The United States will deploy a new ground-based jamming system designed to prevent Chinese and Russian satellites from transmitting information about American troops in the event of a conflict, the US Space Force announced
The Pentagon first tested the system earlier this year at two different locations, with control over it exercised from a third location. The devices are not designed to protect US satellites from Chinese or Russian jamming, but to responsibly counter enemy satellite communications.
On the rare occasions the Pentagon discusses such space capabilities, it tries to distinguish its new satellite jamming technology as purely defensive and with a limited objective. This is in contrast to anti-satellite nuclear weapons that the United States claims Russia is developing, which can create electromagnetic pulses that disable satellites and disrupt entire communications networks.
The first 11 of the 24 U.S. remote modular terminals are scheduled to be deployed within months, with all to be installed by Dec. 31 at undisclosed locations.
The terminals are small, portable and inexpensive means of jamming satellite communications that can be used to protect US forces.
The new terminals complement the larger Counter Communications System and Meadowlands systems already in place, providing an extensive, remotely controlled and relatively mobile network.
According to the head of the US Space Command, Steven Whiting, China has many satellites in orbit designed to seek, fix, track and target, including potentially striking US and allied forces in the Indo-Pacific region.
"So we have to understand this and know what it means for our military forces ," Whiting said, adding that the US and its allies must be able to block space attacks on their forces in a way that avoids the spread of debris in space-bar.
"We intentionally designed a small modular system using off-the-shelf commercial components," the Space Force said.
The United States emphasizes that its weapons are "accountable," meaning they do not destroy the satellites, but only disable them temporarily.
However, according to Victoria Samson, director of space security and stability at the Secure World Foundation, these are not "defensive weapons" but rather equipment designed to strike at competitors' capabilities.
"You can argue that it's only going to be used for defensive purposes, but I'd say it's an offensive counterspace capability ," Samson said.
"World War III will begin in space"
Russia's development of a space-based nuclear weapons system poses a threat to "the entire modern way of life", according to a senior US general.
"It's a completely indiscriminate weapon," General Stephen Whiting, commander of the US Space Command, said at the Aspen Security Forum on Wednesday (July 17). “It would affect United States satellites, Chinese satellites, Russian satellites, European satellites, Indian satellites, Japanese satellites. So it endangers the whole modern way of life. And it's an incredibly reckless decision. "
Anxiety over a potential launch of a Russian nuclear weapon into space has seeped into public discussions of nuclear weapons and national security since February, when the Biden administration briefed Congress on the emerging Russian weapon. While one White House official said at the time that such a weapon could not "cause physical destruction here on Earth," another senior official emphasized the far-reaching ramifications of such a weapon.
"If they were to detonate a nuclear weapon in space, it's not just going to hit military targets," Air Force Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Kruse, director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, said during an appearance with Whiting. "The problem is that everything in low Earth orbit will be immediately affected."
Launching this weapon would be a violation of Russia's obligations under the Outer Space Treaty, Whiting noted.
"It's been an expectation, for humanity, that we're not going to put a nuclear weapon or weapons of mass destruction into space ," he said. "And now they could do it."
Russia and China are racing to expand their ability to attack US assets from space
Kruse noted that U.S. intelligence officials have been pursuing the project "for nearly a decade," saying that Russia is "getting closer" to completing preparations. The system is just one example of how Russia — and, perhaps even more significantly, China — are racing to expand their ability to attack U.S. assets from space.
"China is aiming to replace the United States as the global leader in space ... and is relying on what it perceives as an over-reliance of the US on space, and intends to jeopardize that capability ," he said. "Both Russia and China see the use of space, even before conflict, as an important capability to deter or constrain behavior."
China demonstrated the ability to shoot down a satellite with a land-based missile in 2007 when it destroyed one of its own weather satellites, a demonstration that created a "debris cloud" that increased the risk of an on-orbit accident. Nearly two decades later, Chinese researchers and officials have orchestrated a "tremendous increase" in anti-satellite weapons as territorial disputes in the Indo-Pacific raise the risk of a conflict that could lead to war between the United States and China.
"What we're seeing is a tremendous increase in directed energy weapons, electronic warfare and anti-satellite capabilities ," Kruse said.
Still, these developments are only part of a "killer web," as Whiting put it — an interconnected network of systems designed to enable Chinese forces to attack American positions "throughout the Indo-Pacific region."
"China is building a killer network in space - specifically designed to find, fix, track, target and help provide engagement vectors to strike US and allied forces throughout the Indo-Pacific region," Whiting said.
Source Adevarul.ro
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