Conducting Operations in a Degraded Space Environment Flashcards
Satellites enable us to…
Maneuver and Attack with great precision (e.g., GPS), Communicate across the globe (e.g., SATCOM), see the battlefield (e.g., FFT), and Collect information through the AOR (e.g., ISR)
Adversary threats
- Intercept, disrupt, jam coms and GPS systems
- Adversaries have been studying our dependence on satellite communications and GPS
space threat capabilities
Anti-Satellite Missiles
Attack on Space Ground Station
SATCOM Jammers**
GPS Jammers**
Electro-magnetic Pulse (EMP) Weapon
Cyberattacks Against U.S. Space Architectures
Lasers Against U.S. Satellites
Communications Interference (Unintentional)*
Space Debris
Solar Weather*
Terrestrial Weather*
Terrain and Vegetation*
GPS Lessons
- Very weak signal, like a light bulb
- Frequencies used by GPS systems are widely known
- GPA jammers easy to acquire, build, use
- 8-11 satellites in view at any given time
- Russia, China have own GPS systems
GPS Mitigation
Plan: Encrypt military GPS receiver, PACE plan
Recognize: environment training
React: navigation planning, terrain masking, manual positions
Report: Joint Spectrum Interference Report (JSIR)
Emerging technology
SATCOM Use, Mitigation
SATCOM provides beyond line-of-sight voice and data communications, reduces fratricide, and increases Command and Control situational awareness
Report interference
Be prepared to work without SATCOM
PACE plan
Encrypt
Contested space indicators
Audible: static, loss of coms, bleed over of other sounds
GPS Visual indicators: Display icon stops moving, location doesn’t match map, color changes to red or amber
DAGR: warning banner, loss of 4+ satellites, increase in jamming/signal radio
GPS-aided munitions: rounds do not land where expected, rounds become inert
Implications on Warfighting Functions in a D3SOE
INCREASE:
Collateral damage
Fratricide
Ammunition resupply
Paper maps
Analog ops
DECREASE:
OPTEMPO
Situational awareness
Total asset visibility
Lethality
Intel collection
