U.K. prepares for orbital warfare
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The U.K. military is building up its space arms and is readying troops to use them, a move leaders said is needed to prevent growing enemy interference with its satellites.
Why it matters: After the United States' bombshell revelation that it has "on-orbit space control weapons," a key ally is advertising its growing space arsenal to deter Russia's aggressive space posture.
- Air Chief Marshal Harv Smyth announced last week that the U.K. "is now developing capabilities for orbital warfare" to stop anti-satellite weapons, and the Royal Air Force established its first-ever dedicated Space Effects Squadron to "disrupt, degrade and deny hostile activity."
Driving the news: For the past year, the U.K. has been using ground-based technology to jam enemy satellites, the BBC reported.
- "So make no mistake, the satellite services you may have taken for granted now face unprecedented threats," Smyth said. He also singled out Russia's space maneuvers as "uncommon and dangerous."
Follow the money: The U.K. recently unveiled a £298 billion (roughly $400 billion) defense spending plan, with some of that investment targeted for new space capabilities and protecting its existing assets in orbit.
- Smyth said the space sector underpins 20% of the nation's GDP.
The bottom line: Victoria Samson, the Secure World Foundation's chief director of space security and stability, told me there's "much more openness and willingness to talk about these sorts of capabilities, which just was not here even just a couple years ago."
- "They're putting their money where their mouths are."
Go deeper: There are American weapons in space
