The next big war may be fought in space.
As the Pentagon is gearing up for a future celestial conflict, so are our chief adversaries, China and Russia. Here’s why “Star Wars” is no longer merely a topic of science fiction. The best way to avoid space warfare is to be ready for it.
On Dec. 28, Elon Musk’s Space X launched into space the Pentagon’s highly secretive X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle, an unmanned reusable robotic spacecraft operated by the Air Force, in collaboration with Space Force. Most details about the Boeing X-37B’s payload and missions are top secret, and even its orbital regime is classified.
Former Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson revealed in 2019, however, that X-37B can change its orbit “when it’s close enough to the atmosphere.” She boasted that the spacecraft can catch our adversaries off guard because the maneuver takes place “on the far side of the Earth from our adversaries,” so they don’t know “where it’s going to come up next” and “that drives them nuts.”
During my service in the Defense Intelligence Agency, I specialized in foreign space doctrines and operations and participated in war games simulating a conflict in space. I can attest that China and Russia consider the X-37B a counter-space weapons platform
For instance, the United States possesses the capability to wipe out the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels who have disrupted global shipping traffic by turning the Red Sea into a battlefield. Similarly, with our cyber weapons arsenal, we can plunge Iran into darkness. Yet, President Biden waited months, only to launch pinprick strikes against the ragtag gang that has been humiliating our military and harassing civilian vessels. Consequently, the attacks continue.
As “Star Wars” is no longer a hypothetical form of conflict, given our near total reliance on space, Americans must decide whether our country should be led by someone who is gripped by fear of space Armageddon or a commander in chief who instills that kind of fear into our enemies.
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Rebekah Koffler is a strategic military intelligence analyst and the author of Putin’s Playbook. She is Managing Editor of an e-mail newsletter for independent thinkers, CutToTheNews.com. Follow her on Twitter @Rebekah0132
