Logistician's recommendations save nearly $23 million in MILSATCOM terminal life cycle costs

Army Communicator, Fall, 2006 by Stephen Larsen

FORT MONMOUTH, N.J. -- Keeping the United States inventory of military satellite communications terminals up-to-date and running is sort of like painting a bridge. By the time you get to the end, it's time to start all over again.

Consider that there are hundreds of MILSATCOM terminals fielded at locations all around the world, in types and sizes ranging from eight-foot or 20-foot diameter AN/TSC-86s, to 38-foot diameter AN/GSC-39s and AN/GSC-52s, to 60-foot diameter AN/FSC-78s. And some of these are at hard-to-each locations, such as Shemya Island, Alaska, far out in the 50 mile-per-hour fog near the western tip of the Aleutian Islands, or Diego Garcia, a narrow tropical jungle reef out in the Indian Ocean.

"Given that all DoD services use these terminals, which means different logistics systems, the worldwide locations, which means different logistics strategies, and the diversity of terminals, which means different components and logistics issues, you really need someone good to oversee the logistics support to all these terminals," said Jay Hicks, chief of the technical management division of the Project Manager, Defense Communications and Transmission Systems. "For PM DCATS, that person is Mike Jackson."

Jackson is PM DCATS' director for readiness--but don't let the title lull you into thinking Jackson sits behind a cushy desk barking out orders to a bevy of subordinates. Jackson keeps his suitcase ready, as he is constantly on the road, travelling to worldwide MILSATCOM sites so he can head off logistics support issues before they become problems.

Plugging a logistical leak

A case in point: In late 2005, Jackson noticed the logistical trend that key components of AS-3199 antennas were requiring unacceptably high levels of maintenance. These antennas provide long-haul reachback communications supporting strategic, restoral terminal, contingency and classified missions in strategic MILSATCOM terminal systems, including the AN/TSC-86C, AN/TSC-86D, AN/TSC-86E, AN/GSC-49, AN/GSC-52A(V)5 and AN/GSC-52A(V)6.

However, leaks were occurring in the AS-3199s' antenna feed assemblies and other components, allowing moisture to corrode parts inside, to the point that the feeds needed to be entirely refurbished every three years, at a cost of $100,000 each. Seals were also breaking on junction boxes and data boxes, allowing moisture to corrode parts inside and requiring that 10 junction boxes and 20 data boxes be totally replaced, at a cost of $5,000 each.

"One of the biggest maintenance concerns with fixed-site satellite terminal systems is to keep the system free of moisture," said Jackson. This is done, he explained, by the antenna's dehydrator, which provides pressurized air on the components to keep them free of moisture.

The leaks and seal damage with the AS-3199s' were occurring because the system's 30-year-old technology dehydrator was over-pressurizing the system. The leaks caused the compressor to run constantly, requiring more preventive and corrective maintenance on the dehydrator. The preventive maintenance needed to be performed yearly at a cost of $2,000 per year.

"Basically, any amount of pressure over zero psi (pounds per square inch) is sufficient to keep components pressurized, and dry," said Jackson. "But the compressors being used with the AS-3199s were overpressurizing at 1.2 psi, which was breaking the seals and causing a vicious cycle of maintenance issues."

Jackson did the math. Currently, PM DCATS has fielded and provides logistics support for six MILSATCOM systems employing AS-3199 antennas. This figure will increase to 17 systems as PM DCATS fields more AS-3199 antennas over the next few years. If this trend were to continue through the 15-year life cycle of the 17 AS-3199s PM DCATS will field, Jackson estimated it would cost $12.3 million to maintain the current dehydrators and refurbish or replace the components they caused to fail.

In January 2006, Jackson tasked Harris Corp. to conduct a trade study to consider commercial-off-the-shelf alternatives to replace the 30-year-old technology dehydrator units in current use. Over the next several months, Harris evaluated the range of dehydrators on the market and in May 2006 presented their findings to PM DCATS. Jackson reviewed the findings and by early June recommended that PM DCATS replace the current dehydrator with the Andrews model ID2300, which employs up-to-date technology, uses less power, operates more efficiently and will make it easier to get parts, and thus will reduce operation and maintenance time and costs. It also reduces the air pressure more than 50 percent from the current 1.2 psi to 0.5 psi, which will be sufficient to keep the components pressurized and dry, but will not cause cascading maintenance problems as the current dehydrator does by breaking seals on the antenna feed assembly, junction boxes and data boxes. The new dehydrator also has a large tank assembly, which will reduce compressor wear, and thus reduce maintenance costs.