War Ukraine – Russia: space, the invisible border in the Ukrainian war
- Author, Jonathan Beale
- role, Defense Correspondent, BBC News
photo credit, SCIENTIFIC PHOTO LIBRARY
The war in Ukraine has highlighted the growing importance of space for ground-based militaries.
The head of the US Space Force, General Jay Raymond, described it in an interview with the BBC as “the first war in which commercial space capabilities really played a significant role.” It is also the first major conflict in which both sides are so dependent on space.
General Raymond, whose service is the newest branch of the US armed forces, has avoided giving specific details about how the US and its allies are helping Ukraine.
But it clearly shows what they are doing. “We use space for precision strikes, we use space for missile warning of any threat to the United States, our allies or our partners.”
General Raymond warns that there are “all dangers” from space.
There are already more than 5,000 satellites in space – most of which are operated commercially.
But among them there are hundreds of special military satellites – most of them are from the United States, Russia and China.
Not in Ukraine. But he received significant help from the West in several directions.
Observation
ISR satellites have played an important role in “telling the truth” about the war, such as the Bucha massacre near Kyiv, Ukraine.
The first is Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance – or ISR.
Ukraine has access to an unprecedented amount of commercial satellite imagery.
At a recent conference, the director of the US National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency said that the agency has more than doubled its commercial imagery over Ukraine as war approaches.
Air Vice-Marshal Paul Godfrey, head of Britain’s Space Command, says that in addition to commercial and civilian ISR provided to Ukraine, “a number of nations with military capabilities in space are interested in Ukraine.”
Space-based ISRs helped determine the initial build-up of Russian forces before the February 24 invasion and the movement of troops and military equipment since then. The satellites were used to track Russian warships in the Black Sea, including the cruiser Moscow, which was sunk by Ukraine.
Early warning radars, such as the huge one at RAF Fylingdales in North Yorkshire, also tracked ballistic missile launches.
Air Vice Marshal Godfrey says ISR satellites have also played a key role in “telling the truth” about the war.
He cites the example of the Buja massacre near Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine. According to him, the Russian side’s claims that the bodies of dead civilians were already on the streets when they arrived are contradicted by time-stamped satellite images that show otherwise.
Media organisations, including the BBC, have also benefited from unprecedented access to commercial satellite images that can be used to corroborate claims. This includes the identification of mass graves or Ukraine’s recent 2014 attack on a Russian airbase in Crimea, Ukraine’s southern peninsula annexed by Russia.
Early warning radars were also able to track the launch of ballistic missiles.
The US is also discussing in detail the installation of other giant radars in the UK to monitor what is happening in space.
And recently, Ukrainian volunteers raised enough money to buy an entire satellite to help the country’s military detect Russian targets.
The Sar (Synthetic Aperture Radar) satellite of the Finnish company ICEYE proved to be extremely effective – during the first two days of its use, the damage caused by the Russian army exceeded 16 million dollars, which is more than the cost of purchasing the satellite. , according to Ukrainian officials.
Communication
photo credit, Getty Images
Elon Musk has sent thousands of Starlink internet kits to Ukraine – like this one in southern Odessa.
Space was also very important for communications throughout the war.
At the start of the war, Russia carried out a series of military strikes and cyber attacks to disrupt key Ukrainian communications hubs.
Air Vice Marshal Godfrey credits Elon Musk with “fundamental restoration of the Internet in Ukraine” thanks to a Twitter appeal from Ukraine’s Digital Transformation Minister Mykhailo Fedorov.
Elon Musk sent thousands of Starlink internet kits to Ukraine, providing access to SpaceX’s constellation of satellites in orbit.
These sets were essential to provide the Ukrainian military with secure communications and situational awareness throughout the war. I saw them being used from Ukrainian command bunkers in eastern Donbas.
precision weapons
photo credit, Getty Images
Ukraine managed to target Russia’s main targets with high-precision HIMARS missiles.
Both Russia and, more recently, Ukraine, have relied on space-based positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) systems to deliver precision strikes on key targets, with cruise missiles from Russia using their own Glonass positioning satellites to locate their targets.
Adding US-supplied precision weapons to Ukraine’s arsenal has been key to its recent achievements.
With a range of up to 80 km, the GPS-guided Himars missiles were used to destroy key targets such as ammunition depots and command centers far behind the front lines.
The US recently supplied Ukraine with GPS-guided Excalibur artillery shells, which are more accurate than “dumb” munitions. Accuracy made a difference.
The future of space warfare
The growing use of space raises fears that conflicts will move beyond land, sea and air.
Russia and China have both conducted landing tests of their own satellites, and Britain’s chief of defense, Admiral Tony Radakin, recently warned that Russia could attack Western targets in space.
“There are a number of threats that worry us,” General Raymond says. He cites examples of jamming GPS and communications, direct energy weapons such as lasers, or ground-launched missiles that can be used to target satellites.
He says he wants to ensure that the US and its allies always behave safely and responsibly in space, but adds: “What worries me is that not everyone agrees with that point of view.”
In reality, the weaponization of space is going well.
