Rob Kang, a high altitude subject matter expert with Space and Missile Defense Battle Lab, left, points to an airborne tethered Combat SkySat military retransmission platform and explains its capabilities as Army Lt. Col. Tobin Magsig, battalion commander of 1st Battalion (Airborne), 501st Infantry Regiment, and Army Maj. Gen. Michael H. Shields, commanding general of U.S. Army Alaska, listen at Forward Operating Base Sparta on Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, Oct. 9, 2013. The unique SkySat system has a tethered and free-floating version, can serve as a repeater for hand-held military communications equipment, which has a normal range of about two kilometers and expands that to approximately 500 miles, and can be set up and rapidly operational on the battlefield. (U.S. Air Force photo by Justin Connaher/Released)