If you're not afraid of the ongoing "shadow war" in space, in which China and Russia are conducting attacks against US satellites with lasers, radio frequency jammers and cyber-attacks, you should be, say top US military officials and analysts..“Russia has kamikaze satellites that can destroy US satellites in orbit,” said Jim Sciutto, CNN's chief national security correspondent and author of The Shadow War..“China has kidnapper satellites that could snatch them out of orbit. Why? Because our military and our civilian life is more advanced in space than anybody, but also more dependent on it,” he said in an interview with Salon..“Smart bombs aren’t smart without satellites,” he continued. “Drones don’t fly. We don’t have nuclear early warning without satellites … you have a whole host of ways to undermine and even paralyze the US if you were to take away those space assets..“Star Wars is here today,” he told Salon..Handout .According to General David Thompson, the US Space Force's first vice-chief of space operations, the attacks are "reversible" for now, which means the damage to the attacked satellites is not permanent, but they demonstrate the intentions and abilities of the two main competitors of the US in space.."The threats are really growing and expanding every single day. And it's really an evolution of activity that's been happening for a long time," Thompson told the Washington Post in November 2021. "We're really at a point now where there's a whole host of ways that our space systems can be threatened.".According to experts, China leads by far over Russia, the Gatestone Institute International Policy Council reported.."The Chinese are actually well ahead of Russia," Thompson said. "They're fielding operational systems at an incredible rate." .Handout .Some of those systems are ground-based, such as anti-satellite missiles (ASAT) and lasers intended to blind, damage, or destroy satellites. .Adversaries can also jam global navigation and communications satellites used for co-ordination of naval, ground, and air forces as well as manned and unmanned vehicles..Others are space-based, such as orbiting "killer" satellites programmed to attack other satellites at a certain point in time, whether with blinding lasers, robotic arms or other means meant to destroy or incapacitate, theGatestone Institute reported. .According to the Pentagon's 2021 report to Congress on China's military capabilities:."The PLA continues to acquire and develop a range of counterspace capabilities and related technologies, including kinetic-kill missiles, ground-based lasers, and orbiting space robots, as well as expanding space surveillance capabilities, which can monitor objects in space within their field of view and enable counterspace actions.".Handout .In January 2007, China tested its first successful ASAT, destroying one of its own inactive weather satellites and creating one of the world's largest space debris incidents, the Gatestone Institute reported..Russia tested another ASAT in November 2021, during which it successfully destroyed one of its inactive Soviet-era satellites, creating 1,500 pieces of debris in what US officials called an "incredibly dangerous and irresponsible act." .Because of the impact, astronauts on the International Space Station (ISS), orbiting 260 miles from Earth, were told to shelter for two hours to let the debris pass, The Daily Mail reported..The ASAT was part of Russia's mobile missile defense complex known as PL-19 Nudol, which, according to the (DIA) Defense Intelligence Agency's "Challenges to Security in Space 2022," is "capable of destroying ballistic missiles and low-orbiting satellites." .Handout .What is concerning is that the US appears to be at a grave disadvantage — especially when it comes to China.."Fifteen years after China's ASAT strike, we still lack the ability to defeat an attack on our space systems or launch an offensive strike if circumstances warrant." .Retired US Air Force Gen. Kevin Chilton, former commander of US Strategic Command and Air Force Space Command, told TheHill.com: "Hostile action toward our space-based assets is not a question of 'if,' but instead, 'when.' Attacks are regularly occurring at lower thresholds. Our adversaries fully understand the US military's reliance upon these systems and will seek to compromise or destroy them to gain a decisive advantage in any terrestrial conflict.".While China made it a goal to become the world's leading space power by 2045, China could overtake the US by the end of the decade, according to Gen. Thompson — especially because China is putting up satellites at twice the rate.."We are still the best in the world, clearly in terms of capability. They're catching up quickly ... We should be concerned by the end of this decade if we don't adapt," he told The Washington Post..Just this weekend, China launched five satellites into orbit on a rocket that lifted from a platform at sea, setting a new distance record for the country's offshore launches..A Long March 11 solid-fuelled rocket successfully launched from ocean platform in the East China Sea to deliver its payloads into orbit, Space.com reported..It was the second launch in as many days for the China National Space Administration, which launched two other satellites from a land-based spaceport on Friday. .In addition, China's space station, Tiangong (Palace in the Sky), is expected to become fully operational between 2022 and 2024, the Gatestone Institute reported. .Three Chinese astronauts, one of them a former fighter pilot and another a People's Liberation Army (PLA) pilot, just landed back in China after spending six months in space working on the space station. .China even announced it was looking to spark interest in space tourism by eventually opening its space station to everyday citizens willing to pay the tab.."It is not a matter of technology, but of demand," astronaut Yang Liwei told Chinese media. "And it can be realized within a decade as long as there is such demand.".Yang made history in 2003 by becoming China's first astronaut in space..China plans to continue conducting explorations on the moon, including establishing a robotic research station, and in March 2021 signed a memorandum of understanding with Russia on a joint lunar research station, Reuters reported..It is also making progress on its ambitious plans to propel itself to the forefront of the global SATCOM industry..China is continuing to test next-gen capabilities like its Quantum Experimentation at Space Scale (QUESS) space-based quantum-enabled communications satellite, which could supply the means to field highly secure communications systems, the recent DIA report noted..The latest threat assessments also make it clear that while both Russia and China "increasingly see space as a war-fighting domain," the greater threat comes from China..China’s perceptions of the importance of space-enabled operations to the United States and its allies has shaped integral components of PLA military planning, the DIA said..Space is a critical enabler of beyond-line-of-sight operations for deployed Chinese forces, and the PLA probably sees counterspace operations as a means to deter and counter a US intervention during a regional military conflict..China claimed “destroying or capturing satellites and other sensors” would make it difficult for the US and allied militaries to use precision-guided weapons..Moreover, Chinese defense academics suggest reconnaissance, communication, navigation, and early warning satellites could be among the targets of attacks designed to “blind and deafen the enemy.".In a recent speech, US Chief of Space Operations General John W. Raymond described just how crucial space is to warfare.."If deterrence were to fail, we would face an adversary that has integrated space into all aspects of their military operations. They use space to detect, track, and target our forces with long-range precision weapons," he told Space Force News. ."Space provides the foundation of everything we do as a joint force, from delivering humanitarian assistance to combat on the ground, in the air, and at sea. Our joint operational plans assume assured access to space... We cannot afford to lose space; without it we will fail.".While the US might be vulnerable in space, it does have options. It could very well choose to build the same types of space weaponry..“We have those capabilities, but we haven’t deployed them to the degree that China and Russia [have],” Sciutto said in a podcast regarding US space force power. .“And that’s a decision that has to be made: Is that the best deterrent? Or does that lead to a space arms race? That’s part of the calculation that has to be made today.”.Dave Makichuk is a Western Standard contributor. .dmakichuk@westernstandard.news
