Tag: directed energy weapons

Space Force’s Use of Directed Energy Weapons to Maintain Space Superiority

July 10, 2021                                                                 (bollyinside.com)

• According to a Space Force spokesperson, General Jay Raymond Chief of Space Operations for Space Force has stated that China and Russia have directed energy weapons capabilities that are designed to damage or destroy our satellites. Rep. Jim Langevin, (D-R.I.), asked Gen. Raymond whether the United States was adequately developing a directed energy portfolio “for space dominance”. “Yes sir, we are,” Raymond responded. “We have to be able to protect these capabilities that we rely so heavily on.”

• Space Force, and the Air Force before it, have always been secretive about what Anti-Satellite (ASAT) weapons the U.S. military has or is developing. The one with the most public details is the Counter Communications System, a transportable system that can jam enemy satellites. The U.S. also has missiles that can reach satellites in low Earth orbit.

• “[T]he context of the statements …certainly leave the door open to non-kinetic defensive space capabilities of some kind,” said Todd Harrison, director of the CSIS Aerospace Security Project. “[O]n-board electronic countermeasures, such as ‘laser dazzlers’ and ‘radar jammers’, can be an effective way to defend satellites against certain types of kinetic attacks. And it has the advantage of protecting satellites without producing space debris.” Raymond’s comments didn’t rule out these types of weapons.

• The U.S. government has cited the development of ASAT weapons by China and Russia as a justification for the creation of Space Command and Space Force Since their establishment, military space leaders such as US Space Command’s Gen. James Dickinson have been quick to criticize foreign ASAT development and testing. Perhaps more concerning is a mysterious Russian satellite that has shown the ability to fire a projectile in space which Gen. Raymond refers to as an ‘on-orbit weapon system’.

• The Missile Defense Agency has explored using space-based lasers to intercept ballistic missiles, but Space Force has been mum on what weapon systems — conventional or directed energy — it is developing to protect its satellites or defeat enemy satellites. Raymond’s acknowledgement at the hearing might be the first time he’s publicly confirmed that directed energy systems are under development.

• “Russia has made space a war-fighting domain by testing space-based and ground-based weapons intended to target and destroy satellites. This fact is inconsistent with Moscow’s public claims that Russia seeks to prevent conflict in space,” said Dickinson. “Space is critical to all nations. It is a shared interest to create the conditions for a safe, stable and operationally sustainable space environment.”

• The U.S. has invested heavily in building passive defenses, but it is less forthcoming on its active defenses. Other nations are less secretive. France has stated that it could equip its satellites with weapon, possibly lasers, to defend themselves from adversaries.

• Earlier this year, the Center for Strategic and International Studies suggested that Space Force develop orbital laser weapons to defend American satellites. A CSIS report titled: “Defense Against the Dark Arts in Space” lays out the various types of ASAT weapons and describes several ways that Space Force could defend against them, including passive defenses like building a redundant space architecture that could survive the loss of one or even multiple satellites; and active defenses such as satellite-mounted lasers that could blind incoming threats.

 

                 General Jay Raymond

“Yes sir, we are,” Raymond responded, suggesting that they discuss the issue in more detail in a classified setting. “We have to be able to protect these capabilities that we rely so heavily on.” Noting that directed-energy systems could be a possible defensive tool for American satellites, Rep. Jim Langevin, D-R.I., asked Chief of Space Operations Gen. Jay Raymond whether the United States was adequately developing a directed energy portfolio “to be an effective capability for space dominance.”

In a statement to C4ISRNET, a Space Force spokesperson said, “General Raymond

             Gen. James Dickinson

has stated many times that China and Russia have directed energy capabilities that are designed to damage or destroy our satellites. His response to Congressman James Langevin’s question was confirming that our architecture developments in the face of these threats are appropriate.” However, the Space Force — and the Air Force before it — have always been secretive about what ASAT weapons the U.S. military has or is developing. The one with the most public details is the Counter Communications System, a transportable system that can jam enemy satellites. And while the Air Force is developing laser weapons, it’s

Todd Harrison

not clear what plans — if any — there are to attach them to space systems or direct them at enemy satellites. The U.S. also has missiles that can reach satellites in low Earth orbit.

    Rep. Jim Langevin

“Russia has made space a war-fighting domain by testing space-based and ground-based weapons intended to target and destroy satellites. This fact is inconsistent with Moscow’s public claims that Russia seeks to prevent conflict in space,” said Dickinson after a Russian ASAT test in December. “Space is critical to all nations. It is a shared interest to create the conditions for a safe, stable and operationally sustainable space environment.” Reports from the intelligence community and observers have highlighted the development of kinetic weapons — such as those mentioned above — as well as non-kinetic weapons — such as ground-based jammers or laser systems that can effectively blind satellite sensors — by nations deemed American adversaries.

 

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US General Describes ‘China Threat’ in Space, Heating Up Rivalry

Article by Kristin Huang                                      November 26, 2020                                    (scmp.com)

• With the launch of China’s Chang’e-5 lunar spacecraft and Beijing’s first lunar mission to bring Moon rock samples back to Earth, US Space Force General John Raymond remarked that China was a threat that could block American access to space, and that the US had to strengthen ties with its allies to handle the “threat” from China and Russia over space.

• Meanwhile, a successful mission would make China just the third country to have retrieved lunar samples, after the US and the former Soviet Union. Xu Hongliang, secretary general of China’s National Space Administration, told a space aviation forum on Wednesday that there were more Chang’e missions to come and China was planning to build an international research station on the Moon. Xu also said China would explore small celestial bodies, retrieve samples from Mars and pass by Jupiter and back again. Said Xu, “[W]e welcome international space agencies to participate in China’s future lunar and deep-space exploration cooperation.”

• The space rivalry between the world’s largest two economies is heating up. Beijing has been planning to build its own space station for decades as an alternative to the International Space Station, from which China has been excluded by the US because of security concerns.

• US officials say that China and Russia show threatening behavior regarding space. Raymond referred to an incident in 2007 when China hit and destroyed a disused Chinese weather satellite, testing its own missile capabilities. Until then, space had been considered a “benign domain,” but it was now it is contested. “China and Russia caused this shift in the strategic environment,” said Raymond. China and Russia’s capabilities include jamming of GPS and communication satellites, and directed energy and kinetic destruction of US assets via missiles on the ground.

• Raymond noted that “space really underpins … all of our instruments of national power. [I]t provides huge economic opportunity, scientific opportunity and military opportunity”, and that the US is eager to enhance ties with its allies… in space.” “We have to have different space architectures and we have to have partnerships,” Raymond said. “We’ve got to make sure that we stay ahead of this growing threat.”

• In the first nine months of 2020, China has sent 29 satellites into space – two more than the US. But observers say that China is still lagging behind the US, as private companies such as SpaceX and Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin have taken the industry lead.

• China has grappled with launch failures. An optical remote-sensing satellite failed to enter its preset orbit in September, following another failed launch two months earlier, the Kuaizhou-11 commercial solid rocket, with two satellites on board. China also had satellite launch failures in March and April.

 

Rivalry between China and the United States in space exploration has reached new heights, with a US general saying China was a threat that could

      Space Force General John Raymond

block American access to space.

Just days after the launch of Beijing’s first lunar mission to bring samples back to Earth, US Space Force General John Raymond said the United States had to strengthen ties with its allies to handle the “threat” from China and Russia over space.

      China’s Chang’e-5 lunar spacecraft

Raymond’s comments came as the head of the Chinese space administration said the nation would launch more lunar probes and invite other countries to join China on its missions.

The China-US space rivalry intensified after a Long March-5 rocket carrying the Chang’e-5 lunar spacecraft blasted off from Wenchang, Hainan province, on Tuesday morning.

In the first mission of its kind by any country in more than 40 years, the 8-tonne spacecraft comprises four components designed to bring samples back to Earth.

If the mission is successful, it would make China just the third country to have retrieved lunar samples, after the US and the former Soviet Union. But China’s space ambitions do not stop there.

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Trump Launches Space Command: Will They Fight Aliens And UFOs?

Listen to “E87 9-7-19 Trump Launches Space Command: Will They Fight Aliens And UFOs?” on Spreaker.
Article by Arthur Villasanta                      August 30, 2019                      (ibtimes.com)

• On August 29th, President Trump announced the reactivation of the United States Space Command at a White House ceremony. But the new command of the US Armed Forces won’t be fighting invading aliens or UFOs. The US Space Command is designed to meet the threat presented to U.S. military satellites by the increasingly sophisticated anti-satellite capabilities of Russia and China. Said President Trump, “Those who wish to harm the United States, to seek to challenge us on the ultimate high ground of space, it’s going to be a whole different ballgame.”

• The US Space Command was originally established in 1985 to coordinate the use of outer space by the United States Armed Forces, but was stood down in 2002. In 2018, the Department of Defense (DoD) announced the US Space Command would be reestablished as the eleventh unified combatant command under the DoD, similar in status to US Special Operations Command, US Cyber Command, US Pacific Command and US Central Command.

• The 2019 National Defense Authorization Act, signed into law in 2018, directed the reestablishment of the US Space Command under the US Strategic Command. But in December 2018, President Trump directed that the US Space Command be re-established as a full ‘unified combatant command’ with full responsibilities for fighting wars in space. It is seen as a predecessor to Trump’s US Space Force, which will ultimately become the sixth military service in the armed forces, similar to the US Army and US Navy.

• US Air Force General John W. Raymond is the current Commander of the Air Force Space Command, and he will concurrently command the US Space Command as well. Said General Raymond, “We no longer have the luxury of treating space superiority as a given. There is a growing threat. The scope, scale and complexity is concerning.” General Raymond listed the threats that the US Space Command will deal with, including jamming of GPS communication satellites, directed energy weapons, and ground to satellite missiles which China demonstrated in 2007.

 

The defunct United States Space Command (USSPACECOM) was reactivated as a unified combatant command (UCC) of the Department of Defense (DoD) in ceremonies presided over by President Donald Trump at the White House on Thursday.

Air Force General John W. Raymond

USSPACECOM becomes the 11th UCC of the United States Armed Forces. This designation makes it similar in stature to other UCCs such as U.S. Special Operations Command, U.S. Cyber Command, U.S. Pacific Command and U.S. Central Command.

Gen. John W. Raymond, USAF, is Commander of USSPACECOM. He is also the concurrent Commander of Air Force Space Command, which is a separate command from USSPACECOM.

USSPACECOM was originally established in 1985 to coordinate the use of outer space by the United States Armed Forces but was stood down in 2002. In 2018, DoD announced USSPACECOM would be reestablished as a unified combatant command.

“We no longer have the luxury of treating space superiority as a given,” said Gen. Raymond on Thursday.
“There is a growing threat. The scope, scale and complexity is concerning.”

1:27 minute video of President Trump’s Space Command ceremony (Washington Post)

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