Ramona Adams
The U.S. Army has unveiled a Northrop Grumman-built training system designed to educate soldiers on the management and operations of the Wideband Global SATCOM satellite communications program.
Northrop said Wednesday the Wideband Training and Certification System is accessible on workstations at the Army Cyber Center of Excellence in Fort Gordon, Georgia.
WTCS graduates will be assigned to the Army’s five Wideband Satellite Operation Centers to manage satellite payloads, oversee satellite terminals, control terminal transmissions and continuously monitor WGS to maintain the constellation’s health and security.
Northrop secured a five-year, $14.8 million Army contract in December 2015 to develop WTCS and perform work related to the training system through December 2020.
The company also delivered ground systems for the Army operators under similar development programs with the service branch’s project manager for defense communications and transmission systems.
WTCS is designed to provide guided instruction; a simulated environment for student-paced training; computer-based training modules; a learning management system to customize and track training; and a managed document and lesson repository.
The WGS satellite constellation is built to support global communications of the U.S. military and partner nations.
