On March 18, during the 16th Annual McAleese Conference in Arlington, Virginia. Gen. Michael Guetlein Vice Chief of Space Operations issued a stark warning that the U.S. Space Force must transition from merely using satellites as tools to support military operations on the ground to actively developing new technologies and countermeasures. These advancements, he stressed, are crucial for enabling the Space Force to keep pace with the rapidly evolving arsenal of orbital weaponry deployed by near-peer adversaries.
Gen. Guetlein said "We are in the process of pivoting from what used to be a service focused on providing the most exquisite space services on the planet to the warfighter and to the nation" Gen. Guetlein added "to make it a warfighting force capable of protecting and defending our capabilities in and through space."
Gen. Michael Guetlein
The long-standing agreement between superpowers to refrain from interfering with each other’s satellites and spacecraft now appears to be a thing of the past. From Russia's 2022 anti-satellite (ASAT) test, which created a dangerous debris cloud in low Earth orbit, to China’s satellites physically grappling with other Chinese satellites and relocating them to graveyard orbits, these developments have raised significant concerns in the United States. As a result, the U.S. Space Force has concluded that China is actively practicing combat maneuvers that could be used in a future conflict.
According to Gen. Michael Guetlein, these alarming trends signal that now is the critical moment for the Space Force to modernize, adapt, and enhance its capabilities to counter the escalating threats posed by Russia and China in space.
There was a gentleman's agreement until recently that we didn't mess with each other's space systems. Unfortunately, our current adversaries are willing to go against international norms of behavior, and they're willing to do it in very unsafe and unprofessional manners.
Gen. Michael Guetlein
Furthermore, Gen. Michael Guetlein also stated that foreign satellites have begun jamming and spoofing U.S. satellites and also "shadowing" American satellites. These activities have forced the U.S. Space Force to alter the orbits of its satellites due to security concerns, creating what the general described as a high-stakes game of cat and mouse. He also described the narrowing gap between the capabilities of the US in Space and those of China and Russia as not big Anymore and that soon if the situation is not improved the US will not have the superiority it enjoyed in space anymore.
The Chinese ISR capabilities are becoming very capable. They have gone from what we used to call a 'Kill Chain' to a 'Kill Mesh'.
Gen. Michael Guetlein