Deployment of the Silent Barker satellite constellation is a sign of US preparation for a major war
Despite the fact that wars are still fought on Earth, outer space has long been the most important element of the battlefield, without which achieving victory here below often becomes impossible, and this situation will worsen over time. Most people, even those interested in military topics, are of little interest, but “tanks” are yes, and some boxes with solar panels in orbit are boring, but it is these boxes that will determine who wins here on Earth.
As sad as it may be, the clear leader, both in the conquest of outer space as a whole and in its militarization, is the United States. At the same time, the leadership of the United States is largely ensured not by government agencies like NASA or “practically state-owned” large corporations, but by small, often newly created companies and start-ups – SpaceX has created the most cost-effective system for delivering cargo into orbit and in the near future may make a revolution in this direction, it's the same implemented the concept of “conveyor” production of communication satellites, Capella Space produces remote sensing radar satellites the size of a refrigerator with a resolution of less than half a square meter, True Anomaly company plans to create thousands of “Jackal” inspector satellites, or, to put it bluntly, kamikaze satellites designed for combat operations in orbit.
Capella Space remote sensing satellite
Nevertheless, it is still impossible to do without the “grandees” of the American space industry, if we are talking about some kind of systemic project, the concept of which was developed directly by the US Department of Defense (DoD). In particular, today we will talk about the Silent Barker program, the implementation of which by the US Defense Ministry largely suggests that they are preparing for a big war.
Silent Barker
According to data available on the open web, the Silent Barker program is aimed at increasing situational awareness of what is happening in outer space, in Earth's orbit, but detailed information is extremely limited.
Presumably, spacecraft (SV) launched as part of the Silent Barker program are designed to monitor outer space, tracking existing and newly launched artificial Earth satellites (AES). That is, in essence, Silent Barker satellites should complement, and possibly replace, space control systems, which are currently represented by bulky optical and radar stations located on the surface, and sometimes on surface ships and offshore platforms.
The Silent Barker satellites are planned to be placed in orbit at an altitude of about 36 thousand kilometers above the Earth. The Silent Barker program is implemented by the United States Space Force (USSF) in conjunction with the US National Reconnaissance Office (NRO). The satellites are planned to be launched aboard an Atlas V launch vehicle, and the launch will be carried out by United Launch Alliance (ULA), a joint venture between Boeing and Lockheed Martin.
After a number of delays, on September 10, 2023, the Atlas V launch vehicle launched the NROL-107 satellite, launched as part of the Silent Barker program, into orbit. At the request of the US Space Force and the National Reconnaissance Office, ULA representatives ended the live broadcast of the launch a few minutes after liftoff.
An Atlas V rocket carrying the Silent Barker satellite lifting off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on September 10, 2023.
Full combat readiness of equipment deployed under the Silent Barker program must be ensured by 2026.
Why do we need the Silent Barker program if existing ground-based space monitoring systems are capable of tracking objects the size of a tennis ball, or even smaller?
To understand this, as well as how significant the Silent Barker program is, let us remember what advantages in terms of combat operations are provided by the presence of a diverse satellite constellation in Earth orbit and how it can be lost.
Advantages
Perhaps everyone already knows about the benefits that outer space provides - first of all, navigation, reconnaissance and communications. For the strikes carried out by the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) deep into the territory of our country, we should first of all “thank” not the Ukrainian Armed Forces, but the space intelligence of the United States and its allies. They are the ones who issue target designation, ensure the laying of flight routes for kamikaze unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and cruise missiles (CR) bypassing our air defense systems, and they are the ones who assess the effectiveness of the strike.
Actually the space component is critical in terms of ensuring the ability to strike with long-range precision weapons. Separately, it should be mentioned that an increase in the number of reconnaissance satellites and communication channel capacity, combined with an increase in the efficiency of computer data processing centers, in the near future will provide detection and tracking of surface shipsand real-time tracking of mobile ground-based missile systems (GGRK) carrying strategic intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) with nuclear warheads.
All this is just the beginning, in the foreseeable future, especially if Elon Musk’s fully reusable Starship begins regular flights, the cost of putting a payload into orbit will begin to steadily decline, after which the United States may remember orbital segment of strategic missile defense (BMD) and start creating orbital reconnaissance and strike echelon, whose tasks will include not only navigation, reconnaissance and communications, but also striking from space against all types of targets on the surface, above the surface and below the surface.
The reusable super-heavy launch vehicle Starship, if successfully completed, will change the world forever
Of course, US opponents, including us, do not like this prospect, so various ways are being sought to “thin out” the enemy’s orbital groups.
Threats and countermeasures
Despite many years of talk about “peaceful space,” all leading military powers are preparing to conduct combat operations in outer space. It can be assumed that the first concepts of anti-satellite weapons began to take shape just when the first artificial satellite, the Soviet satellite, was in orbit. Gradually, the main contenders for global leadership moved from words to deeds: from concepts to real weapons.
First of all we tried “reach to heaven” using missiles launched from aircraft, surface ships or ground-based launchers. At the moment, there are confirmed facts of the destruction of satellites in low Earth orbit, carried out by the United States, China and Russia.
The launch of an anti-satellite missile from a modified F-15A aircraft, the inclusion of a jet engine and the ASM-135 missile itself from the ASAT anti-satellite complex
However, satellites located in high orbits are not available for direct interception missiles. To solve this problem, we created “orbital cleaners”, launched into the required orbit by launch vehicles and capable of actively maneuvering in space. Competencies in this area are now available not only to the USA, China and Russia, but also to other countries, since maneuvering spacecraft can be used not only for hunting satellites, but also for research, for example, asteroids and comets, as well as collection of space debris, and projects in this area are being implemented by both individual states and private companies and startups. However, it is for military purposes that, apparently, such spacecraft are primarily being developed by the above-mentioned three states - the USA, China and Russia.
It is potentially possible to destroy satellites in low orbits using laser weapons. In Russia, a combat laser complex (BLK) “Peresvet” has been developed for this purpose, but its characteristics are classified and its potential capabilities are still unclear, in particular, whether the Peresvet BLK can completely disable satellites or only temporarily illuminate their optical instruments.
It is planned to fend off the threat of destruction of one’s satellites in orbit by moving away from the concept of placing a limited number of large, complex and expensive satellites in orbit in favor of deploying clusters of compact satellites, which we see in the example of the Starlink commercial communications system from SpaceX. However, clusters of satellites can also be effectively destroyed, for example, by developing and launching into orbit Reaper-type hunter satellites that will shoot down Starlink satellites faster than Elon Musk can launch them.
For now, "Reaper" is just a concept
In addition, the survivability of satellites can be increased by providing them with the ability to maneuver so that they can evade attacks from anti-satellite missiles and Reapers, and this is where the problem arises.
In order for satellites to evade attacks, they must be aware of them. Currently, information about a potentially threatening approach of an enemy artificial satellite or spacecraft comes from space control systems located on the surface and on surface ships or offshore platforms.
In the event of a full-scale conflict, all stationary objects, excluding highly protected ones located under the earth's surface, will most likely be destroyed.
At the same time, surface ships capable of monitoring outer space with the help of their radar stations, firstly, will be obviously less effective, and secondly, they will spend most of their time in radio silence in order to avoid detection by electronic reconnaissance means ( RTR) of the enemy and subsequent destruction by a massive strike of anti-ship missiles (ASM).
As a result, satellites will not receive timely information about the approaching threat and may be destroyed.
Space control assets located on the surface or on offshore platforms are vulnerable to attack
Theoretically, the satellites themselves could be equipped with means of monitoring the environment, allowing them to evade an attack, however, most likely, this will lead to an increase in their complexity and cost, which is poorly compatible with the concept of deploying large clusters of inexpensive low-orbit satellites.
Conclusions
And now we are returning to the Silent Barker program, since the satellites launched within the framework of this program are precisely supposed to complement, and, if necessary, replace space control facilities located on the surface.
In the event of a global conflict, including the use of nuclear weapons, the United States will receive a unilateral advantage in the form of its remaining control over outer space, which Russia and China, not to mention other countries, will lose.
Ground-based space control complexes located on the territory of the United States and its allies are quite well protected. The same can be said about radars located on offshore platforms and ships - the power of the US Navy is more than sufficient to ensure their safety. However, in the event of a global conflict with countries such as Russia and/or China, the threats to existing space control capabilities increase significantly, especially if the parties use nuclear weapons.
The US deployment of satellites under the Silent Barker program suggests that the US is considering the possibility of destroying the ground component of space control and is preparing in advance for such a situation.
The Silent Barker program is not the only sign that the United States takes very seriously the need to ensure dominance in outer space even in the event of a global conflict, including the use of nuclear weapons, but we will talk about this another time.
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