Derek Tournear, director of the Space Development Agency (SDA), said SDA is working to establish a multilayered space defense architecture to enable direct communication between weapons systems and a tactical data link, DoD News reported Friday.
Tournear told attendees at an Aviation Week-hosted teleconference that the U.S. Army serves as SDA’s "closest partner" to leverage the satellite network to detect beyond-line-of-sight mobile targets and hypersonic missile threats.
He noted that the Link-16 data link technology will support the mesh network’s functionalities related to the targeting of ground and maritime assets as well as the rapid transmission of on-orbit data to the ground.
Such efforts will support SDA’s partnership with the Army for the Titan high-frequency satellite communications program and the U.S. Navy’s similar satcom initiatives once the SDA satellite network goes live, Tournear noted.
