A US general is warning that China and Russia are gaining ground in their efforts to develop anti-satellite weaponry, which includes using “dogfighting” tactics to stalk and attack US satellites.
“We’re also now starting to see our near peers focusing on practicing dogfighting in space,” says General Michael Guetlein, the vice chief for the US Space Force. “The environment has completely changed.”
According to Breaking Defense, Guetlein’s remarks referred to five Chinese satellites called Shiyan-24C and Shijian-6 05A/B that engaged in maneuvers in low-Earth orbit last year.
“With our commercial assets, we have observed five different objects in space maneuvering in and out and around each other in synchronicity and in control,” he said at the McAleese annual Defense Programs Conference.
“That’s what we call dogfighting in space. They are practicing tactics, techniques, procedures to do on-orbit space operations from one satellite to another,” he added. Guetlein also noted that China previously used one satellite to “grapple” another satellite, giving the country a way to hold captured satellites “hostage.”
China’s effort to bolster its anti-satellite capabilities might one day pose a threat to SpaceX’s Starlink and other US satellite constellations. Researchers in the country have called on the Chinese government to come up with ways to destroy and suppress Starlink over its potential surveillance capabilities.
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Meanwhile, Russia has also threatened to attack Starlink for supplying broadband to Ukraine. Last year, US officials raised alarm bells about Russia possibly testing the capability to explode a nuclear weapon in orbit to disable US satellites.
In his remarks, Guetlein said the US must bolster its space warfare capabilities. “There used to be a capability gap between us and our near peers, mainly driven by the technological advancements of the United States. That capability gap used to be massive,” he said. “That capability has significantly narrowed, and we’ve got to change the way we’re looking at space or that capability gap may reverse, and not be in our favor anymore.”
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About Michael Kan
Senior Reporter
