Zhou Xuyang, Zhang Ziyang
The U.S. military-led "Silent Baker" program has been deployed continuously since September this year, and the U.S. is rapidly expanding its space capabilities in the context of exaggerating the "space threat from China and Russia." According to Bloomberg, the program aims to track "Chinese or Russian spacecraft that could disable the U.S. orbital system." Russian expert Andrei Mitrofanov believes that the "Silent Baker" program is a readiness of the United States for a possible high-intensity military conflict.
Space Armament "Rivalry for Supremacy"
In the twenties of the twentieth century, as the "gray swan" and "black rhinoceros" time such as the new crown epidemic and the Russia-Ukraine conflict continued to ferment, the United States is reassessing its global influence and formulating a series of policies accordingly. Among them, the large-scale layout of the space field began as early as 2018 when the "Space Force" was established. As one of the world's leaders in space technology, the United States is using its advantages in technology, personnel, capital, and production capacity to shape a new round of space influence. NASA AND SPACEX ARE THE "TWO CARRIAGES" OF AMERICAN SPACE DEVELOPMENT.
In the context of the current Russia-Ukraine conflict and the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, it can be described as a great change unseen in a century, which is an important driving force for the accelerated development of the space military field, and the momentum of the space arms race is now difficult to reverse. Among them, the first echelon such as the United States and Russia continue to deepen their roots on the existing foundation, while the second echelon such as Japan, India, Germany, and France are catching up.
However, the US "Silent Barker" program has exposed the fact that the United States has spared no effort to clamor for space armaments, and today some Americans are advocating the so-called "theory of heavenly power" in an attempt to control the earth by mastering space hegemony. However, unilateralism of one dominant power and winner-takes-all will not work at all in today's world, and insisting on promoting the militarization of space and seeking space hegemony will seriously impact the existing strategic stability architecture among major powers and run counter to the common interests of all mankind.
Layers of control coveted the eight wildernesses
The U.S. Air Force plans to launch a new secret payload, called the Silent Barker, in 2022 as a way to improve situational awareness in space, according to a request for proposals released on Jan. 31.
U.S. Air Force Space Command Commander John A. General W. Raymond stated that "Silent Buck" was a "cooperative procurement program" between the National Reconnaissance Office and the Air Force. The program aims to improve satellite threat intelligence and space situational awareness. General Paul Selva, deputy chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, stressed the importance of the secrecy of the program, which the Department of Defense will keep tight-lipped, and the space sector needs to be kept secret in order to maintain a competitive advantage. The United States has continuously increased its importance to space and regarded space as a field of operations, and as a strategic guarantee for space operations, the silent Buck Program was born.
Knowing oneself and knowing one's opponent is invincible, and intelligence is the soul of war. Space has become the commanding heights of obtaining intelligence, the United States is promoting the militarization of space through the construction of the space force intelligence mechanism, consolidating its space hegemony, obtaining intelligence from the space field is an important way to promote the militarization of space and achieve the goal of space hegemony, especially in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the intelligence support of Western countries led by the United States to Ukraine highlights the advantages of space intelligence. The satellites launched by the Silent Buck program include, but are not limited to, the following functions, tracking and surveillance, missile warning, control and communications. These satellites help the United States monitor the combat readiness status in the space field and changes in the operational environment in real time, collect and process intelligence, assess and predict potential threats and the impact of changes in the space situation, and adjust the strategic layout of the space force according to the actual situation. We all know that space satellites are of great significance for ensuring the operational energy efficiency of long-range precision strike weapons, and in the near future, with the increase in the number of reconnaissance satellites and the capacity of communication channels, and the improvement of computer processing efficiency, we will inevitably bring the detection and tracking of surface ships and the real-time tracking of strategic ICBMs to a new level. Otherwise, with the strengthening of space support, the United States will inevitably continue to strengthen the orbital segment of its strategic missile defense and begin to create an orbital reconnaissance and strike echelon, which will not only be used for navigation, reconnaissance, and communications, but will also be able to achieve the terrifying capability of striking all kinds of targets on the surface, above the surface, and below the surface from space.
Down-to-earth, strong wins and defeats
In recent years, China's aviation industry can be said to be a "blowout development", "Chang'e to the moon, Beidou to guide the way, Zhurong to explore the fire, Xihe to chase the sun, Tianhe to travel to the stars, 'Wukong' and 'Wisdom Eye' to explore the mysteries of the universe, China's aerospace forge ahead, create new achievements, and achieve a new leap." Wu Yanhua, deputy director of the China National Space Administration, summed up the achievements of China's aerospace industry in the past five years at the press conference. China has always stressed the need to make greater contributions to the building of a community with a shared future for mankind and the progress of human civilization in the field of outer space. The United States, on the other hand, has always regarded China's progress as a space threat and has stepped up its efforts to intensify the space arms race. However, China still has the strength and confidence to deal with threats, such as the kinetic three-anti-satellite weapon, which is touted as a "hunting satellite".
The successful research and development of the kinetic energy series of anti-satellite ballistic missiles will cover low, medium and high orbits in all directions, indicating that China has entered the world-class technological level in the field of anti-satellite technology, in addition to anti-satellite missiles, the mainland has also developed an anti-satellite satellite, through the loading of mechanical arms, laser weapons, can change the orbit, so that it can carry out all-round detection of other satellites, convenient and flexible, the key is to avoid the generation of space debris.
"Silent Buck" is like the eyes of a satellite to help other satellites gain good space awareness, and conventional satellites must be able to be aware of threats in order to avoid attack, in addition to having a certain ability to maneuver. The strategic significance of the "Silent Buck" mission is to help the United States achieve control over outer space, which is a strategic consideration for the United States to unilateralize and dominate the world. In this regard, how to deal with the "eyes" of the United States?
The answer is to develop microsatellites and exert their anti-satellite capabilities. Modern microsatellites have a short development cycle, low construction cost, low system investment, strong anti-destruction ability, fast equipment update, can be fast, mobile, and carry launches, and can effectively provide various battlefield tactical support, especially with the advantages of good concealment, strong attack suddenness, and wide range of applications, and can move to any position in geosynchronous orbit, and even can perform close operations around other satellites and launch attacks, with great potential.
The Chinese mainland has always adhered to the peaceful use of outer space, opposed the weaponization of outer space, opposed the arms race, and rationally developed and utilized space resources, earnestly protected the space environment, and maintained a peaceful and clean outer space, so that space activities can benefit all mankind. However, when faced with threats from other countries, the mainland must also have strong strength and gain a certain right to speak, so as to avoid unnecessary dangers, avoid the unilateral dominance of the United States in global conflicts, and make greater contributions to the peace and well-being of mankind.