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Vulnerable Military Satellites Creating a ‘Maginot Line’ in Space
While the possibility of anti-satellite weapons, jamming and cyber-attacks aimed at the U.S. military’s fleets of communication satellites is making them vulnerable to adversaries, declining defense budgets constitute an equal threat to the space architecture the services rely upon, according to a report released July 24.
In the News
U.S. Space Systems, MILSATCOM ‘Have Critical Vulnerabilities,’ Report Says
The U.S. military depends heavily on its space-based assets, and perhaps the most important component of those capabilities are the military communications satellites that allow global command and control of combat forces.
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Transforming Satellite Communications in an Era of Austerity
The United States should adapt its military satellite communications architecture to the new strategic environment where US dominance of space is far from assured, said Todd Harrison, senior fellow for defense budget studies at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments. In a forthcoming study, Harrison argues that the United States should transition from a "two tier" MILSATCOM approach that focuses on protected and unprotected assets to a three-tier setup that includes a middle level that provides a lower level of protection for more tactical users. This could include using hosted protected payloads to expand capacity at a low cost, he told reporters during a briefing in Washington, D.C., on July 23. The lowest tier in this arrangement would encompass non-essential communications that the Pentagon could purchase via service agreements rather than maintaining as an organic capability, he said. The Defense Department should also consolidate the management of its MILSATCOM programs to cut back on costs and avoid requirements creep, said Harrison.
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Pentagon Chief Can’t Offer Hope In Budget Cuts
The audience gasped in surprise and gave a few low whistles as Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel delivered the news that furloughs, which have forced a 20 percent pay cut on most of the military's civilian workforce, probably will continue next year, and it might get worse/.../
Analysis
By Land and By Sea: Balanced Forces for a Complex Region
Protecting U.S. interests in the Middle East has never been easy, but recent developments have made it only harder. Iran’s buildup of missile forces and its pursuit of a nuclear capability have destabilized the region. The Arab Spring led to the ouster of key allies in Egypt and Yemen and weakened the Bahraini monarchy. And cuts to the defense budget will leave the United States with fewer resources to meet its security commitments.
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Squeezing the Pentagon: The wrong way to cut America’s military budget
Some attacks come out of nowhere. Others arrive with plenty of warning. The 2011 Budget Control Act (BCA), also known as the sequester, was one of the latter. But for a long time the Pentagon ignored it, assuming that the cuts to defence spending it contained would never happen.