Battle stars / How we wage war in space |
Operation Epic Fury marks a turning point in the art of war. The key to 20th-century battles was air power. In the past, space and cyber activities have traditionally played supporting roles as so-called force multipliers. But this is no longer the case. In this conflict they have become mainstream, carving out new fronts for the wars of the future. The use of space is no longer something that is just nice to have, because everything from comms to intel to navigation uses space and cyber assets.
Along with the National Reconnaissance Office, which manages US spy satellites, the US Space Force uses a global sensor network of ground-based telescopes and radar on every continent except Antarctica. This information is now processed to find digital aim points to be fed into an automated electromagnetic kill chain. The goal is to blind first and strike second.
To this end, electronic warfare aircraft skirted Iran using next-generation scanners and jammers and, in one instance, digitally attacked the radar systems protecting Iranian nuclear facilities at Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan. “Coordinated space and cyber operations effectively disrupted communications and sensor networks across the area of responsibility, leaving the adversary without the ability to see, coordinate, or respond effectively,” said General Dan Caine, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
The US has been sabotaging Iran’s space efforts for years. Those bases were among the first to be destroyed
The US has been sabotaging Iran’s space efforts for years. Those bases were among the first to be destroyed
Primary targets also included Iran’s main satellite ground station facilities at the Mahdasht Space Center, which serves as a central hub for controlling Iran’s satellites and receiving and processing satellite imagery, alongside newer strategic stations at Salmas and Chenaran. Each time Iran launched a ballistic missile overhead persistent infrared (OPIR) satellites coordinated by the US Space Force detected the thermal signature and........