FC: U.S. spy gear can "read lettering on basketball" 25,000 miles away

From: Declan McCullagh (declanat_private)
Date: Sun Mar 16 2003 - 21:23:07 PST

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    [By way of comparison, the mean distance from the earth to the moon appears 
    to be about 238,000 miles 
    (http://www.freemars.org/jeff/planets/Luna/Luna.htm). --Declan]
    
    ---
    
    http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Mar2003/n03122003_200303127.html
    
    Updated: 12 Mar 2003
    American Forces Press Service
    
    U.S. Dominance in Space Makes General 'Pity the Enemy'
    
        By Rudi Williams
        American Forces Press Service
    
        WASHINGTON, March 12, 2003 -- Anybody who goes against the massive
        space capability of the U.S. military "is in for a tough go," Air
        Force Maj. Gen. Franklin J. "Judd" Blaisdell told reporters during a
        Pentagon press briefing today.
    
        "Whether it's Iraq or any other enemy of the United States and its
        allies, I would tell you that we're so dominant in space that I would
        pity a country that would come up against us," said Blaisdell, the Air
        Force's director of space operations and integration. "The synergy
        with air, land and sea forces and our ability to control the battle
        space and seize the high ground is devastating.
    
         [200303127a_300.jpg] Army Col. Steven Fox, director of the Army Space
          Program Office, and project manager for the Tactical Exploitation of
        National Capabilities, told reporters during a Pentagon press briefing
        that the Army considers itself the largest user of space capabilities.
    
        "I don't believe that many of them understand how powerful we are,"
        the general told reporters. "All countries respect the power of the
        United States and they respect how dominant we are in this region."
    
        Asked what would demonstrate how much more powerful the United States
        is now compared to the Gulf War, Blaisdell rattled off "speed,
        lethality, persistence, information dominance, precision and the
        battle space characterization, bombs on target, real-time battle
        management.
    
        "That's what we're about, and that's what we're able to deliver
        through space, air, land and sea and the capability of all of those to
        come together."
    
        Space started playing a major role in warfare in the 1960s and early
        1970s, Blaisdell noted, harkening back to the May 1960 shootdown of
        Francis Gary Powers' U-2 plane over Russia. He said, today, in one
        day, one satellite, the Corona, could photograph more Soviet territory
        than 28 U-2 missions over four years.
    
        "Space assets will save lives. It keeps folks from putting our troops
        in harm's way," the general said. "It gives you that persistence,
        perspective and penetration, because space assets can get over areas
        that you wouldn't normally be able to get over with manned platforms.
        You can stay there, loiter there, and for a warfighter, you have an
        opportunity to know what's going on there -- real-time situational
        awareness, real time battle management unimpeded."
    
        Noting that space is a worldwide mission, Blaisdell said his
        organization has more than 33,600 people spread out in 21 different
        locations in the United States and 15 places around the world.
    
        Pointing out that warfighters need good communication, Blaisdell said,
        "Many people forget that we depend quite a bit on commercial
        communications. You need good communications if you're going to get to
        the theater and be able to make a difference. Good communications is
        needed to ensure that we have information superiority for the fight."
    
        Warfighters are also concerned about weather conditions, he noted.
        "You would no more go into a battle in any region in the world without
        knowing the weather conditions," Blaisdell said. "For the Army, you'd
        want to know moisture and soil content. They don't want their tanks
        bogged down. The Navy needs to know winds and sea state, iceberg
        possibilities. The Air Force will not do refueling operations in
        thunderstorms."
    
        When it come to "space control," for space situation awareness, the
        general said, "We need to know what's happening in our space
        environment, not only for what we have, but what other countries may
        have." He said the United States has a ground system that can read the
        lettering on a basketball out about 25,000 miles. But it's weather
        dependent.
    
        Col. Steven Fox, director of the Army Space Program Office and the
        project manager for the exploration of national capabilities, said the
        Army considers itself the largest user of space capabilities.
    
        "And most recently, our Afghanistan involvement highlights how much we
        rely on space," Fox said. "Space enables everything we do, from
        detection of missiles immediately upon launch so we can prepare to
        intercept them or to deal with the effects. We collect data for
        analysis and use space for dissemination of intelligence capabilities.
        We use GPS for other space-based systems to locate targets, to guide
        our weapons and for navigation."
    
        The colonel said space assets "allow us to disseminate missile data
        warnings to soldiers very quickly so they can take the appropriate
        action. But primarily, space ensured that we had an uneven playing
        field in favor of the United States and our allies. Space is
        fundamental to the way Americans are going to fight."
    
        Space capabilities also help the Army keep track of supplies and
        enhance logistics operations.
    
        Fox said space capabilities also allow the Army to keep track of
        soldiers who are far beyond line of sight of normal communications.
        Some soldiers carry transmitters.
    
        Asked why some soldiers buy commercial GPS receivers, Fox said, "It's
        sort of like your favorite brand of cell phone. So I believe some
        soldiers are used to a commercial product and they use it."
    
        He said a second aspect is, "when we build our military GPS receivers,
        we build them to counter threats. In that process, the size increases.
        So, if you're a soldier, you're trying to keep as light as possible,
        so often they grab their personal device." The colonel noted that even
        though that practice is discouraged, soldiers still do it.
    
    
    
    
    
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