Averting a crunch on a bandwidth supply used to channel the military's communications and control signals requires more than adding satellite capacity, Air Force Space Command [AFSPC] chief Gen. Lance W. Lord said Jan. 16.

"It's also important from the user perspective to do a little bandwidth appetite suppression," Lord said. "You can't assume that everything you put together weapon system-wise, that all that bandwidth's going to be available." Addressing a Defense Writer's Group breakfast, Lord avoided saying whether bandwidth capacity could become a limiting factor on U.S. forces in a possible war with Iraq. But he said the military can solve some of its existing bandwidth shortages by practicing more self-discipline.

"My view sometimes of bandwidth is it's a kind of software. It's consumed quickly," he said. "What you really need to do is constrain your operation based on a concept of operations that takes into consideration that bandwidth is something you have to think about."

The Air Force's strategy of plotting its bandwidth requirements in advance could serve as a model for the military, Lord said.