STRATCOM Concerned About Counter Space Weapons

US Strategic Command boss Adm. Cecil Haney told members of the House Armed Services Committee’s strategic forces panel on Thursday he is increasingly concerned about “disturbing trends” regarding the development of space-based weapons and anti-satellite capabilities, though he said the Pentagon is looking to invest in tools to overcome these threats. Russia and China have been “public about their counter space endeavors and ambitions,” Haney said, citing China’s test of a direct descent kill vehicle last summer. However, Haney noted, neither the Chinese nor Russians are “transparent in sharing their intent” behind the development of these programs. In response, the US must increase the resiliency of its space-based infrastructure and also make sure its communications networks—to include command and control centers and networks on Earth—are more resilient. (Haney prepared? testimony.) (See also Resetting Space Operations and War in Space.)