Space Force warns of Chinese satellites ‘dogfighting’
China has practiced co-ordinated satellite maneuvers in space that resemble aerial combat, according to a US Space Force General.
Speaking on Tuesday at the McAleese Defense Programs Conference in Washington, the vice chief of space operations General Michael Guetlein said the US is preparing to develop capabilities for off-planet warfare. Space Force needs to guarantee “space superiority,” over China, Russia, and other nations, he opined.
That status is necessary because China has already launched a refuelling station in geosynchronous equatorial orbit to service its growing satellite fleet.
Now it’s used some of its orbiting assets in what look like offensive drills.
“We observed five objects in space moving in and out and around each other in synchrony and in control,” Guetlein said. “That’s what we call dogfighting in space - they are practicing tactics, techniques and procedures to do in-orbit space operations from one satellite to another.”
This is not the future I wanted to live in, but here we are.
The United States needs a backup positioning system for GPS and it needs it yesterday.