GeoIntelligence - May.june 2013

8/22/2019 GeoIntelligence - May.june 2013

1/44Space

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

Designed by Debjyoti Mukherjee

Circulation Manager Amit Shahi

Circulation Executive Vijay Kumar Singh

Owner, Publisher & Printer Sanjay Kumar

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Publication Address A - 92, Sector - 52,

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Editor Sanjay Kumar

Price`100, US$ 10

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Tel + 91 120 4612500 Fax + 91 120 4612555/666

Geospatial Media and Communications Pvt.

Ltd. does not necessarily subscribe to the views

expressed in the publication. All views expressed

in this issue are those of the contributors. The

publication is not responsible for any loss to anyone

due to the information provided.

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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Geointel

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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

[email protected]


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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

Geointel

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Courtesy:BAESystems


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Northrop Grumman tobolster cyber protections


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.

Geointel

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news

Courtesy:www.darpa.m

il


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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,

including fve eMRBM targets.Geointel

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13/44

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


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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16/44

Geointel

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Courtesy:http://st.g

defon.ru

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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17

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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,


18/44

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

18

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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

Geointel

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Brig Arun Sahgal (Retd)

[email protected]

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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

23

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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

Documents

GeoIntelligence - May.june 2013