LONDON: Britain announced on Wednesday that it will launch a new military space squadron charged with defending the country’s satellites, in the latest move as various countries rush for military space capabilities.
The new Royal Air Force (RAF) squadron will proteet critical satellites used in communications and to warn of incoming missile attacks, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said.
It described the unit to be known as No III Space Effects Squadron as the country’s first dedicated to ‘disrupting, degrading, and denying enemy activity targeting British interests in space’.
The MoD noted the UK launched two squadrons in 2023 that ‘watch and warn’ of space threats while the new unit will ‘act against those threats, using advanced tech-nology, including ele ctronic warfare’.
Air Chief Marshal Harv Smyth will formally unveil the squadron on Wednesday at a two-day UK Space Power Conference starting in London, where Defence Secretary Wes Streeting will also warn Britain must ‘keep pace in the new space race’.
The announcement comes just over a week after the United States confirmed for the first time that it has arms deployed in orbit above the Earth. That prompted China to warn against turning outer space into a ‘battlefield’ and Russia to caution it must be ‘free from any weapon’, amid fears of an arms race in space.
The developments are being driven by rapid technological advancements but lack a comprehensive legal framework.
Last year, the head of UK Space CommandMaj GenPaulTedmanwarnedhewas ‘really worried’ by Russia attempting to jam British military satellites on a regular basis.
He noted at the time that the UK was operating six dedicated military satellites for communications and surveillance, which were equipped with counter-jamming technology.
‘A warfighting domain’ Space has become ‘a warfighting domain’ and Britain and its Western allies must ramp up their capabilities to counter growing threats, the UK’s top air force commander said.
‘Space has become a warfighting domain, whether we like that or not, and the UK as well as its partners and allies must be prepared for this,’ he told the UK Space Power ConferenceinLondon.’It is time for us to harness our resources ... and it’s time to deliver more meaningfully with our space capabilities.
‘Flagrant disregard’ London created UK Space Command in April 2021, so commanders from the RAF, Royal Navy and Army can jointly run military strategy, operations and capabilities beyond Earth. That came 16 months after Washington established the US Space Force as the sixth branch of its armed forces.
Outer space has become an increasingly strategic domain for global powers in the military and technology fields, with the West increasingly vying with China and Russia for supremacy.
In his speech, Smyth accused Moscow of a ‘flagrant disregard of the norms forresponsible behaviour by spacefaring nations’ after several incidents. They included five Russian military satellites allegedly moving dangerously close to two Finnish commercial satellites in May.
Meanwhile in June, Smyth said it was confirmed that ‘a Russian satellite constellation’ had caused disruptions to GPS signalsacrossEurope,Greenland,andCanada over atleast75 days since 2019.
The disclosures follow the then-head of UK Space Command warning last year that Russia was regularly attempting to jam British military satellites.
Major General Paul Tedman noted at the time that Britain was operating six dedicated military satellites for communications and surveillance, which were equipped with counter-jamming technology.-AFP