space warfare

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SPACE WARFARE


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Introduction

Over the past 50 years, the pursuit of space exploration, together with efforts to

develop practical applications for space technology, has largely proved to be a very

expensive contest to boost the national prestige of competing nations and a potentially

very dangerous game of foreign policy making. The demise of one of the principal Cold

War protagonists (the former Soviet Union) lessened some of the pressure in the national

prestige contest, but surprisingly led to an even more aggressive pursuit of the practicalapplication of military uses of space by the surviving principal Cold War protagonist (the

United States).

Even today the military exploitation of space continues to be dominated by USA

and Russia. France, United Kingdom, Italy and China have launched military

communication satellites. The recent tests by China of an anti-satellite weapon system

has caused a fair amount of stir especially in USA, notwithstanding the fact that both

USA and Russia have been testing such systems since over thirty years. The space efforts

of all other nations combined however are dwarfed by those of USA and Russia.

Historical Background

The use of space, especially so the military use of space, is a foreign policy tool

more so than it is a technological tool. For this reason, the historical background that sets

the stage for an investigation of the uses of space is largely the foreign policy

environment within which uses of space developed.

In the post WW - II period, the United States attempted with some success to

establish close military and economic relationship with western European states. The

primary purpose of this policy was to exclude the Soviet Union from this part of Europe,

and to contain that country within the heartland area of the Russian Empire that preceded

the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union countered by adopting a similar policy in Eastern

Europe, Eurasia, Northern Asia, and much of Southwest Asia. The Soviet Unions effort

to extend its influence into Eastern Asia met with only limited success. Through the

proclamation and implementation of the Truman Doctrine, the United States assured that

the geopolitical confrontation between that country and the Soviet Union would be global

in nature.

In the bi-polar world of 1950, 1960 and 1970s, the Soviet Union and the United

States protected their spheres of influence, while sparring with one another indirectly on the

fringes. Much of this conflict occurred in the Third World states, where the two super powersexperienced both successes and failures.

The cold war era fuelled air arms race in the conventional and nuclear fields. The period

witnessed an exploitation of space both for commercial purposes and as a medium of war.

The rivalry between the two super powers was to a great extent responsible for huge

investments in space that triggered a space race by USA, the former USSR and western

Europe.


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Military Uses of Space

At present an overwhelming majority of space effort in the military field is

devoted to non-weapons purposes such as intelligence gathering, communications and

navigations through military satellites. These space based assets act as force multipliers

allowing many traditional military missions to be conducted with greater efficiency. With the

advancement of technology, space systems are turning into force enablers opening new

possibilities. Some of the roles played by military satellites are:

Command and control is one area of the current military use of space. One aspectof command and control wherein the military use of space occurs is navigation

facilitation. Global positioning system (GPS) technology is applied to an array of

navigation satellites to facilitate navigation on earth and in the earths atmosphere. The

United States military forces (ground, sea, and air) have been using this military space

application for two decades or more. The technology was widely employed in the Gulf War

in 1991 and the technology is used today by American military forces in

Afghanistan and Iraq.

Another aspect of military command and control wherein military uses of space

occur involves communications. Communications satellites have been widely used byUnited States military forces for two decades or more. Military uses of space for

communications have been actively used by the United States in hostile actions in

Afghanistan, Iraq, Kosovo, and Panama over the past 20 years. Military uses of space for

communications are widely used by several countries today in non hostile situations.

Surveillance and reconnaissance satellite are also known as spy satellites and are

used to obtain information about a host of military activities. Surveillance is achieved

through regular monitoring whereas reconnaissance is targeted towards specific

intelligence of an urgent nature. While the two tasks are different, modern spy satellites

are equipped with multiple sensors and can perform both functions efficiently.

Photographic surveillance uses optical, infrared and radar techniques to obtain very

detailed pictures of areas of interest. The variety of sensors gives them an all weather

capability. These satellites besides furnishing vital intelligence during crises and conflicts

are also primary means of verifying compliance of arms control treaties between rival states.

They also serve a very important role by providing early warning of firing of ballistic

missiles by the enemy. During Operation Desert Storm, the warning of firing of Scud

missiles by the Iraqis was picked up by the US satellites and this information triggered

the defence mechanism by the Coalition forces.

The fact that these satellites are in space gives them a very large footprint and by

placing a number of satellites at varying orbits the entire globe can be scanned at least

twice in 24 hours period.


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Communication satellites from space provide unhindered radio communication

over vast distances that were previously not possible using ground based transmitters and

receivers. Their role in communication is obvious but what perhaps is not so well known

is that over 70% of all US overseas military communications are relayed through space

satellites. Other western nations also rely heavily on satellites for long range

communications. Communication satellites are perhaps the only means to ensure secure

communication with SLBM equipped nuclear submarines operating underwater in theoceans. With the advancement in technology, the complexity of warfare has increased

dramatically and with it the need for real-time long-range communication has become

even more essential.

The launching of Navstar Global Positioning Systems (GPS) satellites

revolutionized the concept of navigation at all levels. These satellites provide very

accurate positions and velocity information to users equipped with tiny receivers. Beside

civil airliners and merchant ships, GPS is widely used by military planes, ships and

missiles and even ground vehicles for navigation. GPS can also be used for providing

terminal guidance to weapons making smart bombs even smarter. Navstar satellitesprovide 24 hour coverage of the entire globe. The system belongs to USA and at present

it is providing the service free of charge to the rest of the world.

The types of meteorological data required for civilian and military purposes differ

substantially. While civilian requirements call for data needed for weather forecasting,

military needs are much more immediate and call for accurate up to date actual weather of

specific areas.

Each military meteorological satellite of USA is placed about 530 miles in space

in a sun synchronous orbit and views the entire earth surface twice a day. Optical and

infra-red images can be produced in near real-time and scanning infra-red radiometer

measures vertical temperatures in the atmosphere and water vapour content. A passive

microwave temperature and an ultra-violet sensor measures the density of the

atmosphere. A gamma ray detector is carried to provide data about nuclear explosions.

The sensor suite of the satellite is very sensitive and the data collected can be received by

specially fitted receivers on land or on naval vessels. The information gathered is of

enormous value for military operations. Weather inputs are essential for air missions,

land offensive and are required even for ICBM guidance system in the re-entry phase.

Geodetic satellites map the earth using photographic and radar techniques. Theyalso provide data in gravitational and magnetic fields. Among other things, this

information is needed to project the trajectories of ballistic missiles and is essential for the

guidance system of cruise missiles.

Electronic surveillance means passing over other countries and noting down their

assets, forces dispositions for military uses. This can also be done for commercial

purposes which may even include selling the information to some other potential buyer.


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Real time surveillance falls into two categories. One type relates to long term

information which is collected very slowly over a longer period of time and does not

need very frequent updates foe example data regarding air fields and other static

installations. The other type of information relates to quick type of information which is

gathered quickly and it is often required for urgent analysis and purposes. The updates forsuch like information are also required

frequently for example troops movement and their deployment in the field (tactical

intelligence). The advantages of radars are that they can work in all weathers, day and

night.

Militarization of Space

Almost all countries accept the law that outer space should not be militarized. The

United States, however, is the leading dissenter nation with respect to the militarization of

space.

American efforts to subvert prohibitions against the militarization of space fall into three

general categories. The first strategy is to forcefully argue that the militarization of space is

essential for self-defense. The second American strategy involves the endless

reinterpretation of the provisions of the international treaties, conventions, and

agreements that prohibit the militarization of outer space. The third American strategy is to

withdraw from treaties, conventions, and agreements if they cannot obtain

international acceptance for their positions.

Potential Military Uses of Space

The United States, Russia, and China already have in place space-based systemsto provide the non-hostile military uses of space. The United States in particular and

Russian and China to much lesser extents also are developing hostile space-based

weaponry.

Russian General Kupriyanov noted that development of advanced weapon

systems is proceeding along the lines of using not only traditional but also basically new

physical principles. The new physical principles include information warfare, laser,

photon, infrasonic radiation, and ultra-high frequency radiation whose applications are the

most effective from space based platforms. The United States is especially focusing on the

development of space weaponry employing radio-frequency energy weapons that can

destroy or effective neutralize the space-based assets of other nations. American naval

Captain Hardesty postulates that opponents of the United States will launch space mines

that will objects containing high explosives that orbit near to American satellites so that the

satellites can be destroyed when desired. The ballistic missile defense weapons development of

the United States continues unabated.


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Anti Satellite (Asat) Weapons - Present and Future Prospects .

Terrestrial military operations rely heavily on satellites for communication,

navigation, reconnaissance and a host of other tasks. Their loss could seriously impair

the war fighting capability of a nation. Targeting the opponents satellite system therefore

is an attractive option.

Satellites follow a predictable orbit, sometimes for years. Targeting them is

comparatively a simpler task than targeting ballistic missile warheads but even so satellite

interception is not easy.

Direct physical interception of satellites is possible but because of their very high

orbit speeds, it is a difficult task. The chances of success can be enhanced in various ways

including the use of explosives, preferably nuclear warheads. However the

electromagnetic pulse of nuclear explosives have a very wide spread and using the

nuclear explosion to cripple an opponents satellite runs the risk of damaging friendly

satellites in the vicinity. This technique therefore must be used with great care.


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Anti Satellite (Asat) Weapons - Present and Future Prospects .

Terrestrial military operations rely heavily on satellites for communication,

navigation, reconnaissance and a host of other tasks. Their loss could seriously impair

the war fighting capability of a nation. Targeting the opponents satellite system therefore

is an attractive option.

Satellites follow a predictable orbit, sometimes for years. Targeting them iscomparatively a simpler task than targeting ballistic missile warheads but even so satellite

interception is not easy.

Direct physical interception of satellites is possible but because of their very high

orbit speeds, it is a difficult task. The chances of success can be enhanced in various ways

including the use of explosives, preferably nuclear warheads. However the

electromagnetic pulse of nuclear explosives have a very wide spread and using the

nuclear explosion to cripple an opponents satellite runs the risk of damaging friendly

satellites in the vicinity. This technique therefore must be used with great care.

Conclusion

In the early years of the twenty-first century, the United States is the sole remaining

super power. This development has emboldened nationalist elements in the United

States to pursue empire building. The idea is not so much to develop a new colonial system,

as it is

to exercise absolute control over the world. Every other country must become a market

for American products, and the United States government must supplant the United

Nations as the international arbiter. Not surprisingly, most of the rest of the world either

opposes these American objectives or remains in a state of denial as to their existence in

hopes of gaining benefits from the coming world government that will sit in Washington,

D.C.

In order to achieve such objectives, the United States believes that they must gain

solid control of outer space. Control of outer space will allow the United States to act

within an extended framework of geopolitical theory to achieve a position of

unquestioned dominance. To gain control of outer space, the United States must

militarize outer space. Unfortunately for American strategic planners, there is not only

opposition from other countries to the concept of the militarization of space, but there

also are international agreements that prohibit the militarization of space.

This study found that the legal international prohibitions against the militarization

of space are effective, valid, and have broad international support. The only country of

note that actively opposes the militarization of outer space is the United States. The first

conclusion drawn from this study is that the only way that the United States can continue

with its militarization of space objectives is to withdraw from the Outer Space Treaty

and

other relevant treaties. The second conclusion drawn from this study is that the actions of

the United States in relation to the militarization of space are consistent with the

extension of geopolitical theory from a terrestrial perspective to an extra-terrestrial

perspective.


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Another very important facet about the uses of space is that by all means it should

be for peaceful purposes. The military uses of space leading to destruction of the

humanity and designed to bring miseries to poor of the world should be banned for all the

countries. Only the civilian uses of space should be allowed under an international body

and their uses should made compulsory for collective good and benefit of the world, not a

particular race, nation or country.

Recommendations

a. International Code of Conduct. The international code of conduct

about

uses of space should underline the basic guidelines which guarantee the safe and

peaceful uses of space.

b. Ban on Future ICBMs. There is a pressing need for banning all the future

research on ICBMs of any type, whether nuclear or conventional. Space should be

declared out of bound for the missiles and the relevant clause should be included in

the code of conduct as discussed in previous paragraph.

c. Diplomatic Isolation. There is a need to diplomatically isolate USA and

Russia, the key players in the space related research and uses, and any other states

as well who are aspirant of using the space detrimental to international peace and

peaceful human development.

d. Severing of Energy Resources to Guilty States. The states that are

found

guilty of making prohibited uses of space and violating the international code ofconduct on space usage, should be declared liable to oil supply boycott.

e. Electronic Surveillance. An international electronic surveillance system

should be formulated jointly by the international community to monitor violations

of peaceful uses of space.

f. Medical Research . The use of space should be encouraged for medical

research related fields, which is so essential for ailing humanity especially under

developed countries of sub Saharan region.

g. Weather / Hazards Forecast . Another field of space usage which

can

best serve the cause of humanity all over globe is to carry out more and more

research in the areas of weather forecast and hazards warning.

h. Satellite Aided Search and Rescue. The satellites can be best

used to

track and rescue marooned people. The system is recommended to be operating

under the international body essentially framed for control over uses of space.


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