Military Operations Said Compromised by Spectrum Swap
Military effectiveness was compromised when DoD had to move to inferior spectrum to make room for commerce, DoD CIO John Grimes said Thurs. Commercialization of DoD spectrum and related issues are becoming more problematic, he said in remarks to an INPUT lunch. “Spectrum is starting to eat my lunch in many ways,” Grimes said.
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Asked if he expects more DoD spectrum to go commercial, Grimes joked: “Not if I can help it,” getting a big laugh. But more sharing is inevitable, he said. DoD controls about 40% of U.S. spectrum between 0-30 GHz on a MHz/pop basis. DoD spectrum being transferred to commercial status is part of the 90 MHz of spectrum to be sold starting in June in the advanced wireless services auction.
NTIA, at White House direction, has been studying how to ensure more efficient govt. use of spectrum, the subject of a March symposium in D.C. (CD March 3 p2). “The commercial world wants our frequencies,” Grimes said: “I wonder why. It’s called money, I guess.”
Without giving details, Grimes said some DoD operations have been affected by spectrum swaps when DoD spectrum was commercialized. “We have moved off of some spectrum into less efficient [spectrum],” Grimes said: “If you're a warfighter and your life is on the line it’s pretty hard to tell that trooper that we've given you a less efficient band to operate in… That’s been an issue for us.” A DoD spokesman couldn’t be reached for further comment.
The military is struggling with spectrum demands in Iraq, Grimes said. “I was over in the theater and the EMI [electromagnetic interference] problem and having frequency managers over there and doing deconfliction is a major issue,” he said: “The Army had to go to the Navy and they're getting 250 electronic warfare officers assigned to frequency management in the theater because of the interference.”
Another issue at DoD is interference to GPS in military systems, a cause of problems for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) used increasingly by the military in combat and to gather intelligence. “We caused the interference to GPS, and guess what GPS is guiding around the theater -- UAVs,” Grimes said. “Many of those UAVs, the cheaper ones, are operating off the commercial bands. They're either running into each other or they go into the ground or they lose their signal.”
Another threat to DoD spectrum is from service personnel unauthorized use of wireless devices in war zones. “We've got people coming into the theater, bringing in their own radios or other devices, turning the darn things on and don’t register them,” he said: “We really have a major issue in the operation environment today and we are addressing that. We've got a major meeting with all the services and the COCOMs [combatant commanders] here very shortly on how we get at this problem.”