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Pentagon’s new plan to counter China includes swarms of smart satellites

Deputy Secretary Kathleen Hicks: DoD wants to “leverage platforms that are small, smart, cheap, and many”

Space News, Sandra Erwin, September 6, 2023

ARLINGTON, Va. — Under a new strategy to counter China’s military buildup, the Pentagon is advocating the use of low-cost autonomous platforms that can be mass produced and deployed at sea, on land, in the air and in space. 

“This is about driving culture change just as much as technology change — so we can gain military advantage faster,” Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks, said Sept. 6 at the DefenseNews annual conference. 

Hicks discussed DoD’s plan to field thousands of autonomous systems across all domains within the next 18 to 24 months. China’s advantage is “mass,” said Hicks. DoD will continue to invest in its traditional platforms but will counter with “mass of our own,” or large numbers of autonomous systems. 

DoD would field fleets of tiny drones and swarms of satellites that would be inexpensive to replace. 

“Imagine constellations of autonomous, attritable systems on orbit, flung into space scores at a time, numbering so many that it becomes impossible to eliminate or degrade them all,” she said. 

The strategy is to “leverage platforms that are small, smart, cheap, and many,” Hicks said. …………………………………………………….

The U.S. military’s Space Development Agency is building a government-owned proliferated constellation. DoD is also a major customer of Starlink, SpaceX’s massive internet in space. ………………..  https://spacenews.com/pentagons-new-plan-to-counter-china-includes-swarms-of-smart-satellites/?utm_medium=email

September 14, 2023 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | space travel, USA, weapons and war