US Deploys Satellite Jamming System

[NATO AIR]

good stuff, could help us with china, north korea, iran, etc etc

http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/space/11/01/satellite.jamming.reut/index.html

U.S. deploys satellite jamming system
Monday, November 1, 2004 Posted: 11:09 AM EST (1609 GMT)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- The U.S. Air Force quietly has put into service a new weapon designed to jam enemy satellite communications, a significant step toward U.S. control of space.

The so-called Counter Communications System was declared operational late last month at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs, Colorado, the Air Force Space Command said Friday in e-mailed replies to questions from Reuters.

The ground-based jammer uses electromagnetic radio frequency energy to knock out transmissions on a temporary and reversible basis, without frying components, the command said.

"A reversible effect ensures that during the time of need, the adversary's space-based capability to threaten our forces is diminished," said Capt. Angie Blair, a spokeswoman. "Following the time of need, the space-based capabilities used by the adversary can return to its original state."

The device appears to have been put into service considerably earlier than had been projected by the Air Force as recently as February.

At that time, a long-range planning document, dubbed the Transformation Flight Plan, said such a system would let the United States by 2010 "deny and disrupt an adversary's space-based communications and early warning" of attack.

U.S. military control of space is one of four missions spelled out under a national space policy adopted by former president Bill Clinton in 1996. The goal is to make sure U.S. forces have unhindered access to space and space-based services and to deny an enemy any similar benefits.

The U.S. military has experimented with a range of "anti satellite" (ASAT) weapons, including lasers, to knock out enemy craft by destroying them or damaging their sensors.

Theresa Hitchens, vice president of the private Center for Defense Information in Washington, welcomed the new system on the ground it would not create debris that could threaten global use of space and would not destroy satellites, only jam them temporarily.

"Unfortunately, it seems we are not going to limit our quest for 'space control' to benign systems," she said, citing the danger of a space arms race.

The deployment was disclosed without fanfare late last month at a technical conference of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics in San Diego, California.

The system is operated by the 76th Space Control Squadron, a unit created in 2001 to explore technologies for controlling space, Brig. Gen. Larry James, vice commander of the Space and Missile Systems Command told the conference.

The Air Force Space Command, in its e-mailed replies, said the system was built from off-the-shelf commercial equipment, and made up an antenna, transmitters and receivers that can be loaded into a trailer and moved from place to place.

Three such systems had been delivered since late last year, the command said. The program's budget for fiscal 2005 totaled $6.2 million, according to the Congressional Research Service.

The primary integrator was Northrop Grumman Corp.'s Mission Systems business unit in Redondo Beach, California, said Joe Davidson, a Space and Missile Center spokesman.

Citing "operational security" concerns, military officials declined to discuss how the jammer worked but equated it with traditional Air Force electronic warfare weapons that have been used since World War II to deceive, disrupt, deny, degrade or destroy targets.

Copyright 2004 Reuters. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

 

[dilloduck]

Super---one less mission for our first wave of fighter bombers !

 

[Merlin1047]

Interesting. But I can't for the life of me figure out why we would want to disable satellites of an enemy on a temporary basis and then let them resume operation later.

Oh wait - I think it just dawned on me. They're planning for the possibility that kerry might be president and has trouble deciding what he wants.

 

[wolvie20m]

Interesting. But I can't for the life of me figure out why we would want to disable satellites of an enemy on a temporary basis and then let them resume operation later.

Oh wait - I think it just dawned on me. They're planning for the possibility that kerry might be president and has trouble deciding what he wants.

:rotflmao:

 

[Zhukov]

It is imperative that we extend our technological dominance to every theatre, and that most certainly includes space.

I would no sooner accept a Chinese spy satellite hovering above us than I would accept a traitor as the Commander-in-Chief.

To be sure this a provocative development. We could blind any number of nations simply to observe their response, and perhaps even attack them because of that response.

But there is only one true utilization of this technology, and that is deterence. Threaten us and we will blind you.

"Mess with the bull and you'll get the horns."

 

[wade]

Interesting. But I can't for the life of me figure out why we would want to disable satellites of an enemy on a temporary basis and then let them resume operation later.

Oh wait - I think it just dawned on me. They're planning for the possibility that kerry might be president and has trouble deciding what he wants.

Many satalites are owned by our allies, and through contractual arraingements are accessible to our potential enemies. We would not want to be destroying these satalites, which serve many nations, simply to black out a target country for a few days. So it makes sense to be able to jam it without destroying it.

Also, if we start shooting down these satalites, our "allies" might shoot down some of ours in reprisal.

 

[wade]

I would no sooner accept a Chinese spy satellite hovering above us than I would accept a traitor as the Commander-in-Chief.

Ahhh... but you have. You have accepted a traitor to the principals of American democracy as your commander-in-chief already.

 

[rtwngAvngr]

Ahhh... but you have. You have accepted a traitor to the principals of American democracy as your commander-in-chief already.

Listen, shut your fucking lying pie hole.

 

[Zhukov]

Ahhh... but you have. You have accepted a traitor to the principals of American democracy as your commander-in-chief already.

Haha, sometimes you crack me up wade.

 

[White knight]

Excellent, we can knock out any future advanced command and control system, Along with TIA, we have cast the net over the Globe, its sends a message to the rest of the world. Join US or else, resistance is futile.

 

[nbdysfu]

All yoUr bAsE aRe belOng to U.S.!