The "transport" layer of the "space architecture of the national defense" of the United States will consist of hundreds of optically coupled orbiting satellites, directly coordinated with weapons systems. This was stated by Director of the United States Space Development Agency Derek Tornir.
“This layer is what directly communicates with the weapon system through a tactical data channel,” said Tornir. “He also receives data from other sensor layers that can perform other tasks of this kind.”
According to him, the architecture created will also include six additional levels: tracking, security, deterrence, navigation, military operations control and support. At the same time, according to Tornier, in the framework of this program, the United States is focused on two main tasks.
“The first involves targeting moving targets subject to priority destruction beyond line of sight,” he said.
According to him, the Agency intends to find and recognize moving land and sea targets, combine data, create a fire control solution, and then transfer it directly from space to the weapons system, ”said Tornir.
He also emphasized that a type of military data exchange network such as Link-16 will be used as the “tactical data transmission channel”.
The second task, according to the head of the Agency, is “similar to the first,” but aimed at threats associated with the latest missile systems, in particular with “hypersonic gliding devices and any next-generation missiles.”
“We want to be able to detect them, form a fire control trajectory, send it directly to the weapons system, so that we can begin to hit targets remotely,” said Tornir.
- Pentagon
- AFP
He also added that data will be transferred, including “from the transport layer to the TITAN (Tactical Intelligence Targeting Access Node, tactical intelligence access point for target designation. - RT ) to the ground”.
“The TITAN system, through the UHF signal or by any other means, will relay data directly to the front line,” said Tornir.
Space ambition
Recall, the Space Development Agency (SDA) was formed as part of the US Department of Defense last spring. As the Pentagon noted, this structure is designed to combine the efforts of the defense departments and government agencies to create a “space architecture of the future”, as well as accelerate the introduction of new military-space capabilities “necessary to ensure US technological and military advantages in space”.
Fred Kennedy was appointed to the post of head of the US Space Development Agency, but four months later he resigned. A number of American media then linked his departure with consistent criticism of the activities of the new agency by the leadership of the US Air Force.
So, in February 2019, even before the Space Development Agency was officially formed, the US Air Force Secretary, Heather Wilson, doubted that the SDA would cope with its goals more effectively than the Air Force.
At the end of October 2019, the Space Development Agency was headed by Derek Tornir.
It is worth noting that a few months after the creation of the SDA, in December last year, at the ceremony of signing the defense budget, US President Donald Trump officially announced the creation of space forces.
The corresponding memorandum was signed in February. The document stated that the United States should “confront impending threats from foreign adversaries in space” in order to maintain its “leadership and get ahead of competitors”.
Then the head of the White House said that his administration considers space as a theater of operations. According to the American leader, the creation of the Space Forces is one of the priorities of national security.
As the Pentagon noted, the budgetary request of the Space Forces for fiscal year 2021 is about $ 15.4 billion. These funds are intended, among other things, to finance the new generation OPIR satellites program (“Sustainable Infrared Space Intelligence System”), launch two GPS satellites and “three additional launches under the space launch program in the interests of national security. ”
- Donald Trump
- Reuters
- © Kevin Lamarque
No guarantee of effectiveness
Military expert Alexei Leonkov, in a conversation with RT, explained that the plan to create the space architecture of the US national defense, presented by Derek Tornier, involves the formation of a "multilayer structure consisting of many satellites."
“These are small satellites that will be very densely sown in orbits at an altitude of 350 to 550 km. And each of these layers will have its own purpose. In particular, some satellites will be responsible for the detection, others for the transmission of information, ”Leonkov explained.
According to him, the Pentagon "seeks to create a variety of satellites in order to form a sensory field around the globe."
“The bet is that the United States will then be able to calculate the movement of objects, including ballistic missiles and hypersonic systems, and then transmit the data to missile defense systems so that they can bring them down,” the expert said.
Moreover, in his opinion, such a concept “looks perfect only on paper”.
“In fact, there are nuances that cast doubt on the implementation of these plans. In particular, the Pentagon does not take into account that hypersonic objects can maneuver in several directions, and it is very unpredictable. Therefore, no matter how relevant the systems predict, they will still make mistakes, ”said the analyst.
In addition, as Leonkov emphasized, in order to destroy the enemy’s hypersonic objects, “for starters, the United States needs to have its own hypersonic weapons.”
“They will be needed to bring down such missiles in the opposite courses or after. However, there is also a condition - the speed of the rocket must exceed the speed of the opponent’s object, or at least be equal, ”the expert explained.
- American military communications satellite as presented by the artist
- © Wikimedia commons / USAF (Los Angeles AFB
Alexei Leonkov also believes that in order to service the "space architecture" of the US national defense in the form in which the Pentagon represents it, it will be necessary to create expensive ground-based infrastructure. However, this "will not give a guarantee to the American side," the analyst said.
“Such a space architecture will have many vulnerabilities, especially in the face of electronic warfare (EW). Moreover, the Russian electronic warfare systems by that time, when the United States will be able to create the appropriate satellite system, will go far ahead in its development, ”said Leonkov.
"Adversely affects the security system"
According to experts, the militarization of space, which the Pentagon is actively conducting, will ultimately negatively affect global strategic stability.
From the point of view of Alexei Leonkov, US activities in outer space are particularly dangerous for those countries that do not have missile weapons, missile attack warning systems and air defense systems.
“The key issue in this case is target designation. The United States is now operating within the framework of a strategy of rapid global strike, where space is a theater of operations, and the decisive role is played by the information about the objects that need to be destroyed - the exact data where these objects are located, ”the expert stated.
As a military expert, HSE senior researcher Vasily Kashin noted in a commentary on RT, “the growing US ambitions in space cause even more fears” against the background of Washington's withdrawal from the INF Treaty and Don.
- Gettyimages.ru
- © Alexyz3d
Recall that in early August 2019, the United States unilaterally withdrew from the Treaty on the Elimination of Intermediate-Range and Shorter-Range Missiles (INF Treaty). Then Washington accused Russia of violating the agreement because of 9M729 missiles. However, the Russian Ministry of Defense back in January of that year revealed the technical characteristics of these weapons, which confirmed their full compliance with the agreement, but Washington ignored these arguments. In addition, on May 21, 2020, U.S. President Donald Trump announced the U.S. withdrawal from the Open Skies Treaty, concluded in 1992. This decision should enter into force in six months.
“The collapse of the arms control system and US capacity building in space create a favorable environment for the transfer of the arms race to outer space, which is extremely detrimental to the international security system,” Kashin said.