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Mods, this is my 2nd post in thread, please let me know if this topic isn’t suitable for CW Roundup.
Relevant to the aerospace and defense industry is an executive order (or action?) signed on the 27th by Trump ‘The Iron Dome for America’. We should know far more soon as the order asks the Sec of Def to submit a reference architecture within 60 days. I won’t do an exhaustive run through of each of its key points but Sec. 3 Implementation holds some interesting demands.
a(ii) Acceleration of the deployment of the Hypersonic and Ballistic Tracking Space Sensor layer; My guess is that if this is a space based layer they will go with a standard ground observation LEO shell.
a(iii) Development and deployment of proliferated space-based interceptors capable of boost-phase intercept; Space-based boost-phase interceptors? What does that even look like? These are again likely based on a platform deployed in LEO, which upon detection de-orbits in a manner which can intercept a missile in its boost phase. I will not beat around the bush this is a very hard problem to solve. And at the same time you likely need tens if not hundreds of the platforms to get good ground coverage.
aaa(viii) Development and deployment of non-kinetic capabilities to augment the kinetic defeat of ballistic, hypersonic, advanced cruise missiles, and other next-generation aerial attacks; Keywords ‘non-kinetic capabilities’, now this could mean EM (read jamming) but I seriously would not be surprised if a directed energy weapon was considered. It is not as far fetched as one may think. Note here this would also full-fill the boost-stage intercept requirement, however the a satellite with such a laser would likely have a huge power requirement.
This is my first real go round for following in-depth a defense project from the very beginning of implementation, where it goes from here I can’t say, but if 1/10 of the requested assets go into production there is going a huge market boost for contract winners and industry as a whole. And both the hard and soft geopolitical implications of such a program will be interesting to see shake out.
TLDR: The White House wants project Star Wars 2.0, kinetic fires and possibly lasers in space. If successful the true age of militarisation of space will have begun.
I think it is highly probable such programs are already well underway in secret. Certainly it makes little sense for Russia to sink so much money and effort into building its new generation nuclear weapons and delivery systems (that are very obviously meant to be a counter to a missile shield) unless they think there is serious potential the United States might actually realize it. And this work has been going on for a while now, such that they've even been able to test some of them against Ukraine (the new hypersonic ballistic missiles)
Very much agree. What, I wonder, have the two examples of the X-37 done in their cumulative decade in space?
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