The United States is moving closer to enhancing its offensive counterspace capability with new ground-based jammers designed to temporarily disable satellites deployed by Moscow and Beijing. This development was reported by Bloomberg on Friday, citing sources from the US Space Force (USSF.
The US has already tested these new systems earlier this year and will deploy 11 out of 24 Remote Modular Terminal jammers in the upcoming months, according to the USSF. All jammers are expected to be operational by the end of this year. These jammers were not developed for protecting US satellites from jamming; instead, they aim to counter adversary satellite communications capabilities.
The Space Force initially described the terminals as “small, transportable, and low-cost satellite communications jammers,” created using commercial off-the-shelf components. These newly developed jammers will augment other electronic warfare systems such as the already deployed and larger Counter Communications System and the medium-sized Meadowlands system. The jammers will provide a more “proliferated, remotely controlled, and relatively relocatable capability,” according to the USSF. They noted that development issues have caused delays in the rollout of the Meadowlands system until at least October, two years later than initially planned.
These systems are not considered “defensive weapons.” Instead, they are intended to “attack rival capabilities,” said Victoria Samson, chief director of space security and stability at the Secure World Foundation. She classified it as an “offensive counterspace capability,” adding that the system will be “reversible, temporary, non-escalatory, and allow for plausible deniability in terms of who the instigator is.
This move towards seemingly more aggressive jamming systems contrasts with the Pentagon’s usual stance of positioning its emerging satellite-jamming technology as purely defensive. Bloomberg juxtaposed this against the alleged high-altitude electromagnetic pulse weapons the US has accused Russia of developing.
Meanwhile, Moscow and other member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization have firmly expressed their opposition to the weaponization of space. Russian President Vladimir Putin reiterated his stance earlier this month, emphasizing that Russia is against deploying any kind of weapons in space.