The US is ready to deploy the system to block Russian and Chinese satellites
The project for a portable electronic jamming device to combat Chinese and Russian space technology is two years behind schedule, Bloomberg reported, but it appears to have finally arrived. Called Meadowlands and developed by L 3 Harris Technologies , the project was due for delivery last year but will arrive in 2024 at the earliest.
The new war equipment, once delivered, will be equipped with radar antennas mounted on wheeled trailers to make it as portable as possible.
The US Space Force wants to order 30 units
US Space Force officials have announced plans to produce up to 30 units. Problems encountered during testing "have been resolved and the program is moving towards the final stages of integration and testing," Space Systems Command said in a statement. He added that "the technical problems were due to unexpected challenges that required complex rework of the subassemblies".
Charles Clarkson, general manager of L3Harris, said the company has been working with the command to ramp up testing to ensure the jammer "will have more robust operational execution and reduced risk."
While military officials have been sympathetic to China and Russia's offensive capabilities, they have been reluctant to disclose their methods of defending US satellites from potential attacks in space.
During an Air Force Association symposium, Major General David Miller, director of operations for the Space Force, said the question of whether space is a war domain was resolved by the US Congress when it established the Space Force.
According to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence's annual threat assessment, China possesses weapons designed to attack the satellites of the United States and its allies.
Officials added that the new jamming system will not create space debris because it emits energy designed to cause temporary, "reversible" interference from communications satellites, per . The Meadowlands program is estimated to cost approximately $219 million and is a leaner version of the Counter Communications System, which went live in early 2020.
Instead of the previous system's 14 equipment racks, Meadowlands features radar-like dishes mounted on wheeled trailers with only two racks, allowing for easier deployment.
The operation is secret, of course. Some experts have only guessed that it is capable of jamming a large number of different frequencies and that its main target is geostationary satellites used in communications. Will it work against low-flying satellite galaxies, like Starlink?
“Meadowlands' reduction in footprint and increased capacity will significantly improve its utility” compared to the Counter Communications System, said Air Force Association senior resident fellow Charles Galbreath, who just completed a study on counterspace. sponsored by the Air Force Association. Meadowlands has several potential targets in China and is planned to be transported and deployed overseas.
It will be fielded only in 2024
According to Major General Gregory Gagnon, deputy chief of space operations for intelligence in the Space Force, about half of China's more than 700 satellites are used for remote sensing, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance.
“Their armada of orbiting satellites is able to track us, to sense us, to see us, to link this data to their network of fire and to put US forces at risk in a way that we have never understood or faced until now,” Gagnon added.
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The article The US is ready to deploy the system to block Russian and Chinese satellites comes from Scenari Economics .
This is a machine translation of a post published on Scenari Economici at the URL https://scenarieconomici.it/gli-usa-sono-pronti-a-mettere-in-campo-il-sistema-per-bloccare-i-satelliti-russi-e-cinesi/ on Sat, 01 Jul 2023 16:50:43 +0000.