Image: U.S. Space Force
What’s New: An update on Space Force’s jamming efforts.
Why It’s Important:
- It reinforces that electronic warfare involves space assets and no signals are safe.
- Gives you a pretty good idea that at least China and Russia, probably Iran and North Korea, and possibly others (along with some of our allies) have similar capabilities.
- It should reinforce the idea that if a service is really, really, important (like PNT for example) we should have multiple widely accessible ways to get it, not just from space.
What Else to Know:
- China and Russia both have widely accessible ways to get PNT without space.
US Space Force is set to install 24 satellite jamming stations capable of disrupting Russian or Chinese communications
War. War never changes: Thanks to the military industrial complex, upgrades to warfare technologies continue regardless of world events. Russia is reportedly developing a high-altitude nuclear device to permanently and indiscriminately knock out enemy communications with an EMP. Meanwhile, the US just announced a weapon with a similar aim but without chaotic and irreversible consequences.
The US military is installing modular state-of-the-art satellite jammers capable of disrupting Russian or Chinese communications, should the need arise. Even though the hardware is ground-based, the US Space Force will oversee installation and operation. The technology is already past prototyping. The military tested the system at two different locations earlier this year. The DoD allocated funds to build 24 remote installations, with 11 scheduled to deploy before the end of the year.
This device is not a preventative measure against adversaries disrupting US communications. It’s the opposite.
“[The terminals] are small, transportable and low-cost satellite communications jammers that can be deployed in austere environments to protect [US forces],” a spokesperson for the Space Force’s Rapid Capabilities Office told Bloomberg. “The [jammer will be used] to responsibly counter adversary satellite communications capabilities that enable attacks.”
“We intentionally designed a small and modular system using commercial off-the-shelf components,” the Space Force said. “[This provides] the ability to have a proliferated, remotely controlled and relatively relocatable capability.”
