Officials: Russian, Chinese organizational shifts signify greater space focus

摘要

A defense intelligence official told reporters this week that the biggest threat to U.S. space superiority is likely not a single adversary capability, but rather actions in recent years by Russia and China to better organize and integrate space capabilities within their militaries -- actions that could help the Pentagon as it makes a case to create a new Space Force. On Feb. 11, the Defense Intelligence Agency released a new unclassified report highlighting the importance of U.S. space capabilities as well as the threats posed to those assets by four key adversaries: Russia, China, Iran and North Korea. The report discusses in some detail Russia's and China's space postures and recent developmental and technological milestones. Defense intelligence and policy officials spoke on background with a small group of reporters prior to the report's release, telling them that while the capabilities are concerning, the greater indicator of space superiority may lie in recent moves by the two countries to reorganize and prioritize space within their militaries.