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The Minister of Armies, Florence Parly, will clarify this Thursday, July 25 in Lyon, the outlines of the new French strategy on space defense.
For the great powers, the exo-atmospheric space appears indeed more and more, like a new "battle space", conducive to clandestine operations, to see the direct confrontation. For the strategists of the whole world, the "Star Wars has already begun".
In 1983, US President Ronald Reagan launched the IDS , the Strategic Defense Initiative. At the time, the objective was to intercept the intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM) that the Soviet Union could have launched on the United States in the event of World War III ... The United States had finally canceled the quasi -total developments of this expensive program even before the end of the cold war.
35 years later, Donald Trump revives the arms race in space, with the US Space Force (USSF) ... " We do not want to be dominated by Russia, or China, we have always been in a position advanced in the space (...) -a presence-American in space is not enough, we need a -super-American-in space, so I will launch the realization of a space force "Said US President Donald Trump in June 2018.
Disturbing signals
This increasing militarization of space is taking place against the backdrop of rivalry between the great powers. In recent years, space objects with suspicious behavior have been observed, Western satellites spied on , GPS navigation systems scrambled during NATO exercises.
So many signs taken very seriously by the military: " armies rely more and more on space to conduct their military operations, and in their eyes its means become vital. This analysis began to be done by the military some fifteen years ago, but for France, it was really perceived with the recent commitments, operations in Mali, particularly. Africa Sahel, is a large territory, and it is absolutely necessary to the space to obtain a military efficiency in this theater of operations but this awareness was relatively late in France "explains Xavier Pasco, director of the Foundation for research strategic.
What doctrine for France?
On July 13, in front of the senior French army, President Emmanuel Macron announced a new space doctrine that " will ensure the defense of France, space and space (... ) with a reinforcement of the knowledge of the spatial situation, and a better protection of the satellites, including in an active way "had assured the chief of the armies.
This posture involves the development of new weapons such as lasers to "dazzle" hostile satellites, or "wave guns" to render them inoperative temporarily or permanently. A doctrine both "dissuasive and reactive": " we must be able to discourage the opponent. On the one hand being more resilient and having more systems, which induces more resilience. For example, if one system is reached, the others can take over, so it can discourage the opponent. There is also the idea that France must be able to -retorion- or activate defenses, -more active-it does not necessarily mean the destruction of satellites strictly speaking, but by hindering its activity , or by disrupting its operation "explains Xavier Pasco.
Limit effects
For a long time, some countries have not lost sight of destroying satellites in orbit, on an experimental basis ... The United States did it in the 1980s with the ASAT program; "Kamikaze" spacecraft have existed in Russia for a long time and would have been the subject of new developments in the 2010s.
In 2007, China demonstrated that it could "shoot down" a satellite in space, and last spring India did the same . A reason for pride in the middle of the electoral campaign: " India entered the club of space superpowers (...) before our shooting, only three countries in the world: the United States, Russia and China were able to now, India is the fourth country to have achieved this antisatellite capability, "Prime Minister Narendra Modi said at the time.
By destroying this satellite, India has generated thousands of space debris of various sizes, all potential impediments, to space navigation and the use of vital satellites. For France, it is a red line that it does not intend to exceed. " For a space power, to blow up a satellite is to shoot yourself in the foot " conclude the experts ...