The U.S. military’s use of advanced weapons like unmanned aerial vehicles and drones has been a boon to the satellite communications market, according to market research firm Frost & Sullivan. A study from Frost & Sullivan predicts the U.S. military and government will account for 87.2 percent of total U.S. spending on satellite services by 2020.
SES and Intelsat have the largest presence in the U.S. military market, accounting for a combined 57.7 percent of the total market. The U.S. government and military are not only the largest satellite services clients – they’re also the oldest.
“In addition to UAVs, the U.S. is currently modernizing many aspects of its military force, including the F35 Joint Strike fighter and Zumwalt-class destroyer,” says Frost & Sullivan’s digital transformation research analyst Peter Finalle. “These new vessels and aircraft will require more communications in locations outside of the traditional network coverage, making SATCOMM the primary communications technology for many of them.”
Competition for military contracts is fierce among high-bandwidth/global coverage service vendors.
Regions in which the U.S. military has a presence and surveillance operations typically lack high-bandwidth terrestrial networks with 100 percent network uptime. This, Frost & Sullivan says, opens up business opportunities for satellite service providers that offer efficient performance, reliability, and wide coverage in remote regions to support communications capabilities for U.S. troops.
“Furthermore, new political changes in the U.S. have altered political relationships in 2017,” says Finalle. “This could cause increased reliance on satellite technology in some locations and ensure that the U.S. government and military remains the largest single client for satellite services in the world.”
Filed Under: Aerospace + defense, DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION (DX)