Space Force to deploy new jammers to yell at enemy satellites

The U.S. military’s youngest branch, the Space Force, turned five years old on Friday. Like other young institutions it’s spent its time rapidly growing, building up the number of Guardians, rapidly launching a large array of satellites into orbit and winning Call of Duty tournaments. In its latest move, Space Force is taking aim at enemy spaceships and satellites with a new ground-based jamming system, which according to reports, works like endless, loud, annoying screams.

Space Force plans to start deploying nearly a dozen of its remote modular terminal jamming systems. Defense News first reported on the plan, noting that the jammers will be “immediately” in Guardians’ hands for additional tests and usage. The move will start with fielding 11 of the terminal systems, although the project, developed through the Space Rapid Capabilities Office, has money for more than 150. The exact locations of where they will be deployed weren’t announced. The U.S. military has been working on building up early warning systems and communications relays around the globe, including on strategically important islands such as Guam. 

The jammers will broadcast a signal to cut into adversaries’ communications, essentially “yelling in their ear,” Space Rapid Capabilities Office Director Kelly Hammett told reporters this week, per Defense News. The idea is that the terminals will create such an overwhelming and disruptive signal it will interrupt transmission for enemy satellites, including tracking ones that could be used to target American troops or equipment. 

The service itself describes the jamming terminals as “[a] small form-factor system designed to be fielded in large numbers at low-cost and operated remotely.” Space Force conducted tests on the terminals in the spring, with Delta 12’s 4th Test and Evaluation Squadron handling the operations. For the most part, Space Force’s technological deployments have focused on getting missile tracking and communications intercepting satellites into space, in order to keep watch on terrestrial-based signals or launches. This flips that around, with ground-based systems meant to stop others from snooping. With enough deployed, the remote modular terminals could create a large blanket of interference for enemy surveillance. 

Space Force highlighted the relative low cost of each system – $1.5 million each – and their small size, making them easy to deploy. The branch also noted that since they are remotely operated there is a reduced risk to guardians in the field. 

It’s not a floating space battleship, nor even handheld space weapons. But it is a sign of how exactly Space Force looks to project force when dealing with orbital issues or threats. 

This article by Nicholas Slayton was originally published by Task & Purpose.

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