Armed Services Committee. Telecoms seeking to grow their 5G business, and some members of Congress, are urging the FCC to auction off access to the S-band, after a bill to permit it died in the last session of Congress.
But military leaders oppose that, saying the loss of that part of the band would compromise their operations, notes Air & Space Forces Magazine. “There’s a number of weapon systems that operate within that band,” Brown told the Senate Committee on Armed Services last week. As an example, he cited the C-130 system that enables aircraft to fly in formation in blackout conditions.
He noted that if the spectrum the Air Force could use changed and the C-130 weapons platform needed to be redesigned, the cost would be about $2 billion. “We have a number of platforms that operate within the S-band, so it’s critical that we understand the impact” of that loss to commercial use, Brown said.
Saltzman was asked to add the Space Force perspective. He said, “That particular band is a radar band that allows us to look into deep space. If we were not able to use that piece of spectrum, not only would we lose the time that we’ve already invested—[and] as much as several hundred million dollars that we’ve already put into development—but it would also mean that we have to use a different portion of the electromagnetic spectrum, which isn’t as capable in determining and discriminating capabilities in deep space,” he explained.
Brown and Saltzman are not the only military leaders to offer warnings about a potential S-band sale, reports Air & Space Forces Magazine. Gen. Glen VanHerck, head of U.S. Northern Command, told lawmakers in March that “multiple platforms” that he relies on would be significantly harmed by the change. These include “maritime homeland defense systems, airborne early warning platforms [and] ground-based early warning platforms that enable me to provide threat warning, attack assessment and defend from potentially airborne [threats],” VanHerck said.
By Leslie Stimson, Inside Towers Washington Bureau Chief
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