US Space Force creates 1st unit dedicated to targeting adversary satellites
Posted: Fri Aug 18, 2023 11:14 am
I suspect that this is just the beginning of a new era.
US Space Force creates 1st unit dedicated to targeting adversary satellites
Eearth can be seen behind a patch bearing a skull in a cloak above the number 75
The patch of the 75th Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Squadron revealed at the unit's activation ceremony on Aug. 11, 2023. (Image credit: USSF/iStock/Getty Images Plus)
The United States Space Force has activated its first and only unit dedicated to targeting other nations' satellites and the ground stations that support them.
The 75th Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Squadron (ISRS) was activated on Aug. 11 at Peterson Space Force Base in Colorado. This unit is part of Space Delta 7, an element of the U.S. Space Force tasked with providing intelligence on adversary space capabilities. It'll do things like analyze the capabilities of potential targets, locate and track these targets as well as participate in "target engagement," which presumably refers to destroying or disrupting adversary satellites, the ground stations that support them and transmissions sent between the two.
Lt. Col. Travis Anderson, who leads the squadron, said in a Space Force statement that the idea of a dedicated space targeting unit has been years in the making. "Today is a monumental time in the history of our service," Anderson said. "The idea of this unit began four years ago on paper and has probably been in the minds of several U.S. Air Force intelligence officers even longer."
