GeoIntelligence - May.june 2013
Transcript of GeoIntelligence - May.june 2013
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WeaponisationWeaponisation
of
Vol. 3 Issue. 3 may jun 2013
ISSN 2277 3126 rNI NO. UPENG/2011/37063 `100 US$ 10
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Chairman MP Narayanan
Publisher Sanjay Kumar
Managing Editor Lt Gen (Dr) AKS Chandele (Retd)
Executive Editor Bhanu Rekha
Product Manager Harsha Vardhan Madiraju
Assistant Editor Aditi Bhan
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ThemeWeaponisation of space
In
sid
e
REGULAR SECTIONS
Editorial................................................ 05
News..................................................... 06
Events................................................... 35
Image Intelligence .......................... 42
Guest Articles
Militarisation of Space 16
Space has emerged as the new
battleground, but not everyone is
in avour o its weaponisation. The
article tries to examine the issue and
the diculties in dening a space
weapon
Space: The New Battleground? 22
Is weaponisation o space the nal
rontier o battleeld or is it going
to be the beginning o the end o
mankind as we know it?Even thoughR&D is being carried out to develop
technology to place weapons in space,
more and more voices are openly
against any such move. The uture will
only decide who wins?
Smarter Decisions for PublicSafety 36
Geospatial technology is increasingly
being used by security agencies or
maintaining internal security o the
country. Ater all, how can police, re
or other emergency agencies reachyou i they dont know where you are
Geodata Fusion Study ShowsValue of Open Standards 38
In an age o inormation overfow,
standards are essential to ensure
communication between various
applications and sharing o data
rom multiple sources. Open
Geospatial Consortium (OGC) has
been actively working with industry
and security agencies to develop
open and international
geospatial standards
Interview
27
Kevin Pomfret
Executive Director,Centre for Spatial Law
& Policy, USA
Article
Transformational Challenges 30
So ar, the world has only witnessed
NCW operations between the leader
in technology and a weaker adversary.
But what i the confict takes place
between nations having matching NCW
capabilities? Should technologically
weaker nations develop their owncapabilities or directly acquire them rom
others? How can the technology gap
between countries be bridged? Countries
throughout the world, are acing several
such challenges
Courtesy:www.fatworldknowledge.com
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H
umans have orever been ascinated with space. No sooner had they
achieved the capability to y, they started looking at what lies beyond.
The early 20th century saw the pioneering eorts o rocket scientists suchas Tsiolkovsky, Goddard, Von Braun (World War I I V2 rockets). The cold war era was a
period o hectic activity in space exploration. In the 50s, the Soviets surprised the
Americans with the Sputnik ights, being the frst to send a man into space. It was
a wake up call or the US. They vowed to be the frst to send a man to the moon.
The race or space had begun. A number o space exploration missions ollowed
- Vanguard, Explorer, Vostok, Mercury, Gemini, Soyuz, Apollo, Skylab, Mir, Space
shuttle and an orbiting international space station. Other nations joined
in - China, UK, France, Germany, Japan, Koreas and India. There are over two
dozen nations today having space exploration programmes with billions o
dollars invested.
Space has numerous peaceul uses - terrestrial resources and environmentalmapping, navigation (on land, sea and air), communication, weather orecasting
and early warning o natural disasters etc., Over 5,000 satellites have been
launched into space, o which about 10 per cent are presently unctional. A large
number are being launched every year. Satellites provide a host o communication(radio, TV, telephone, internet) and navigation acilities (GPS),which have
transormed the world we live in.
While scientists were busy with their experiments, statesmen the
world over were aware o the dangers which would accompany
space exploration. They were concerned that this space race, and
the possible militarisation and weaponisation to ollow, would pose
a serious threat to the security and saety o the human race. Thisconcern was responsible in shaping the Outer Space Treaty (OST),
which lays down that space should be reserved or peaceul uses by
all nations or the beneft o mankind and prohibits placing o nuclear
or other weapons o mass destruction in space or on other celestial
bodies. But the militarisation, utilising space based assets or military
communications, navigation, surveillance and targeting, had begun
with the earliest satellite launches.
Every year, or almost 30 years, the UN General Assembly has adopted
a majority supported resolution to prevent an arms race in space.Most nations o the world, including Russia and China, are against
weaponisation (physical placement o weapons in space). However,pronouncements by policy makers and statesmen indicate that,
whether by subtle circumvention or outright violation o existing
treaty obligations and majority world view, the US intends to drive
home its technological edge and maintain its position as the global
military super power in space. The US military-industry-political
caucas has too much at stake in pursuing the weaponisation o space.
China, which eels that it is the primary target o this weaponisation,
Russia and may be some other nations will have no choice but ollow
suit. Unortunately or mankind, the momentum is building up or a
ull edged arms race in battlefeld space, the fnal rontier.
E
ditorial Battlefield Space - The Final Frontier
Lt Gen (Dr) AKS Chandele PVSM, AVSM (Retd)Managing Editor
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Harris Corporation has received
a USD 29 million order to
provide a nation in Asia with
Falcon III wideband tactical
radios. The radios will provide
the country's armed orces
with critical country-wide data
communications and improved
mission capabilities as part o
an overall modernisation eort.
The nation is acquiring the
company's new RF-7800H high-requency wideband manpack
and RF-7800W High-Capacity Line-
o-Sight radios. According to the
company, the new RF-7800H is the
world's frst HF radio with high-
speed wideband data capabilities.
These advanced capabilities allow
users to efciently transmit large
data fles such as images over
very long range beyond-line-o-
sight links. The radio is 20 per cent
smaller and lighter and oers data
rates that are 10 times greater thanother HF radios.
Harris Corporation receives order for
Falcon III tactical radios
India to use G-sats formissile defence
India is planning to use its array o
geostationary satellites (G-sats) or
monitoring missile activities in an
area o 6,000 km. This will make
G-sats constellation the frst line
o deence in its anti-missile shield.This project, which is independent
o the observation grid installed by
deence and intelligence agencies,is aimed at installing sensitive
surveillance equipment along with
other payload on the G-sats. The
advantage o using these satellites
is their fxed position at a height o
36,000 km and the act that they
are synchronised with the earths
movement. The report urther
stated that the programme would
not compromise Indias space policy
since it is not meant as an oensive
posture, and data collected wontbe shared with any other country.
GPS system to counterthreats from North Korea
South Korea is beefng up its
surveillance system against North
Korea's electronic jamming signals
as the latter had targeted the
ormer's civilian acilities inthe past.
According to Yonhap News Agency,
the Ministry o Science,
ICT & Future Planning is planning
to set up a GPS surveillance
system which can track down the
attack point and impact o GPSjamming attempts rom North
Korea. There is also a proposal to
pass on the technology developed
by the state-run Electronics and
Telecomunications Research (ETRI)to a civilian frm to establish the
surveillance system.
Surveillance systemestablished by China
China is reported to have
established a national island
surveillance and monitoring
system and completed airborneremote-sensing surveillance o
its 4,406 islands. According toXinhua news agency, the national
system is mainly built on aerial
Sourc
e:TOI
Courtesy:HarrisCorporation
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Insitu partners withSantos Lab
Insitu recently announced its
partnership with Santos Lab, a
leading/innovative developer and
manuacturer o hand launchedunmanned aircrat systems
(UAS). The company claims thatthe alliance demonstrates its
commitment to meet the diversifed
needs o the Brazilian Armed Forces
by orming strategic, long-termrelationships with proven Brazilian
companies.
"Partnering with Santos Lab is the
frst step in establishing a localpresence or technology transer,
which will enable Insitu's UAS
business in Brazil to grow. We are
excited to team with Santos Lab -
one o the country's most successul
indigenous UAS companies," said
Insitu President and CEO Steve
Morrow.
Overwatch enhances ELTgeospatial intelligence
softwares user interface
Overwatch, an operating unit o
Textron Systems, a Textron Inc.
company, has announced the
latest release o its ELT geospatial
intelligence (GEOINT) sotware,
eaturing a new intuitive and
customisable user interace. ELT,which uses image processing
unctionality with geographic
inormation systems support,
is used by analysts or militaryintelligence, mission planning and
disaster management.
surveillance, with satellites,
unmanned planes and cruisers as
auxiliary instruments.
Belarusian, Russian armiesto share geospatial data
The joint board o the Belarusian
Deense Ministry and the Russian
Deense Ministry has approved
a drat agreement on mutual
exchange o geospatial data between
their armed orces. The agreement
will allow providing quality survey
support and navigation supportor operative and combat exercises
o the regional military orce. Also,
eorts o navigation and surveying
military units will be combined orcreating geospatial data which they
will reely exchange.
Advanced sensors forHawk Air Defence System
Northrop Grumman Corporation
has launched its Fourth Generation
Tracking Adjunct Sensor (4G TAS),
the latest upgrade to the company's
range o high-resolution electro-
optical/inrared (EO/IR) sensors orthe Hawk air deence system.
4G TAS, the only approved EO/IR upgrade available to Hawk
customers worldwide, detects and
tracks low, ast targets both day
and night and passes them to the
Hawk's fre control radar. According
to the company, the upgrades to
the baseline confguration include
a new 640 x 480 pixel inrared
sensor that will more than doublethe resolution o the current system.
The upgrade will also include a new
charged-coupled device camera
that will increase resolution andenhance operation in low-light
environments. The upgrades
also include more reliable and
sustainable electronics to ensure
continued logistics support or the
system. All existing TAS, improved
TAS and Advanced Inrared TAS
systems can be upgraded to the 4GTAS confguration.
The 4G TAS is a gimbaled, stabilised,
high-resolution sensor system that
provides passive EO/IR searching,
tracking, launch and pass-o
capability or the Hawk air deence
system. It can provide threat
assessment and identifcationbeyond visual range, providing
real-time situational awareness,
the company added. The Hawkand TAS sensors are in operation
throughout the world.
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news
8
The contemporary, ribbon-based
interace in the new version o ELT
enables users to customise the
screen to better visualise and tailor
the sotware's wide variety o imageviewing and analysis applications
to their specic mission needs.
The sotware interace oers large,logically-grouped high-resolution
icons and an improved workfow to
reduce the time needed to process
commands and execute tasks.
Cyber Reveal launched
BAE Systems Detica recently
announced the launch o its
deence-grade cyber security
product, CyberReveal. Designed
primarily or companies with theirown security analysts, CyberReveal
is an analytics and investigation
product that gives companies
the intelligence they need to
protect their valuable intellectual
property and sensitive commercialinormation rom being stolen or
compromised by cyber criminals,
said the company.
Scalable to any organisation,CyberReveal processes billions
o data records generated
by hundreds o thousands o
user devices every single day,
identiying and prioritising the
security events that could have
the biggest impact. Critically, it
gives analysts a single view o
network activity across their whole
IT estate, detecting attacks by
their behaviour not just by the
signatures o previous attacks,added the company.
CyberReveal comprises three core
New precision targeting system to increase accuracy of US Armys threat detection
BAE Systems has been awarded
USD 15 million contract tosupport the US Armys Joint
Eects Targeting System (JETS)
programme with the companys
new Handheld Azimuth
Measuring, Marking, Electro-
optic imaging and Ranging
(HAMMER) precision targetingsystem. The contract initiates
a three-year engineering and
manuacturing development
phase or HAMMER with the JETS
programme.This lightweightprecision targeting system allows
dismounted combat operators
to locate and mark targets in allweather and lighting conditions,
with the precision required or
GPS-guided and laser-guidedmunitions, said Dr Mark Hutchins,
Director o Targeting Programmes
at BAE Systems.
Building on the companys already-
ielded Target Reconnaissance
Inrared Geolocating Rangeinder
(TRIGR) system, the HAMMER
architecture enhances precisiontargeting capabilities by adding a
compact laser marker and a non-
magnetic compass. BAE Systemshas teamed with Elbit Systems o
America to provide a laser marker
based on laser target designators
they have developed and ielded
with the US Marine Corps.
When ielded as part o the JETS
programme, the HAMMER system
will help soldiers distinguish
riends rom oes with satellite
positioning and surveillance
inormation, and allow them
to rapidly receive and transmittargeting data, said the company.
components: Platorm, Analytics and
Investigator. It is said to be designed
to help analysts protect their
organisations aster, driving more
value by integrating with existinginrastructure and security systems,
with plug-in analytics packs
providing cost-eective protectionto combat evolving threats.
DISA selects privatecompany for data storage
US Deense Inormation Systems
Agency (DISA) has awarded a USD
45 million non-competitive contract
to Alliance Technology Group to
develop a large data object (LDOS)
cloud service.
The secure intelligence, surveillance,
reconnaissance (ISR) cloud, which
will be capable o storing exabytes
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Northrop Grumman tobolster cyber protections
Northrop Grumman Corporation
has signed a memorandum o
agreement with the Department
o Homeland Security (DHS) thatwill enable the expansion o
cybersecurity protections or the
nation's critical inrastructure.
Northrop Grumman is now starting
the security accreditation process
which is required beore approval
to operate as a commercial servicesprovider under the DHS Enhanced
Cybersecurity Services (ECS)
programme.
ECS is an inormation-sharing
programme to assist critical
inrastructure owners and operators
in enhancing the cybersecurity
protections o their inormation
systems rom unauthorised
access, exploitation and dataexiltration. Under ECS, DHS willshare classiied and unclassiied
cyber threat indicators with
designated commercial service
providers, and the commercial
services providers will utilise
the threat indicators to provide
approved cybersecurity
services to authorised critical
inrastructure entities.
o data on billions o imagery les,
will be accessible across networks.
Further, it will be used to store a
variety o ISR data, including wide-
area motion imagery, standard andhigh-denition ull-motion video,
and images in LiDAR, hyperspectral,
electro-optical/ inrared andsynthetic aperture radar ormats.
According to www.gcn.com, some
o the data to be stored include
ull-motion video les rom UAVs
and satellites. DISA wants the cloud
to be capable o storing geospatial
data rom smartphones and iPads
as well.
Lockheed to aid USAF intesting civil navigation
message capability
Lockheed Martin-developed
GPS satellites already in orbit
will participate in testing a new
modernised civilian navigation
message (CNAV) capability designed
to enhance GPS navigation service,
according to Avionics Intelligence.The report urther states that the
US Air Force Space Command plans
to begin ormal testing o the new
capability during the summer o2013. The tests are expected to
ensure enterprise-level readiness
to operate, broadcast and receive
modernised civil navigation
messages using L2C and L5 signals
prior to the expected deployment
o the Next Generation Operational
Control System (OCX) in mid-
2016. The CNAV testing planned
is considered to be the next
major step in the Air Forces GPS
modernisation programme.
UTC Aerospace Systemsintroduces smaller UAVautopilots
UTC Aerospace Systems announces
the release o the Cloud Cap
Technology Piccolo Nano autopilot,
the smallest addition to the
industry standard Cloud CapTechnology Piccolo amily o
fight management systems. ThePiccolo Nano is designed to meet
the requirements o the smallest
UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle)
in both size and price with all the
capabilities and eatures needed
by the most sophisticated UAVs,
said the company. UTC Aerospace
Systems is a unit o United
Technologies Corp.
The Piccolo Nano is a new ully
compatible member o the
Piccolo autopilot amily in both
sotware and eature capability,the Piccolo Nano provides a small,
lightweight, lexible architecture
to support the myriad o designs insmall hand launched or uniquely
conigured UAVs. This unenclosed,
distributable autopilot system
provides maximum installation
lexibility to the system integrator
and is a perect it in small UAVs
where the vehicle structure
provides the enclosure and the
autopilot components need to bedistributed within the airrame's
available space.
The Piccolo Nano will be priced in
the USD 1000 range, addressing the
need or economy in small UAVs
while maintaining a proessional
grade ully supported autopilot,
according to the company. The unit
can be upgraded with the sameoptions as the Piccolo SL and Piccolo
II which include DGPS precision
auto land, moving baseline landing
support, VTOL support and more.
The SI acquires AppliedCommunication Sciences
The SI Organization, Inc. (the SI) has
acquired Applied Communication
Sciences (ACS), a leading provider
o applied research, technical
consulting and technology solutions
to US deence and intelligenceagencies, US civil government
organisations, and commercial
customers. Formerly the researchand engineering arm o Telcordia
Technologies and with its
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origins tracing back to Bell
Laboratories, ACS was established
in January 2012 to mitigate anyUS government concerns arising
rom the concurrent acquisition o
Telcordia by Swedish-based Ericsson.
ACS's key capability areas include
cyber security and inormation
assurance, network and operations,
data analytics, advanced sotware
and methodologies, wireless and
mobility, application engineering
and integration, smart grid, and
optical networking and quantum
technologies.
Lockheed Martindemonstrates ADAMground-based laser system
Lockheed Martin recently
announced that it has successully
demonstrated the Area Deense
Anti-Munitions (ADAM) system
in multiple tests against ree-fying Qassam-like rocket targets.
The prototype laser system hasdestroyed eight small-caliber
rocket targets in fight at a range
o approximately 1.5 kilometers (0.9
miles) in tests conducted in March
and April 2013. Lockheed Martinis developing the transportable,
ground-based ADAM laser system
to provide a deence against short-
range threats, including improvised
rockets such as Qassam rockets,
unmanned aerial systems and small
boats.
The tests represent increasingly
complex scenarios against
representative airborne targets.
In 2012, the system successullydestroyed 11 small-caliber rocket
targets in simulated fighttethered to a cable at a range o
approximately 2 kilometers (1.2
miles). The system also successully
engaged an unmanned aerial
system target in fight at a range o
approximately 1.5 kilometers (0.9
miles) in 2012.
Designed or short-range deence o
high-value assets including orwardoperating bases, the ADAM system's
10-kilowatt ber laser is engineered
to destroy targets up to 2 kilometers
(1.2 miles) away. The system precisely
tracks targets in cluttered opticalenvironments and has a tracking
range o more than 5 kilometers (3.1
miles). The system is being designed
to be fexible enough to operate
against rockets as a standalone
system and to engage unmannedaerial systems with an external cue.
Lockheed Martin based the design on
commercial hardware components
paired with its laser beam control
architecture and sotware to provide
the perormance needed or thesetypes o threats without the cost
and time required or ull custom
development, said the company. The
system is integrated in a container
that is mounted on a trailer, making
it readily transportable.
"High-energy lasers complement
kinetic energy systems and have
unique attributes, including very
low cost per engagement, a virtuallyunlimited 'magazine' and minimal
collateral damage," said DougGraham, Lockheed Martin's Vice
President o advanced programmes
Chip to help navigate whenGPS is not available
DARPA researchers at the University
o Michigan have made signicant
progress with a timing and inertialmeasurement unit (TIMU) that
contains everything needed to aid
navigation when GPS is temporarily
unavailable. The single chip TIMU
prototype contains a six axis
IMU (three gyroscopes and three
accelerometers) and integrates a
highly-accurate master clock into a
single miniature system, smaller thanthe size o a penny.
Three pieces o
inormation are
needed to navigatebetween known
points A and B
with precision:
orientation,
acceleration and
time. This new
chip integrates
state-o-the-art
devices that can
measure all three simultaneously,
according to the organisation. This
design is accomplished through newabrication processes in high-quality
materials or multi-layered, packaged
inertial sensors and a timing unit, all
in a tiny 10 cubic millimeter package.
Each o the six microabricated layers
o the TIMU is only 50 microns thick,
approximately the thickness o a
human hair. Each layer has a dierent
unction, akin to foors in a building.
Both the structural layer o the
sensors and the integrated package
are made o silica, said Andrei Shkel,
DARPA programme manager. Thehardness and the high-perormance
material properties o silica make it
the material o choice or integrating
all o these devices into a miniature
package. The resulting TIMU issmall enough and should be robust
enough or applications (when GPS
is unavailable or limited or a short
period o time) such as personnel
tracking, handheld navigation, small
diameter munitions and small
airborne platorms.
The goal o the Micro-Technology or
Positioning, Navigation and Timing
(Micro-PNT) programme is to develop
technology or sel-contained, chip-
scale inertial navigation and precision
guidance.
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Courtesy:www.darpa.m
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above the earths surface. The GPS IIF
series provides improved accuracy
and enhanced performance for GPS
users.
Lockheed Martin delivers major newcrime-solving capabilities
The FBI's Next Generation Identification (NGI)
Increment 3 was deployed recently providing significant
improvement in latent fingerprint search accuracy and
a new nationwide palm print identification system
to help solve cold cases and improve crime-solving
capabilities. These new resources are among the latest
upgrades delivered by a Lockheed Martin-led team for
the FBI's NGI system.
According to the company, the improvements are thelargest so far in a series of phased upgrades to the FBI's
biometric identification services, providing powerful
new and enhanced biometric capabilities for more than
18,000 local, state, tribal and federal law enforcement
agencies across the country.
Increment 3 incorporates powerful matchingalgorithms developed by Morpho, and supplied by US
subsidiary MorphoTrak. The new technology is three
times more effective in matching latent fingerprints
submitted by investigators to those in the national
database, greatly enhancing law enforcement agencies'ability to identify suspects and solve cases, added
the company.
In addition to creating a system with powerfulmatching algorithms, the new National Palm
Print System (NPPS) contains latent palm prints
that Lockheed Martin says, will be searchable on a
nationwide basis for the first time. Identification
of palm prints, which represent about a third of all
latent prints, has been used successfully in the past
by investigators to match prints from a crime scene
against those of known suspects. Now, law enforcement
agencies can use the NPPS to compare latent palm
prints in a matter of minutes to all of the records in thenational database.
NGI Increment 3 also includes improvements that
are extending the breadth of searches. Records are
managed more efficiently using the case management
capabilities of a MorphoTrak product, which when
combined with Lockheed Martin-developed software
and Morpho search algorithms, allows for the
processing of all hand friction.
NGI expansion and enhancements will continue
through 2014 to deliver the world's largest electronic
repository of biometric identification and criminal
history information to assist law enforcement to solveand prevent crimes and terrorist activities and assist
employers in hiring qualified workers.
for strategic and missile defence
systems.
Fourth GPS IIF-4 satellitelaunched
A United Launch Alliance (ULA)
Atlas V rocket recently successfullylaunched the fourth GPS IIF-4
satellite for the US Air Force. The
successful delivery of the GPS IIF-4
mission represents the 70th launch
success in the 77 months since ULA
was formedan accomplishment
made possible by seamless
integration of the customer and
industry team; reliable production
and launch operation processes;and a one-launch-at-a-time focus
on mission success for these critical
space assets, said Jim Sponnick,
ULA Vice President, Mission
Operations. GPS IIF-4 is the fourthin a series of next generation GPS
satellites and will join a worldwide
timing and navigation system
utilising 24 satellites in six different
planes, with a minimum of four
satellites per plane positioned in
orbit approximately 11,000 miles
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news
BAE Systems to providecritical mine detectionsensor prototype
BAE Systems has been awarded a
USD 20 million contract to develop
an advanced prototype system that
detects mines and obstacles innear-shore waters or the US Navy
and Marine Corps. As part o the
Coastal Battlefeld Reconnaissance
and Analysis (COBRA) programme,
the laser-based airborne system will
provide 24-hour capability to ensure
troops sae transition rom ship to
shore.
The COBRA programme leverages
BAE Systems borderless approach
to harness key resources indesign, integration, and testing,
said the company. The work will
be perormed at the companys
acilities in Honolulu, Hawaii;Greenlawn, New York; Acton,
Massachusetts; and Hudson, New
Hampshire.
CSTARS awarded USD 16.5million ONR contract
The University o MiamisCenter or Southeastern Tropical
Advanced Remote Sensing (CSTARS)
recently announced that it has
been awarded a contract by the
Ofce o Naval Research (ONR) to
continue collecting, processing, and
disseminating data rom global
Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR)
satellite systems. The goal o the
project is to provide SAR imagery
collected in near-real time to aid
in US Navy operations around theworld.
The frst phase o the grant will
allow CSTARS scientists to procure
processing terminals that will assistin the development o hardware and
sotware or the next generation o
commercial imagery. CSTARS will
continue to develop its numerous
algorithms o image analysis using
new imaging modes and insights
derived rom research and testing odata with the availability o the new
satellite sensors.
Subsequent phases will ocus on
the implementation o specifc
research applications rom the
determination o oceanographic
eatures such as winds and waves in
typhoons and hurricanes to disaster
response. Other applications will
include studies o Arctic sea ice andenvironmental monitoring, as well
as mapping and change detection.
Booz Allen Hamiltonto provide specialisedscientifc research to NGA
Booz Allen Hamilton recently
announced that it has received
USD 315 million single award
contract to support the NGA
InnoVision Directorate. BoozAllen will provide specialised
scientiic and technical research
and development subject matter
expertise to all acets o the
InnoVision Future Solutions
Programme (IFSP) throughNovember 2017. IFSP provides
support to perorm path-
breaking scientiic research and
transitions innovative concepts
and capabilities required to solve
the intelligence communityand Department o Deenses
most complex problems, said
the company. Additionally, IFSP
explores emerging scientiic
capabilities and opportunities such
as high-perormance computing or
big data, and surveillance, in high-
threat environments.
This announcement comes on the
heels o eight major task orders
awarded to Booz Allen in October2012 to provide management
and technical services to the NGA
through the Enterprise Support
to Management and Resources
or Technical Services (ESMARTS)
contract.
EOIR Technologiesacquires Viecore FSD
EOIR Technologies, Inc., a portolio
company o The White Oak Group,recently today that it will acquire
Viecore Federal Systems Division
(FSD), a wholly owned subsidiary
o Nuance Communications, Inc.
Viecore FSD provides advanced
sotware and systems developmentservices to the US military and
Federal Government.
Viecore FSD is a ocused teamthat specialises in the design,
development and support o
advanced decision support
technologies and data management
systems, rom prototype through
production. Its solutions and
services will be integrated into
EOIR's portolio o innovative
engineering products and services
or customers within the National
Security market.
Successful test of newair-launched missiletarget prototype
Lockheed Martin and the US
Missile Deense Agency (MDA) have
successully tested a prototype air-
launched Extended Medium-range
Ballistic Missile (eMRBM) target atYuma Proving Ground, Arizona.
Lockheed Martin is developing theair-launched eMRBM target or
the MDA or testing o the Ballistic
Missile Deense System to enable
warfghters to gain experience with
system perormance in realistic
scenarios.
"This new target is designed to
provide the threat realism that is
essential to ensuring that missile
deense systems are developed
against accurate representationso the systems they would likely
encounter in an operational
environment," said John Holly,
Vice President o Missile DeenseSystems and Deputy or Strategic
and Missile Deense Systems,
Lockheed Martin Space Systems.
Under the Targets and
Countermeasures Prime Contract,
Lockheed Martin is developing
and producing a total o 17 missiletargets o various types and ranges,
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ULA successfully launches secondSBIRS satellite
A United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket
successully launched the second Space-Based
Inrared System (SBIRS) GEO-2 satellite or the USAir Force recently. ULA launched the frst satellite
in the constellation, GEO-1, aboard an Atlas V on
May 7, 2011.
This was the 3rd ULA launch o the year, the 37th
Atlas V mission, and the 69th ULA launch since
the company was ormed in December 2006.
SBIRS is a consolidated system intended to meet
United States inrared space surveillance needs
or decades to come. The SBIRS programme
addresses critical warfghter needs in the areaso missile warning, missile deense, technical
intelligence and battlespace characterisation,
said the company.
The EELV programme was established by the
United States Air Force to provide assuredaccess to space or Department o Deense and
other government payloads. The commercially
developed EELV Programme supports the ull
range o government mission requirements,
while delivering on schedule and providing
signifcant cost savings over the heritage launchsystems, added the company.
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news
Enhanced Paveway IIGBU-50 delivered
Raytheon Company has completed
delivery o more than 200 Paveway
GBU-50 guidance kits to a European
partner. The GBU-50 provides the
2,000-pound MK-84 or the BLU-109
penetrator with all-weather GPS
navigation combined with precision
terminal laser guidance. A ull range
o selectable terminal impact angles
combined with a mature combat-proven, height-o-burst maximises
the capabilities o both the MK-84
and BLU-109.
Each Enhanced Paveway II guidance
and control section is compatiblewith warheads ranging rom
the 250-pound MK-81 to the
2,000-pound MK-84 along with the
BLU-109. There is no need or the
warghter to acquire a dierent
guidance and control section ordierent warhead use.
Next generation UGV,CUTLASS launched
Northrop Grumman Corporation
has launched CUTLASS, its latest
generation unmanned ground
vehicle (UGV), expanding its range
o industry-leading capabilities in
unmanned systems or the remote
handling and surveillance ohazardous threats.
CUTLASS has been designed,
developed and manuactured by
Northrop Grumman in the UK, and
includes signicant advances in
technology and perormance anda range o eatures that provides
state-o-the-art capabilities or
national security and resilience
applications.
"Our CUTLASS vehicle is setting
new standards in the UGV market
and signicantly enhancing the
ability o users to handle hazardous
threats saely. It is more dexterous,
cost eective and, as a package,
our times aster than any otherUGV," said Greg Roberts, Managing
Director, deence and security,
Northrop Grumman InormationSystems Europe.
CUTLASS oers the latest
technology in a modular design,
enabling the user to deal saely with
the ull range o hazardous threats
rom a distance, including the
detection and disposal o explosive
ordnance. Its highly versatile
design means that it is capable
o accommodating a wide range
o payloads, sensors and tools. Itcarries all o the tools and sensors
it needs to perorm the ull rangeo operations required or explosive
ordnance disposal and other
applications, avoiding the need to
deploy two standard UGVs. CUTLASS
saves up to 50 percent on the
through-lie costs when compared
to owning and operating two
standard UGVs.
Using CUTLASS, a hazardoussituation can be restored to normal
up to our times more quickly
than with any other UGV. The
combination o the speed o the
wheeled platorm, which can reach
speeds o up to 12 kph, and the
ability o CUTLASS to carry multipletools and sensors negates the need
to return to the incident control
point, thus saving considerable
time. The robot is able to creep
along at deliberately slow speedsor delicate operations and may
accelerate to high speeds to enable
rapid travel. The six-wheeled design
oers mobility on all types o hard
and sot terrain and in all weather
conditions.
Terrorism and PoliticalViolence Map released
Aon Risk Solutions, the global risk
management business o Aonplc, has released its 10th annual
Terrorism and Political Violence Map
to help companies assess risk levels
o political violence and terrorism.
Produced in collaboration with global
risk management consultancy, TheRisk Advisory Group plc, the 2013 Map
is complimented by an online and
interactive version providing clients
a clear global and country level viewon terrorism and political violence
ratings, according to the company.
Aon's 2013 Terrorism and Political
Violence Map points to a continued
threat o a terrorist attack or political
violence as 44 per cent o countries
measured have an identiable risk
o terrorist attacks. This trend is
especially prevalent in Arican and
the Northern Arican countries.
Despite 19 countries showingimproved terrorism and politicalviolence ratings, including the UK
and Germany, data and analysis
refected by the map suggest
continued and growing awareness
is needed or businesses looking to
expand.
The three perils measured
indicate the dierent orms o
political violence most likely to be
encountered by businesses:
Terrorism and sabotage
Strikes, riots, civil commotion andmalicious damage to property
Insurrection, revolution, rebellion,mutiny, coup d'etat, war and civil
war.
Colour-coded ratings o the
200 countries and territoriesmeasured act as a gauge or the
overall intensity o the risk o
terrorism and political violence to
business in each country.
The map measures political violence
and terrorism in 200 countries and
territories. Terrorism threat is dened
as an assessment o the intent andcapability or terrorist groups to
stage attacks and the likelihood that
they will succeed. The map can beaccessed at http://www.aon.com/
terrorismmap.
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new frontier of war
Militarisation of Space
Space has always been the
mysterious unknown,
the daunting yet alluring
concept that has encouraged both
exploration and investment. The
borderless, unconquered nature o
space makes sovereignty unclear
at the same time providingopportunities to build military and
commercial inrastructure. Since
the early conceptualisation o space
exploration in the 20th century, the
international community is yet to
ully comprehend the benefts and
challenges that space has to oer.
The recent technological advances
and increasing integration o
outer space capabilities in securityand war-fghting doctrines have
changed the nature o warare
as well as security perceptions,
signalling the dawn o space as a
new domain or competition and
leveraging superiority.
The ar-reaching military, economic
and political ramifcations o this
imminent transormation in theuse o space are yet to be ully
appreciated or actored into the
India Centric Thoughtsand Perspectives
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except or placement o weapons
in space. Thereore the term
peaceul purposes has come to
be understood as non-aggressive
means or permitting space to beused or military support unctions.
The states party to the OST accept
that peaceul purposes includemilitary use, even that which is not
particularly peaceul or example,
the use o Joint Direct Attack
Munitions (JDAMs) or targetting,
guided by a eed rom Global
Positioning System (GPS) satellites.
Space is considered a sanctuary
only in so ar that no weapons are
deployed there. The US now eels
that the time has come to act under
the provisions o Article 51 o the UN
Charter, which implies, A state couldalso use military orce to deenditsel against hostile actions. This,
when coupled with Article III o the
OST which states, International law
and the UN Charter extends to the
exploration and use o Outer Space
ensures that a state can undertake
space control and space orce
application missions to protect its
assets in space.
The use o satellites or orceenhancement o military operations
has been unquestionably
demonstrated in the last decade
and a hal in Operation Desert
Storm (Kuwait, Iraq 1991),
Operation Allied Force (Kosovo,1999), Operation Enduring
Freedom (Aghanistan, 2002) and
Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003.
With increasing dependence on
satellites or conduct o terrestrial
operations, the US concern ortheir saety has been echoed in
its Vision 2020 and the US Space
Policy 2010. Not surprisingly,
Washington is keen to progress
rom Space Force Enhancementto
Space Control and ultimately to
Space Force Application. Although
currently there may be no weapon
in space, nonetheless there are
numerous components o weaponsystems each o which orms a vital
element in modern war-fghting.For example, the eectiveness
o the Chinese ASBM is the
uture political strategies and
security and deence doctrines
o major military powers. Thewithdrawal o the US rom the
Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty
in June 2002, the US Space Vision
2020, the US attempts or a space-
based interceptor test-bed as parto its national missile deence, the
Chinese anti-satellite (ASAT) test,
its robust space programme and
developing a space based C4ISR
system or its Anti Ship Ballistic
Missiles (ASBM) have generated
resh debate on the need or
preserving outer space as the
common heritage and not allowing
any deployment o weapon systems
in space.
Space as a New Frontier
Acquisition o capabilities and
capacities to dominate the
adversary has been the perennial
eature o military campaigns.
As Wing Commander Kaza
Litendra argues in his paper titled
Space Security: Some Issues oMilitarisation and Weaponisation,
aircrats revolutionalised warare
during the 20th century, leadingto command o the air as a key
strategic concept. By extension,
ollowing the shooting down o the
U-2, the quest or saer observation
went urther up into space.
The same principle o denial
led to struggles or control o
space and both the US and USSR
conducted exercises with nuclear
and conventional devices such as
ASATs. Thus, the militarisation ospace is not a new phenomenon,
with almost all the space-basedmilitary missions having been
exercised during the frst decade o
the space age, that is, Space Support
(the launching o satellites and
day-to-day managing o on-orbit
satellites), Space Force Enhancement
(a broader mission category that
includes all space operations aimed
at enhancing the terrestrial military
operations), Space Control (ensuringriendly access and denying enemy
access to the medium o space), and
Space Force Application (delivery o
ordnance rom space).
It is now evolving into the next
level o weaponisation o space
with actual placement o weapons
planned by the US or decisive
military advantage and China toocontemplating the same. Thus,
weaponisation seems to be the next
logical step in this endless struggle
or mastering the ultimate highground. Though the idea o placing
weapons in space or using weapons
through space can be ound frst
in 20th century fction, it was not
until the Cold War that this concept
became a reality.
Militarisation vs Weaponisation
Militarisation o space in simple
terms means use o space in
support o ground, sea and
air operations; and reers to
developing assets to be based in
space with supporting ground
inrastructure or military uses, suchas early warning, communications,
command and control, Position
Navigation and Timing (PNT) and
monitoring (remote sensing), andNational Technical Means (NTM)
that can be used or verifcation
purposes and or surveillance
and intelligence purposes. It
helps improve command, control
and communications, strategic
and battlefeld surveillance, and
weapons targeting.
The legitimacy or use o satellites
or military purposes has come
in the atermath o the Cubanmissile crisis o 1962 where bothsuperpowers agreed on the use
o observation satellites or
promoting international security
and reducing the risk o accidental
war and preemptive strikes. Further,
unlike the 1959 Antarctic Treaty
which requires activities on that
continent to be exclusively or
peaceul purposes, the Outer
Space Treaty (OST) 1967, under a
combination o Article I and ArticleIV permits that space is ree or
exploration and use by all states,
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warning o a missile attack. There
were also weather orecasting, TV
and other systems in operation.
India has 19 communication,
imaging and other satellites
suitable or military use. China has
a robust space programme whichis deemed as a key element o its
comprehensive national power.
China is known to possess space-
based ELINT or SIGINT capabilities,
though the specifc platorms
associated with these missions are
not identifed. China does possess
a space-based meteorological
and weather assessment
capability provided through its
Fengyun series satellites and it
has reception centers to receiveoreign meteorological data. It
has now moved ambitiously intothe navigation and positioning
segment through its Beidou
satellite constellation which, though
not as precise as the GPS, could
nonetheless be used to improve
the accuracy o its conventional
weapons. Chinas space systems also
include other scientifc satellites
and an orbital module associated
with its manned space programme.
Many o the space programmes
are dual use, commercial and
military. This has obvious cost
advantages, but more importantly
helps mask covert military activities.
Importantly, the military reliance onspace or C4ISR is well established.
While it provides enormous
benefts, these are susceptible to
attack rom the ASAT weapons.
The air-sea doctrine o the US todeal with Chinese anti access and
area denial strategy is based on
puncturing holes in Chinese ISR
systems by degrading or destroying
its SAR, optical reconnaissance,
navigation and ELINT satellites.
Space, thereore, stands militarised
or the last fve decades, except or
placing weapons in space.
Road to Weaponisation
In the past hal-century, no weapons
have been used against space
>
combined efciency o the C2ISR,
that includes signifcant space
confguration to include, SAR, optical
reconnaissance, navigation and
ELINT satellites. Similarly there aremilitary communications satellites
(MILSTAR - to communicate
rom command centers and
between troops), espionage
and surveillance satellites (to
intercept communications by anadversary and collect images o
troop movements and weapon
placements), early warning satellites
(to provide inormation on missile
launches) and military GPS satellites
to allow troops and vehicles tonavigate quickly and accurately
identiy targets and guide smart
bombs and UAVs.
During Operation Iraqi Freedom,
the US deployed 6,600 GPS guided
munitions and over 100,000
precision lightweight GPS receivers
in Iraq and used 10 times the
satellite capacity employed in the
Gul War o 1991. Nine days beore
the start o the war, a new deencesatellite communications system
was installed to interconnect US
military orces on land, sea and
air with the Pentagon, the White
House, the State Department and
the US Space Command. Over
100 military satellites supported
the US and the UK war eorts;
27 GPS satellites were available
to help determine the exact
location o special operations
teams and o targets; and around24 communications satellites or
command and control and to give
objects even though the means
and the reasons or doing so were
available. The restraint could
be attributed to the reliance on
satellites ISR activities or keeping a
check on each others conventional
and strategic weapon deployments.
The aspect o early warning in asense acted as a deterrence, which
was responsible or preventing
escalation during crisis situation.
However, given the increasing scope
o space assets in the doctrinal
thinking o major military powers
particularly the US, Russia, China
and India to cite a ew, a prospective
opponent will understandably view
any space capability contributing
to the opposing military as part o
the orces arrayed against it. Whenthe space capabilities represent
an easier target than the other
critical nodes, one can expect
intererence with them and hence,greater protection or them. The
natural consequence o space
integration into military activity
is a more hostile environment or
space. However, the shit in the
US military thinking is evident
rom the planning and policy
documents released in recent yearsthat envision the development
and deployment o anti-satellite
weapons and space-based weapons.
These new systems are meant to
ulfll our general missions:
Deending US satellites andensuring reedom o action to
operate in space
Denying adversaries the ability to
use space assets
Intercepting ballistic missilesusing space-based interceptors
Attacking targets on the groundor in the air using space-based
weapons.
These have been included in the
US space policy document released
in 2006, which states, The US
considers space capabilities including the ground and space
segments and supporting links
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19
vital to its national interests.
Consistent with this policy, the US
will preserve its rights, capabilities,
and reedom o action in space;
dissuade or deter others romeither impeding those rights or
developing capabilities intended to
do so; take those actions necessaryto protect its space capabilities;
respond to intererence; and deny,
i necessary, adversaries the use o
space capabilities hostile to the US
national interests.
This document has evoked
criticism across the globe, notably
in China and Russia. China too
has expanded its space-based
ISR, navigation, meteorological
and communications satelliteconstellations. It is developing a
multi-dimensional programmeto improve capabilities to limit or
prevent the use o space-based
assets by adversaries through ASAT
weapons.
Weaponisation of Space
For many in India, militarisation and
weaponisation are synonymous.
One can attribute the presentstate o Indian militarisation o
space to this act. Reacting to the
need o the Indian Air Force (IAF)
or an Aerospace Command, the
then External Aairs Minister,
Pranab Mukherjee, stated at an
international seminar hosted by
the IAF in 2007, There is merit in
asking or the creation o separate
institutions to oversee the assets
that take warare into space... it
does not mean that India will goback on international commitments
and weaponise space-based assets.
Recent developments have shownthat we are treading a thin line
between current deence related
uses o space and its actual
weaponisation.
While the reaction o the ormer
deence minister underscores the
fne line separating militarisation
and weaponisation, the need toweaponise space was expressed
by ormer Air Chie P V Naik while
alluding to Chinese ASAT test. He
mentioned: A quiet space race
and even weaponisation to some
extent is the current reality. These
statements underline the act that
there is still a lot o ground to be
covered in India on dispelling the
myth about militarisation andweaponisation being synonymous.
However, or the world at large, the
common understanding has been
that weaponisation is a subset o
militarisation and there is but asubtle dierence between the two. I
one envisions a continuum running
rom space systems being used or
civil purposes to satellites providing
services to support terrestrial
military operations, to satellites
being integral parts o terrestrialweapon systems or to weapons
themselves being deployed in space,
weaponisation occurs when the
upper range o the spectrum is
reached. At its most extreme, space
weaponisation would include the
deployment o a ull range o space
weapons, including satellite-based
systems or Ballistic Missile Deence(BMD), space based ASATs, and
a variety o Space-To-Earth
Weapons (STEW).
Two subsets o weaponisation o
space are Space Control and Space
Force Application. Space Control/
Denial (or space dominance)
mission involves protecting on-
orbit assets o own and riendly
countries, attacking enemy assets,
and denying enemy access to
space. The primary means o
achieving these tasks are either
launch suppression, or destroyingor degrading the perormance o
enemy satellites. These actionscan either be deensive (protecting
riendly assets) or oensive (denying
the enemy the benefts o space-
based assets). It is more or less
analogous to sea and air control/
denial, both o which likewise
involve ensuring riendly access and
denying the same to an adversary.
There is no dierence in principle
between deensive and oensivespace control operations conducted
in any other medium o warare.
It is simply a matter o technical
easibility, desirability in principle,
and cost-eectiveness or the pay-
o being sought. The reason or the
hiatus in moving orward on the
desirability o space control in the
atermath o the initial surge in the
early sixties appears to be the lacko political and public consensus,
as to whether actual combat, asopposed to passive surveillance and
other terrestrial enabling unctions,
should be allowed to migrate to
space and, thus, violate the status o
space as a weapons ree sanctuary,
quite apart rom the more practical
question o whether preparing or
space combat was even needed
then at that still embryonic stage o
space weapons development. Thiscould be partly due to the ear that
the other superpower (ormer Soviet
Union) may also embark on such a
mission and deny any advantage
to the US. However, today, both the
US and China view space controlas an essential precondition to
maintain inormation dominance
and deny any advantage to the likely
adversary.
Space Force Application envisagesattacking terrestrial targets rom
space-based weapons which would
reduce the reaction time, cost o
human attrition and the other
associated problems o attacking
strategic targets. The idea o having
satellites/ space planes orbiting
overhead, awaiting a signal to rain
down weapons on any nation at
the pleasure o the US has alarmed
many nations. The Rods rom God
being developed by the US is anexample o orce application rom
space. Skeptics o weaponisation,
more notably China, have argued
that all these missions are possible
rom ground, sea and air-based
operations and view the US drive
as a move to assert its hegemony
on the emerging players in the
medium o space.
What is a Space Weapon?
There is no consensus on the
defnition o a space weapon. The Geointel
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debate encompasses the problems
o whether or not the international
community should defne theweapon based on its position, that
is, on land, sea, air or in space, or
based on its intended target. Hence,
there is a possibility or space to
space, space to earth, earth to space,
and earth to earth (through space)
weapon. Dierent technologiescould be employed to destroy,
disrupt or damage the intended
targets. These could be kinetic kill
vehicles that destroy by impact
(the Chinese ASAT) or Rods romGod (a proposal to fre tungsten
rods rom space to ground-based
targets), missiles with conventional
warheads, killer satellites, Directed
Energy Weapons (DEW), etc.
Further, the micro/nano/pico
satellites being designed in a
deensive role as bodyguard
satellites or or close proximity
operations with the host satellites
also have a dual role, in that they
can be used as space weapons:
to destroy adversaries satellites
through kinetic kill or disrupt theuse o satellite by spraying paint on
the solar panels, view fnders, etc.
OST and ASATS
The OST with respect to treating
outer space as a common
heritage o mankind is akin to a
barbed wire ence. It attempts
to protect the property (space)without obstructing the view
(exploitation by the superpowersor militarising and weaponising
space). It is pertinent to note that
even ater the ratifcation o the
OST in 1967, and the ABM Treaty
in 1972, both the superpowers
continued to undertake the
testing and development o ASAT
weapons. While OST and ABM
treaty prohibited the stationing
o weapons o mass destruction
(WMD) in space, along with
the development, testing anddeployment o space-based ABM
systems and components in space,there are no limits on non-nuclear
tests in space or tests against
space targets rom ground, sea or
air. The OST is also silent on the
defnition o space weapons. Hence,
in strict defnitional terms, none o
the existing ASATs could be called
space weapons. The ASATs were
permitted, i one were to analyse
Paragraph 1 o Article IV o theOST which implies that objects
carrying nuclear weapons or any
other kinds o WMD can reely
transit outer space, as long as they
do not orbit the earth. Likewise,
WMD that escape the earth orbit
are permitted except that they may
not be installed on celestial bodies
or otherwise stationed in outer
space. Other non-nuclear/non-WMD weapons may be placed in
orbit (but not on the moon or othercelestial bodies) and used to attack
targets in space or on the earth.
The oregoing implies that whilst
the rules developed by the OST are
airly comprehensive, it does not
apply to the present generation o
space weapons being considered.
Theoretically, then, the new
generation o space weapons could
be developed and deployed withoutviolating the OST.
Conclusion
US plans o a space-based
interceptor test-bed; its space policy
and the Chinese ASAT test have
started an action-reaction process
in the race to weaponisation ospace. With this, the uture o
space is at a crossroads: will the
50-year tradition o internationalcooperation and space sanctuary
prevail; or, will the ear o military
and/or economic domination drive
nations to compete aggressively
or primacy in the ultimate high
ground. These questions need to
be debated in the near uture.
Further, with the dual use capability
o most ISR satellites and the
rapid commercialisation o space,
it would be more prudent or
nations to migrate more o thededicated military missions ontothe commercial satellites in order to
decrease dependence on a handul
o dedicated military satellites and
thus obviate the need or space-
based weapons to protect key
satellites.
A non-state actor would at best
be able to destroy one or two
satellites in Low Earth Orbit,
and an adversary state havingestablished launch acilities
may be able to destroy double
>
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the number (provided it knows
with certainty which satellites
it wants to knock out) before
retaliatory action is initiated. The
states attempting to destroy an
adversarys space assets are also
fully aware of the debris effecton their space assets and this in
itself would act as a deterrent for
weaponising space, or attackingother nations space-based assets.
The need of the hour for the
international community is to find
ways to prevent weaponisation of
space by engaging in meaningful
dialogue and assuring each other
that there is no threat to their
space-based assets. The states can
aim to enhance collective security
of their space-based assets from a
non-state actor by increasing theirspace situational awareness and
sharing of information. Further,states can undertake passive
defence of their satellites in the
form of:
hardening of satellites againstlimited kinetic kill and EMP.
Though this may increase the
cost of launching satellites,nations that are yet to master the
technology of micro/nano/picosatellites will have to bear the
burden of increased cost/launch
Comparison o various weapon systems which could be classifed as space weapons
PRINCIPLE ADVANTAGE ADVANTAGES/COUNTER MEASURES WARNING
TIME
DEW Laser, Microwaves, Particle
Beams
Direct Invisible Invisible Fast Energy; Line of sight,
atmosphere; Counter-measures
(CM) Low resolution CMPropagation Energy Production
Seconds to
minutes
KEW Homing missiles/ Kill vehicles
Collision Devices
EM Guns
High Closing speed
Hard to identify
High closing speeds
Acceleration of the collision
mass; homing space debris,
multiplication energy and
technical problems
Minutes/
hours/days
Minutes/
hours
Minutes
Nuclear Nuclear Weapons Lethality, destruction radii Destroys own satellites Instant
rather than forgo an important
satellite to an EMP or a kinetic hit
building redundancy by deployingback-up systems for the majority
of the tasks or having some
reserve capacity on commercial
satellites so that the military taskscan be transferred to them
maneuvering satellites fromaccidental collision with debris or
other satellites
These measures would mitigate
the threat of an arms race in outer
space as against the international
norms of treaties being inked after
the weapon systems have been
deployed, and would ensure that a
treaty is put in place to prevent the
heavens being armed.
REFERENCES
1.Wing Commander Kaza Lalitendra,
Space Security: Some Issues o
Militarisation and Weaponisation,
Air Power Journal Vol. 3 No. 1 SPRING2008
2. Ibid pp 109
3. http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/deault/fles/national_space_
policy_6-28-10.pd, pp 3
4. David Webb, On the Defnition
o a Space Weapon (When is
a Space Weapon Not a Space
Weapon?),Praxis Centre, LeedsMetropolitan University , < http://
praxis.leedsmet.ac.uk/praxis/
documents/space_weapons.pd>
5. Sujan Datta, Air Force Guns or
Space Power-No Laughing Matter,The Telegraph (Internet Version-
WWW), Monday, February 05, 2007.
6. http://news.redi.com/
report/2010/jan/22/how-india-
prepares-or-a-space-war.htm
7. Benjamin S.Lambeth, Mastering
the Ulimate High Ground: Next Steps
in the Military Uses o Space(Santa
Monica:RAND, 2003), p. 105.
8.1 Ibid
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new frontier of war
Technology has driven
strategy and tactics over
the centuries, providing
strategists and military thinkers
methods and means to wage warand surprise and overwhelm the
opponent. In the 20th century,nuclear weapons and rocket
technology added a new dimension
to war waging capabilities of
nations, opening another dimension
and radically changing the method
of conducting war. However, this
was limited to a select few. Now, as
more nations achieve technological
prowess, the scene is changing with
challenges being posed to current
world powers. Space has been
militarised since the cold war whencommunication satellites were
launched; and even though space isheavily militarised, so far it has not
been weaponised.
Militarisation of outer space:
Militaries all over the world rely
on satellites for command
and control, communication,
monitoring, early warning and
navigation. Peaceful uses of outer
space include military uses such asusing satellites to identify targets,
direct bombing raids, control
and direct drone strikes or to
orchestrate a prompt global strike
capability, anti-access strategy or
ballistic missile defence.
Weaponisation of outer space:
Space weaponisation refers to theplacement of space-based devices
in orbit that have a destructive
capacity. Ground-based systems
designed or used to attackspace-based assets also constitute
space weapons, though they are
not technically part of
the weaponisation of outer
space since they are not placed
in orbit . Weapons that travel
through space in order to reach
their targets, such as hypersonictechnology vehicles, also
contribute to the weaponisation
of space. Many elements of the
missile defence system currently
being developed or planned could
constitute space weapons as
well, as many possess dual-use
characteristics, allowing them todestroy space assets as well as
ballistic missiles.
Existing legal instruments
Existing treaties and conventions
on space or related aspects
chronologically are :-
1963 Treaty Banning Nuclear Weapon
Tests in the atmosphere, in outerspace and under water
1967 Outer Space Treaty(formally
titled Treaty on Principles Governing
the Activities of States in the
Exploration and Use of Outer Space,
including the Moon and Other
Celestial Bodies) The Treaty was
largely based on the Declaration
of Legal Principles Governing
the Activities of States in the
Exploration and Use of Outer Space,
which had been adopted by the UN
General Assembly in its resolution1962 (XVIII) in 1963, but added a
few new provisions. The Treaty was
opened for signature by the threedepository governments (USSR, the
United Kingdom and the United
States of America) in January 1967,
and it entered into force in October
1967. The Outer Space Treaty
provides the basic framework on
international space law, including
the following principles:
the exploration and use of outer
space shall be carried out for
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Courtesy:http://arts-wallpapers.com
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1979 Moon Agreement (ormally the
Agreement governing the activities
o States on the Moon and OtherCelestial Bodies)
1985 Convention on the International
Maritime Satellite Organization
(INMARSAT) with annex and
operating agreement (1976); as
amended in 1985; with Protocol
(1981)
Satellites
Since the beginning o the spaceage, roughly 5,400 man-made
objects have been placed in orbit
around the earth. Some 580 o these
satellites are believed to be still
unctioning as they were intended.
About 270 o these unctioning
satellites are in Low Earth Orbits
(LEO). This region extends romabout 100 kilometers altitude to
about 1,000 km. At present, this
region contains at least 24 US
military reconnaissance, electronicintelligence and meteorological
satellites. France, Israel and Russia
the beneft and in the interest
o all countries and shall be the
province o all mankind;
outer space shall be ree or
exploration and use by all states;
outer space is not subject to
national appropriation by claim
o sovereignty, by means o use
or occupation, or by any other
means;
States shall not place nuclear
weapons or other weapons omass destruction in orbit or on
celestial bodies or station them inouter space in any other manner;
the Moon and other celestial
bodies shall be used exclusively
or peaceul purposes;
astronauts shall be regarded as
the envoys o mankind;
States shall be responsible ornational space activities whether
carried out by governmental or
non-governmental entities;
States shall be liable or damagecaused by their space objects; and
States shall avoid harmul
contamination o space and
celestial bodies.
1968 Rescue Agreement(ormally
titled as the Agreement on the
Rescue o Astronauts, the Return
o Astronauts and the Return o
Objects launched into Outer Space)
1971 Agreement relating to theInternational Telecommunications
Satellite Organization Intelsat(with
annexes and operating agreement)
1972 Liability Convention(ormally
titled as the Convention on
International Liability or Damage
Caused by Space Objects)
1975 Registration Convention
(ormally titled the Convention onthe Registration o Objects launched
into Outer Space)
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region during part o their travels.
During these close approaches to
earth, they would have the same
vulnerability as do the LEO satellites.
Finally, there are about 300
satellites in Geostationary Earth
Orbits (GEO). These circulateeasterly, precisely 35,786 kilometers
above the Equator with a period
o 24 hours; hence they remain
stationary with respect to any given
position on the surace o the earth.
At least 29 o these belong to the
US military. Other militaries owning
satellites in this region are Australia,
Russia and the UK. These stationary
satellites serve or communications,
relay, earth observation, search
and rescue, weather and research.There are also constantly staring
early-warning-satellites designed todetect (and initially track) ballistic
missile launchings via the intense
inrared emitted by their rocket
engines. For the oreseeable uture,
the only threats to such ar-out
satellites would come either rom
other such satellites or rom the
rockets capable o launching such
satellites rom ground to GEO
(releasing conventional or nuclearspace mines or gravel clouds). At
have similar military satellites in
this region, which the Russians
also use or tactical military
communication and navigation. In
uture, the US plans to place the
Space Based Inrared System Low
(SBIRS Low) network o two dozen
inrared missile-tracking satellitesor Theater Missile Deense (TMD)
and National Missile Deense (NMD)
in this region. It is this LEO region,closest to earth, which will be most
vulnerable in the near uture to
earth-based Anti-Satellite (ASATs)
weapons (missiles, lasers,particle
beams, etc.), currently under
development by several states. The
technical prowess required or great
accuracy would not be necessary to
harm the targeted satellite: a simplenuclear explosion, or the dispersal
o a cloud o pebbles, is sucient
to damage all satellites in a large
region o LEO or an extended
period o time.
There are some 40 to 50 satellites
in Middle Earth Orbits (MEO)orbiting at altitudes between
1,000 and 35,786 kilometers above
the surace o the earth. Most o
these MEO satellites are in highlyelliptical orbits, dipping into the LEO
present only China, France, India,Japan, Russia, Ukraine and the US
possess such rocketry.
Positions adopted by nations
In July 2010, the Obama
administration released the new
US National Space Policy. It states
that the US shall pursue bilateral
and multilateral transparency and
condence-building measures to
encourage responsible action in,
and the peaceul uses o space.
The new policy also notes that the
US will consider proposals and
concepts or arms control measures
i they are equitable, eectivelyveriable and enhance the national
security o the US and its allies.
However, the actual implications o
this change are still unknown.
The Russian-Chinese joint drat
treaty on the Prevention o
the Placement o Weapons in
Outer Space (PPWT) would not
meet these criteria according to
the US, as it is undamentally
fawed and would not provideany grounds or commencing
negotiations. The United States
Department o Deense continues
to invest in programmes that
could provide anti-satellite and
space-based weapons capabilities.
While the technology itsel is
highly controversial, it presents
major business opportunitiesto companies that know how to
overcome moral, logistical and
nancial roadblocks. War hasalways been highly protable, and
dominance o outer space leads
to urther prots in conventional
warare. As the Air Force Spa