Chinese Ready To Counter US Satellites
It’s never been a better time to return to the basics. The Pentagon has reported that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA), or the Chinese Army, is prepared to attack American satellite systems. Since much of our defense is now based on satellite navigation, the so-called ‘battle for space’ is very much a thing. The Free Beacon reports:
China has military units that have begun training with anti-satellite missiles. Russia is probably also developing an anti-satellite missile. These missiles can destroy U.S. and allied space systems in low Earth orbit, making intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, and communications satellites vulnerable.
“While the PLA now has actual units of ASAT weapons targeting critical American military and civilian space assets, the United States does not have a similar organized counter-space capability,” he said. “We are basically disarmed in the face of an active Chinese military-space capability.”
Such an attack would leave much of the military blind and mostly deaf- our ground-based long distance communications has been heavily reliant on satellite communications much more so than HF. This is the very reason I have focused so much on it over the years writing at Brushbeater. Networked units require communications over a region to coordinate activity, and making satellites a strategic priority over the basics has become a problem.
The weapon they’re likely fielding is a known quantity- the SC-19 through more modernized DN-3 series. And while some would dismiss their developments as a deterrent alone, China’s aggressive moves on two continents clearly signals their greater strategic move. They want us gone.
But what’s worse, at least from my perspective, is the over-reliance on GPS units. These would be among the first to be targeted. Russia and China have an alternate system called GLONASS, and a receiver capable of positioning using that system in addition to GPS might be a wise investment…after you master the basic land navigation skills. Competent terrain analysis and land navigation skills are the bread and butter of anyone concerned with partisan and guerrilla small unit warfare. The basics never, ever change. And getting away from them in lieu of convenience is a gigantic mistake.
**********