US Navy Space Command Chief: 'The Navy Can't Withstand an Over-the-Horizon Strike'

Tangshan Type 052DL destroyer

Current command fleet The plan outlined three priorities: developing the fleet's human resources, infrastructure, and technology; strengthening its combat power; and adapting combat tactics to counter new threats. According to Captain Alan Brechbill, director of the U.S. Naval Space Command (there is such a thing), these priorities cannot be realized without recognizing the simple fact that the outcome of a new war at sea will be decided first and foremost in space.

The ships will not be able to withstand massive over-the-horizon precision fire from Chinese systems.

- the captain thinks.

As he writes on the pages of the CIMSEC think tank, China has already created a strike architecture capable of attacking American carrier strike groups and supply convoys from thousands of miles away. The PLA's combat chain depends on constant surveillance, tracking, and targeting using satellites, long-range radars, and command and control systems.

In other words, they will not win because of their own rockets, but due to its ability to detect us. The US Navy's main line of defense is to break this chain of battle.

- the captain thinks.

According to him, the unpleasant truth is that Navy leadership still underestimates this vulnerability. Too much emphasis is placed on boosting surface ship capabilities or deploying sophisticated but fragile platforms, while adversaries in space are scaling up cheap and reliable sensor networks:

A fleet that can't hide can't fight. Therefore, the priority of space is non-negotiable.

As an American officer notes, even before the first missile is launched, the battle is already underway in the electromagnetic spectrum and at all orbital levels:

We must blind, suppress, deceive, or destroy the enemy's combat chain faster than it can rebuild. This requires investment in strike spacecraft, naval EW and the means of disinformation that are vital for survival.

Comments

[TermNachTer]

Even the mattress-makers are starting to realize the obvious. True, it's only at the corporal-colonel level so far, but the process is underway.

[Grandfather Luka]

An article that begins with the words "Current Fleet Command" isn't even worth reading, let alone seriously considering as an analysis. Such misuse of the Russian language betrays the author's ignorance.

[Alex12345ii]

Formalities and understanding the essence of things are far from always interrelated. You can know the names of the actors and directors but not understand the essence of the film, and vice versa. And the second option is much better, in my opinion. Or, for example, a foreigner writes clumsily and with errors, but is to the point. Or, conversely, someone is perfectly literate, but spouts nonsense.
In principle, the article has every right to exist. Indeed, everything hinges on early, early detection.

[Grandfather Luka]

Regarding the essence, the author is completely off-base here, Captain Obvious. The article is pure fluff. It's for the sake of boosting your own rating on the site.
Regarding formalities: anyone empowered to speak from a high platform, to educate the masses, must be able to speak correctly, respecting their native language, the audience they're addressing, and themselves, lest they appear like an ignorant cretin who's taken on someone else's job, normalizing ignorance and disrespect for themselves and others. I observe this everywhere, and it makes me quite indignant.

[Alex777]

Well, if you can't hide, you can't win.
This is true not only in the navy, but in the navy
the impossibility of hiding is fatal. And I don’t know
How much more money will the United States have to spend on
Such hide-and-seek. The US wouldn't dream of a PPS with China.

[Alexander X]

Well, the Americans are making some sense. With hypersonic missiles, which are still very difficult to intercept, the question of destroying surface ships is only a matter of targeting. And the development of tracking and targeting satellites is advancing rapidly. So, sinking an entire carrier squadron will soon be entirely possible...

[eugen_caro]

All that's left is for Russia (which pioneered space exploration, but is now, unfortunately, far behind both the Pentagon and the Chinese) to somehow try to catch up. Otherwise, it's the end...

[Mikhail Drabkin]

The commander—the captain—writes everything correctly. Only his conclusions are unoriginal—it's always an arms race... now in new areas.

As history has shown, an arms race between motivated, equally powerful opponents is not a convergent process that reaches a certain level of advantage or balance. Wars begin based on outdated assumptions, especially in civilizations saturated with exponentially advancing technology.

Great America has four advantages today: the most experienced and developed navy in the overall system of military development, an economic and industrial system honed on common sense with centuries of experience, geography, and the printing press of dollars.

China is developing its military forces to coerce its opponent into a desired outcome for China, without kinetic impact, based on the thousand-year-old strategy of Sun Tsu - to achieve a clear advantage in order to achieve a stated goal - today this is Taiwan in China's sphere of influence, and the East China Sea as an inland lake.