Whiting Says US Space Command Lacks Capabilities
US Space Command commander General Stephen Whiting said at the Advanced Maui Optical and Space Surveillance Technologies conference in Maui that USSPACECOM does not have all the capabilities needed to identify targets among an adversary's space systems in the event of a conflict. This was reported by Breaking Defense.
According to him, to neutralize threats in space, the command must detect, fix, track, and identify them as targets. Whiting noted that targeting capabilities in the space domain are developing, but still have a significant way to go.
He added that the command does not have target dossiers as developed as those of joint forces in other domains. After a target is struck, USSPACECOM also needs real-time operational awareness to manage combat operations.
Space control
Whiting explained that offensive actions against an adversary's space systems during a conflict are one of the functions of the space control concept. He called such control the foundation of US military operations amid the proliferation of adversaries' space systems and counterspace capabilities.
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According to him, the concept includes active and passive measures, kinetic and non-kinetic effects, as well as reversible and irreversible effects. Its components are offensive and defensive actions, which together are called counterspace operations.
Whiting called reliable space domain awareness a key condition for this. It must turn data on orbital objects into actionable intelligence for monitoring, protection, threat prevention, and threat neutralization.
Needs for deep space
USSPACECOM also seeks to close gaps in foundational technologies, primarily in space domain awareness, needed for operations in cislunar space and at greater distances from Earth. Whiting stressed that the relevant architecture must be scalable; otherwise, deep space may remain unmonitored and vulnerable to exploitation by adversaries.
He also said that the US military lacks capabilities for positioning, navigation, and timing, satellite communications, as well as a standard format for discussing positional states in cislunar space. According to the general, the command is focused on addressing these problems.
