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U.S. satellites are being attacked every day according to Space Force general

thedrive.com

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Re: U.S. satellites are being attacked every day according to Space Force general

#92

This is propaganda, the US is the only military with operational space drones and space planes. They have the technology and enough budget to defend military and commercial satellites and just looking for political support to actually do so. The CCP military may be ahead in number of rockets but the US is way ahead in number of spy satellites by a far margin and can also commission civilian capabilities for this.

Rockets and spaceplanes are not the only threat model. We build commercial satellites that have to contend with jamming attacks and other intentional interference. I'm not one to carry water for the military industrial complex - they hype up threats for more money all the time (see: Hypersonics) - but I can assure you that these attacks are occurring right now.

> I can assure you that these attacks are occurring right now.

I can assure you we're doing the same thing, though.

Re: U.S. satellites are being attacked every day according to Space Force general

#93

This is propaganda, the US is the only military with operational space drones and space planes. They have the technology and enough budget to defend military and commercial satellites and just looking for political support to actually do so. The CCP military may be ahead in number of rockets but the US is way ahead in number of spy satellites by a far margin and can also commission civilian capabilities for this.

An audience of 538.

Re: U.S. satellites are being attacked every day according to Space Force general

#94
> The systems that Russia and China are known to be developing or have already fielded include destructive and non-destructive types that are deployed from Earth, such as ground-based jammers, lasers, or interceptors, as well as small "killer satellites" positioned in orbit. A killer satellite able to maneuver close to its target could use various means to try to disable, damage, or even destroy it, such as jammers, directed energy weapons, robotic arms, chemical sprays, and small projectiles. It could even deliberately smash into the other satellite in a kinetic attack.

Seeing a lot of could.

> In another prime example of the secrecy issue, when asked, Thompson could not confirm or deny whether any American satellites had actually been damaged in a Russian or Chinese attack. Beyond that, he told Rogin that even if such a thing had occurred, that very fact would be classified.

Ok. Can we go back to the UFO discourse now? Or maybe Havana syndrome? At least those are somewhat imaginative. Please come-up with something more interesting like Russia/China training space dolphins or something.

Re: U.S. satellites are being attacked every day according to Space Force general

#95

> There may come a point where we demonstrate some of our capabilities so that our adversaries understand they cannot deny us the use of space without consequence Obviously that time has come if they are attacking our satellites. Why is everyone in the US government so afraid to stand up to China?

I am starting to feel weird about this mentality, I.e.: If someone is capable of attacking us, they are most likely already planning to attack us, and we must plan to attack "first". (Implied in "stand-up to China, as if US were already being put down...) I mean, I was born and raised in China, CCP does not manage to install such mentality into adult Chinese. I never see anyone who say "we have to prepare to strike f…

Have you seen the statistics on American gun ownership, particularly handgun ownership? And what fraction of Americans have a concealed carry permit? And how many people carry a gun on their person when they are out getting a sandwich?

Yes, it’s real.

Re: U.S. satellites are being attacked every day according to Space Force general

#96

This is propaganda, the US is the only military with operational space drones and space planes. They have the technology and enough budget to defend military and commercial satellites and just looking for political support to actually do so. The CCP military may be ahead in number of rockets but the US is way ahead in number of spy satellites by a far margin and can also commission civilian capabilities for this.

I mean of course it's propaganda. The military would have no need (or desire) to disclose this publicly otherwise. But what really matters is whether or not it's true; are there really reversible attacks on US satellites, or is this just saber-rattling and trying to pre-sell US citizens on a new enemy?

I have no idea if it's real or not, but it sounds plausible, at least the passive attacks. It's mere speculation, though, that this can or will escalate to physical, irreversible attacks.

I think it's also likely that the US is conducting the same kinds of reversible attacks on adversaries' satellites, too. Or at the very least, we have the capacity to do so, and have tested it on our own gear.

Re: U.S. satellites are being attacked every day according to Space Force general

#98
post #52

This is propaganda, the US is the only military with operational space drones and space planes. They have the technology and enough budget to defend military and commercial satellites and just looking for political support to actually do so. The CCP military may be ahead in number of rockets but the US is way ahead in number of spy satellites by a far margin and can also commission civilian capabilities for this.

Joe at The Drive has been writing a ton of Space Force propaganda articles lately. The Defense Budget is getting debated now and this "news" really does seem aimed at Congress. Space Force and SDA want to fund their constellation of hypersonic reentry vehicles based on the SpaceX Starlink platform [1,2,3]. It would provide instant kill capability around the world. China is the justification for this massive buildup o…

+1 on this. Virtually all the sources interviewed are connected with the military or the government itself, which fits a propaganda model or at least a very one-sided view on the gravity of the threats. Not to say that the facts and incidents reported are false, but the framing of the narrative is problematic and missing key issues such as ---

1. To what extent are critical satellites already built to handle these threats?

2. How much of an offensive capability does the US already possess in terms of retaliation? [Edit : Seems like there are a ton of programs in existence already! How many more are actually needed?]

3. Are the views represented a minority or a majority view in the defense establishment?

4. Like [1], what do the JASONs (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JASON_(advisory_group)) or other groups that do not stand to gain directly from a budgetary increase towards defending such attacks have to say on the opinions of the general quoted in the headline?

Re: U.S. satellites are being attacked every day according to Space Force general

#100
post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why not? China and Russia are ramping up on military presence, maneuvers, and armament. Our top businesses are constantly under attack by nation state actors. I've witnessed a few attacks directly. I'd be willing to bet that there will be some action taken in Ukraine and Taiwan within the decade, possibly simultaneously.

I feel like the best way to prevent a Taiwan situation is to give them nukes. China would never invade if it meant losing their 10 largest cities. And when they throw a fit just say "but China, you already had nukes. Which part of China they are in is no concern of ours."

Wouldn't Taiwan need a credible second strike capability as well? The US probably can't credibly guarantee their safety, so they'd need to be able to do that themselves, otherwise the threat is empty and useless.

But say the US really did arm Taiwan with first and second strike capabilities, I don't even think the US could stomach the reaction to that. How long could they hold out if embargoed by the PRC?

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