Number III Space Effects Squadron likely to use electronic warfare rather than lobbing missiles at hostile orbiting threats.
In fact, the government says the UK has formally ruled out destructive anti-satellite missile testing, and instead continues to work through the UN Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space.
Last year, The Register reported that the MoD was working with the UK’s Space Agency on finding ways to protect orbiting satellites with technology that can spot when lasers are being used to try and dazzle them and disrupt communications.
In 2022, the United Nations passed a US-led resolution calling on countries to commit not to conduct any similar anti-satellite missile tests.
4 sentences from our version of the report,
chosen to cover it. Nothing here is written; every line is in the article below.
How
Summarized version
Smyth added the RAF’s headquarters at High Wycombe transitioned to become Air and Space Command just a few weeks ago.
Headline check
The one thing this headline claims did not turn up in the report.
“Jam” is named in the headline. We could not find it in the report.
Figures, names and quoted words in the headline, looked for in the report itself — not in the summary above. Names are matched as they are spelled, so a report that says “New South Wales” where the headline says “NSW” is queried here when it should not be. How this is checked
The article, shortened and in plain language
Number III Space Effects Squadron likely to use electronic warfare rather than lobbing missiles at hostile orbiting threats.
Britain’s Royal Air Force has gained some space cadets, in the form of No. III Space Effects Squadron, tasked with protecting satellites that the UK relies on for communications and navigation.
Smyth added that the RAF’s headquarters at High Wycombe transitioned to become Air and Space Command just a few weeks ago.
In fact, the government says the UK has formally ruled out destructive anti-satellite missile testing, and instead continues to work through the UN Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space.
The MoD does say the squadron will support both offensive and defensive space operations and will expand over time as new capabilities enter service.
Last year, The Register reported that the MoD was working with the UK’s Space Agency on finding ways to protect orbiting satellites with technology that can spot when lasers are being used to try and dazzle them and disrupt communications.
The most recent incident was when Russia destroyed one of its own defunct orbiters in 2021, endangering the International Space Station.
In 2022, the United Nations passed a US-led resolution calling on countries to commit not to conduct any similar anti-satellite missile tests.
The US Space Force also claimed to have observed Chinese satellites practicing “dogfight” manoeuvres in orbit.
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