US Deploys New Technology to Cripple Chinese, Russian Satellites

WASHINGTON – The United States (US) is close to upgrading its offensive counterspace capabilities with a new ground-based jammer designed to temporarily disable satellites deployed by Russia and China.

Bloomberg wrote the report on Friday (20/7/2024), citing sources in the US Space Force (USSF).

After testing the new system earlier this year, the US will deploy 11 of its 24 Long Range Modular Terminal jammers in the coming months, the USSF told the newspaper.

All are expected to be in place by the end of the year. “The jammers are not intended to protect U.S. satellites from jamming; rather, they are intended to counter the communications capabilities of adversary satellites,” the USSF said.

The Space Force previously described the terminal as a “small, portable, low-cost satellite communications jammer,” designed “using commercially available components.”

The jammers would complement other electronic warfare systems such as the already deployed and much larger Countermeasures Communications System and the medium-sized Meadowlands system by offering “a more widespread, remotely controlled, and relatively mobile capability,” according to the USSF.

They noted the Meadowlands system has run into development issues, delaying its launch until at least October, two years later than planned.

“This system would not be a defensive weapon but would be intended to attack rival capabilities,” said Victoria Samson, principal director of space security and stability at the Secure World Foundation.

He classified it as an “offensive counterspace capability,” claiming, “The system would be reversible, temporary, non-escalatory, and allow for plausible deniability in terms of who the provocateur is.”

Bloomberg contrasted the seemingly offensive nature of the jamming system with the Pentagon’s usual stance of positioning “emerging satellite jamming technology as purely defensive.”