The first real post on this blog covered a seemingly innocuous, but entertaining, news story pertaining to the US military’s success in shooting down an ailing and falling satellite.

Is this the future of warfare?

At the time I thought the story was amusing, but not very significant. Now it looks like I might be wrong.

The Pentagon has issued a new report [pdf] detailing the increasing concern in the military about China’s space and cyberwarfare capabilities. The New York Times reports:

The report places increased emphasis on concern about China’s space programs and potential for space warfare. It also said China was improving its own satellite capability, including construction of a new satellite launching complex on Hainan Island.

So is the US falling behind? It is tough to say, but the US is probably quite interested in sending the Chinese military a message.

ShareThis

I am really proud of our military today. After almost thirty years of developing surface-to-space weaponry we managed, allegedly and unconfirmed, to down a crippled and failing satellite. Even the headline makes it sound ridiculous: US missile hits crippled satellite. I am not categorically against developing weapons that reach into space–I think it has to happen and China seems to have them–but I don’t think the Pentagon should get in the habit of touting its ability to shoot down defenseless space junk just yet.

Then again, we all remember that Iraq was touted as “Mission Accomplished“–so we know the Pentagon has different standards.

ShareThis