FOCUS – UK creates new military unit to defend satellites

LONDON, September 23 /ATSH-DPA/ — Threats to the United Kingdom in space are growing, the head of the British Royal Air Force (RAF) warned, as he announced the creation of a new military unit charged with defending satellites.

Speaking on Tuesday at the UK Space Power Conference in London, Air Chief Marshal Harv Smyth said space “has become a warfighting domain, whether we like it or not.”

He pointed to recent Russian actions, including “dangerous” maneuvers by Russian military satellites near Finnish commercial satellites, as well as attempts to jam GPS signals.

Smyth described these developments as evidence of “increasingly irresponsible and provocative actions by our adversaries” in space.

“Let there be no misunderstanding: satellite services you may have taken for granted now face unprecedented threats,” he said. According to him, a major disruption of GPS satellite services could cost the British economy £1.4 billion ($1.86 billion) a day.

In response to the growing threats, Smyth announced the formation of No. 3 Space Effects Squadron, whose mission will be to “disrupt, degrade and neutralise hostile activity to protect the UK’s space interests.”

The unit is the first in a series of new space units and will be staffed with specialist personnel to support defensive and offensive operations.

Stressing that the United Kingdom “will never escalate military activity in space,” Smyth said that “nobody wants a war in space. We are posturing to prevent it.”

According to the Ministry of Defence, the new squadron will protect satellites used for ship navigation, communications and missile-attack warning.

Ballistic-missile warning systems have become more important in recent years.