The computer-aided simulations included potential shooting
down of the US missile-tracking satellites, satellite jamming, and other
electronic warfare "effects" that are possible tactics in space
warfare.
Actual satellites are not used. During a visit to Schriever
Space Force Base in Colorado, Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks saw
the 'Space Flag' simulated space training exercise hosted by the US forces.
It was the 13th such exercise, and the third to involve
partners such as Britain, Canada, and Australia. "It happens in rooms like
that...people at a relatively junior level in many cases. Collaborating and
thinking through challenges and trying to figure out concepts that seem to make
sense and discarding ideas that go astray," Hicks told reporters en route
to Hawaii.
Pentagon leaders are touring the US bases this week while
the Biden administration's draft 2023 budget takes shape. The Department of
Defense hopes to move budget dollars toward a military that can deter China and
Russia.
After Russia successfully conducted an anti-satellite
missile test last month, US officials believe there is an increasing need to
make the US satellite network resilient to attack and to use opportunities like
'Space Flag' to train.
Satellites are vital to military communications, global
positioning navigation, and timing systems that are needed in the event of war.
The 10-day-long space war game attempts to simulate the cutting edge of the US
capability in space.
The training exercise involved an adversarial group working
to simulate an aggressor nation with space capabilities like Russia or China.
Russia is not the first country to conduct anti-satellite tests in space.
The United States performed the first in 1959 when
satellites were rare and new. In Hawaii, Hicks will meet with Pacific military
commanders and visit Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility at Joint Base Pearl
Harbor-Hickam where she will hear about water contamination issues. © Reuters