Increased Military Reliance on Commercial Communications Satellites: Implications for the War Planner

摘要

The October 1993 Department of Defense Report on the Bottom-Up Review called for a greater reliance on commercial satellites for general-purpose military communications. This policy guidance was influenced in part by the Congressionally mandated Commercial Satellite Communications Initiative (CSCI) studies. As the DoD shifts to commercial platforms, what are the corresponding implications for the war planner. Drawing on information available in the public domain, this paper will attempt to determine whether commercial satellites offer new or increased vulnerabilities; and, if so, suggest new perspectives from which future war planners should view both the protection and denial of satellite communications.