Make Today, Day 61 the day!
Posted on 03/02/2014 10:20:16 AM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
“Haney, who as Stratcom’s commander is responsible for space surveillance and protecting U.S. space systems from hostile actions, did not identify these nations by name. Nor did the commander of Air Force Space Command, Gen. William Shelton, when he warned in a Feb. 7 speech at the Air Force Association here that the threat to U.S. space assets is moving at a quick pace.
“I’ll tell you the considered wisdom of the intelligence community has produced some really good seminal work on the space threats that are out there,” Shelton said. “And what we are finding is they were maybe a little too conservative. Things are moving much faster than we certainly would like and certainly they had predicted.”
WASHINGTON — U.S. military and intelligence satellites face a growing threat from nations actively developing counterspace capabilities, the head of U.S. Strategic Command warned a Senate panel Feb. 27.
U.S. Navy Adm. Cecil Haney’s testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee marked the third time in recent weeks that a senior U.S. military or intelligence official has publicly sounded the alarm about the threats U.S. national security space assets face from adversaries abroad.
“The U.S. still retains a strategic advantage in space as other nations are investing significant resources — including developing counterspace capabilities — to counter that advantage,” Haney testified. “These threats will continue to grow in the next decade.”
Haney, who as Stratcom’s commander is responsible for space surveillance and protecting U.S. space systems from hostile actions, did not identify these nations by name. Nor did the commander of Air Force Space Command, Gen. William Shelton, when he warned in a Feb. 7 speech at the Air Force Association here that the threat to U.S. space assets is moving at a quick pace.
“I’ll tell you the considered wisdom of the intelligence community has produced some really good seminal work on the space threats that are out there,” Shelton said. “And what we are finding is they were maybe a little too conservative. Things are moving much faster than we certainly would like and certainly they had predicted.”
Shelton’s comments came a little more than a week after U.S. Director of National Intelligence James Clapper told the Senate Intelligence Committee that the United States will face increased threats to its national security space assets in 2014, specifically mentioning China and Russia.
“Threats to U.S. space services will increase during 2014 and beyond as potential adversaries pursue disruptive and destructive counterspace capabilities,” Clapper said in written testimony. “Chinese and Russian military leaders understand the unique information advantages afforded by space systems and are developing capabilities to disrupt U.S. use of space in conflict.”
Shelton has also identified China by name, telling SpaceNews in a Jan. 27 interview that defense leaders saw a mismatch between Chinese space activities and rhetoric.
“If you listen to their rhetoric it is peaceful purposes, regional power, not global hegemony, but the kind of capability we see them demonstrating don’t match that same rhetoric,” he said.
At the start of the Senate Armed Services Committee’s wide-ranging Feb. 27 hearing on U.S. Strategic Command and U.S. Cyber Command matters, Committee Chairman Carl Levin (D-Mich.) asked Haney to address “steps that may be needed to ensure that we can protect or reconstitute our space assets in any future conflict.”
Haney did not provide many specifics but he did testify that disaggregation — the concept of distributing space capabilities among a greater number of platforms to better protect them against attack and other hazards — needs more analysis before it is accepted as a cost-cutting measure. “We are exploring options such as disaggregation as a method to achieve affordable resilience but additional analysis is necessary in this area,” he said, according to his written testimony.
Air Force Space Command, which is expected to complete a series of studies on disaggregation later this year, has embraced the space architecture concept as a way to improve resiliency while cutting costs. In April, Shelton and officials from the U.S. Government Accountability Office said preliminary study results suggest disaggregation would in fact save the Air Force money.
Haney also testified Feb. 27 that while space situational awareness (SSA) is one of the nation’s top priorities, there are concerns about sharing more data internationally because it may help competitors.
“Sharing SSA information with other nations and commercial firms promotes safe and responsible space operations, reduces the potential for debris-making collisions, builds international confidence in U.S. space systems, fosters U.S. space leadership, and improves our own SSA through knowledge of other owner/operator satellite positional data,” Haney said in his written testimony. “For all its advantages, there is concern that SSA data sharing might aid potential adversaries.”
And now were about to lose our ride to and from space.
That ain’t the half of it.
The Atlas V is powered by Energomash RD-180s, a great engine but....Vlad owns the joint
Do not think the threat just comes from Russia.
China runs a HUGE trade surplus with us every year - currently more than we sell them.
We imported approximately 400 billion last year from China. China only imported just over 100 billion from America.
China has five times America’s population.
China just sent a rocket to the moon.
China is winning the race right now, and American companies are helping China.
All true.
The real enemy is fascist China.
Utterly racist to boot.
But Russians are appealing villains....and people are conditioned to regarding them as The Enemy.
So we do...
“China is winning the race right now, and American companies are helping China.”
American companies sell nothing to China that is not approved by ITAR. Your beef is with Obama, Clinton and Carter.
My complaint is not with American companies selling things to China.
Sure that is a concern, but there are very sophisticated people currently monitoring that. No problem, I’ll let them keep track, and guard that gate.
My (big) complaint is we have decimated America’s manufacturing and sent all those factories to China, who now employs millions making things, which are sold to Americans.
That is my complaint.
Bring back American jobs.
R E T R E A T
"Sure, but how does that affect gay people?"
Some folks only blame democrats but that’s just selective blindness. It just keeps the whole scam rolling along.
Those very sophisticated people allowed us to give China our gyro technology, or MIRV technology, our targeting technology, and our ballistic missile vibration reduction technology.
Just how comfortable are you with their expertise and national loyalty? I am not at all comfortable with their decisions.
This was allowed so Loral could get their satellites launched in China. Now China can hit targets in the U. S. within 50 feet as a direct result.
Their ICBMs are more reliable across the board.
We really screwed ourselves on this one. That’s just a few examples related to just one corporations selfish desires.
Did you know that our corporations can’t manufacture in China, until they hand over all patent information, technology, and schematics related to the endeavor?
We have given China an at least 80 year leap forward in technology and systems planning.
I am very much opposed to any of this. Those gatekeepers sure make good bookends. That’s about it.
You always forget...... American companies can not produce the products at a price that will produce a profit when sold.
I don’t know. I’m not happy about it! :^)
“That is my complaint.
Bring back American jobs.
“
The jobs left primarily because governments at all levels have polluted the environment where jobs flourish with too many regulations, harsh penalties and taxpayer funded lawsuits for protected classes of people who can retire rich by being offended. Believe me, it’s tough to run a company overseas. It’s generally not worth the pay savings, but it is when you figure all the other compliance costs. Cross the border into Mexico (for example) and there’s American Plating. They left because you can’t have (I thin cyanide) in an American plant. Just across the border from clean, pristine California are two nasty polluting coal fired power plants. No wires lead to Mexico. Both the coal and power come from and too the US only. You can’t build those plants here. Naturally, the labor came from Mexico, as are the operators. All jobs lost to regulation. Don’t blame companies. It’s the gub-ament.
And now they're saying we must share our expertise on SSA!?
To be safer!?
Right.
Getting tired of all this kow-towing to the BLTLBJ crowd.
Our companies cannot sell American goods in America, because we import goods from China for cheaper.
This employs Chinese workers. This fires American workers. And this sends the manufacturing plant to a massive communist nation, with five times our population. A massive communist nation which incidentally now exports more than we do.
In large part, because much of their manufacturing comes right back here!
America has sold out. We need to bring back American jobs, making American products, and stop building up a nation which is going to post a real threat to America in the future.
I’m series.
America needs to have our manufacturing, right here in America.
This crew is so in over it’s head. We’ve got third graders planning the high school senior prom. Of course it’s much worse than that, but we’re dealing with such low information people these days, that you have to address it in terms they may be able to grasp. Just don’t count on it.
China tested one of the latter in 2007 when it rammed one of its own weather satellites. Debris from that test is still a threat to our satellites. Such an attack against us could conceivably put our defenses out of business.
Testimony before the House Armed Services Committee last month revealed a wide array of Chinese space weapons that can be used against us. Considering the pacifist dipwad who's now our CIC, I am worried. Very worried.
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