Courtesy C-Span
On the 4th of April General Hyten, Commander of Strategic Command, testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Senator Cruz asked about threats to space assets. As part of his answer, General Hyten discussed the military’s reliance on GPS. He also talked about US plans to develop offensive capabilities in space to counter threats from other nations. Video of the five minute exchange here.
The US having offensive capabilities in space will help deter attacks by others.
Having complementary and backup capability on the ground will make space assets less valuable targets and also help with deterrence.
And if our deterrence efforts fail, capabilities on the ground will ensure the nation can keep on going at a reasonable pace despite of any damage in space. Having a complementary and backup capability on the ground is especially important for our critical infrastructure and civil assets which do not have the Department of Defense robust and expensive battle-hardened systems.
