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SPACE WARFARE – AN APPRISAL
The occupation of the high ground can thus mean
genuine domination. Its reality is undeniable
Carl Von Clausewitz
On War
INTRODUCTION
From the earliest days of armed conflict military forces have endeavoured to
occupy the “high ground” of the battlefield. The “high ground” , whether it be a hill, a
mountain, the air, or space, has always given the occupying force an advantage over
his adversary. As a result, most successful armies have sought to find and control this
“high ground”. As technology advanced the definition of high ground changed. With the
advent of the airplanes, air became the new high ground and air superiority the rallying
cry. Today technology has advanced to where space is the high grounded of the 21
st
century and space superiority its new rallying cry.
OPERATION DESERTSTORM - THE FIRST SPACE WAR
The use of military space system in the Gulf War may be seen as a major
watershed in the history of military technology and military tactics. Over 60 Western
military satellites and more from the commercial sector were directly involved in the
Persian Gulf War, connecting over 400,000 troops aiding weather forecasters, providing
detailed images of Iraqi target, passing Scud launch warnings, providing location
accuracies in dozens of feet to pilots, truck drivers and Special Forces and for the first
time ever, carrying the war – instantly , live and colour – to over 100 nations.
Communications
. Communication satellite carried the majority of the military trunks
traffic (secure speech, data, facsimile and telegraph) into and out of the theatre. They
provided tactical links within theatres and bridges for other terrestrial VHF/UHF radio
systems whose line of sight limitations prevented them from spanning the desert
reaches They provided total communications to ships at sea, troops on the move and
even to military aircraft.
Navigation. Global Positioning System (GPS), a space based navigation system
provided ground forces, tactical air forces and naval forces three dimensional position
accuracy within 16 meters, velicity accuracy within 0.1 meter per second and time
accuracy within 0.1 microsecond.
Surveillance. Space surveillance machines with its range of missile early warning,
ocean surveillance, photographic and radar reconnaissance, electronic eavesdropping
and weather satellite provided a capability of photographic images below 25cm
