The British military has been jamming or blocking satellites from other countries to defend itself from hostile threats, the BBC reported. According to a defence source, the RAF has been using a ground-based system for the past year that has already been deployed “to deter our adversaries.”
The system is understood to be capable of preventing hostile nations’ satellites from tracking the movement of the UK’s nuclear-armed submarines and other sensitive military operations, including those involving special forces. The defence source described the UK’s terrestrial electronic warfare capability as “world leading, and more.”
The disclosure comes as the RAF has created a new Space Effects Squadron focused on “disrupting, degrading and denying hostile threats in space,” according to the Ministry of Defence. The squadron will protect British satellites used to warn of incoming missile attacks, provide communications, and help guide ships.
Defence Secretary Wes Streeting told the UK Space Conference that the loss of GPS would cost the UK economy £1.4 billion a day. He stated that “our dependency on space is precisely why it is increasingly under threat from our adversaries,” noting that satellites power everyday technologies including mobile phones, banking apps, weather forecasts, energy supplies, and financial transactions.
According to the BBC report, a number of nations are believed to have similar ground-based systems. Last year, the head of UK Space Command said Russia was attempting to jam UK satellites with ground-based systems “every week.” The RAF also tracked “dangerous manoeuvres” by five Russian satellites moving close to two Finnish commercial satellites in May, and a Russian satellite constellation caused disruptions to GPS signals across Europe and Canada.
Last week, the US confirmed for the first time that it had deployed an unspecified “weapon” in space to defend its own satellites. Both China and Russia condemned the move, warning of an arms race in space. Washington has accused both nations of developing their own space weapons, ranging from electronic jammers and lasers to blind satellites, to projectiles fired from satellites in orbit. Air Chief Marshal Sir Harv Smyth warned that without satellites, sat-nav systems would fail, road congestion would increase, and emergency services would respond more slowly.
Key facts
- The RAF has used a ground-based jamming system for the past year to deter adversaries
- The system can prevent hostile satellites from tracking UK nuclear submarines and special forces operations
- The UK created a new Space Effects Squadron to protect British satellites
- Loss of GPS would cost the UK economy £1.4bn per day, according to Defence Secretary Wes Streeting
- Russia has attempted to jam UK satellites with ground-based systems weekly, according to previous UK Space Command head
- The US recently confirmed deployment of an unspecified space weapon to defend its satellites