Russian satellites have been stalking British military satellites, according to the head of the UK Space Command.
In an interview with the BBC, Maj Gen Paul Tedman has for the first time set out the level of interference from Moscow against the UK’s space-based assets.
He said Russia had also been trying to jam the UK’s military satellites with ground-based systems every week.
Last month Germany’s Defence Minister, Boris Pistorius, said Russia had been shadowing satellites used by their military.
Gen Tedman gave details of how Russia was doing the same to the UK. “They’re interested in what we’re doing and flying relatively close,” he said.
“They’ve got payloads on board that can see our satellites and are trying to collect information from them.”
Gen Tedman said UK military satellites had been fitted with counter-jamming technologies but added: “We’re seeing our satellites being jammed by the Russians on a reasonably persistent basis.”
When asked how often, he replied “weekly”. It was, he said, deliberate and the activity had increased since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Britain has half a dozen dedicated military satellites in orbit providing communications and surveillance.
In contrast, the US, China and Russia each have more than a hundred. The combined Russian and Chinese fleet of satellites has increased by 70% over the past decade.
Gen Tedman said Russia and China had both tested anti-satellite weapons. Both the UK and the US have warned that Russia has been developing the capability to put nuclear weapons in space.
While the US sees China as the pacing threat, Gen Tedman sees Russia as the more immediate danger: “I would say the Chinese have by far the more sophisticated capability but the Russians have more will to use their counter-space systems.”
Gen Tedman said he was “really worried” about what was happening in space – not just the threats but the increasing congestion. There are currently about 45,000 objects in orbit including around 9,000 satellites. This year will see another 300 rocket launches into space.
The general was speaking on a visit to RAF Fylingdales in North Yorkshire. It is home to Britain and America’s Ballistic Missile Early Warning System. It is a job they has been doing since 1963.
The three famous large radomes or “golf balls” from the Cold War era have been replaced by a 30-metre (98-ft) pyramid which houses thousands of antennae.
It looks like a spaceship has landed on the North Yorkshire moors, surrounded by sheep, an electrified perimeter fence and razor wire.
The unblinking eye provides 360 degree coverage from the Arctic to North Africa, and from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic. Its radar can track objects the size of a tin can, 3,000 miles (4,800km) into space.
Inside, the heavy blast doors and air locks tell you that his too could be a target for any adversary. In the operations room, UK military personnel watch round the clock, every day of the year.
The RAF’s 2 Space Warning Squadron take us through the drill of how they detect a missile launch. They are plugged into other US satellites and sensors that enable them to detect a launch anywhere in the world.
Gen Tedman calls space “a team sport” but, in reality, the UK is heavily reliant on America. US contractors maintain the radar at Fylingdales.
The UK officer in charge of the watch says along with other sources “we’d know the UK was under threat probably within a minute”.
What is mentioned less is the UK’s ability to intercept ballistic missiles. Currently the UK has very little in the way of ballistic missile defence.
UK has very little in the way of ballistic missile defence.
The UK government is promising to invest more in both space and missile defence. It is also taking steps to defend its satellites. This week it is announcing it will test sensors to detect laser threats in space.
Both China and Russia have developed lasers which could be used to dazzle and disrupt an adversary’s satellites.
Gen Tedman said: “We’ve committed to invest a billion pounds into integrated air and missile defence, and I’d be surprised if there’s not a space aspect to how we’re going to defend the UK from threats very similar to [America’s] Golden Dome.”
He was referring to President Donald Trump’s plan to build a shield around the US against any missile attacks.
However, the UK is in danger of being left behind in the space race. Currently it spends about 1% of its defence budget on space. In contrast, France spends about 3% and the US 5%.
Gen Tedman would like to see space given a higher priority. He says around £450bn of the UK economy is dependent on space. It is also the nervous system on which the UK’s armed forces increasingly depend – from navigation to precision strikes.
Before we leave RAF Fylingdales, there is another reminder why space is so important.
We are warned we will have to leave the operations room if there is a real-life incident. While we are filming another alert comes through of a ballistic missile launch and we are swiftly escorted to the exit.
They are observing short-range ballistic missile launches almost every day. In this incident they will not say from where but it is no secret Russia has been firing them regularly into Ukraine.
In 2024 more than 4,000 missiles were fired around the globe. Russia was the reason why Flyingdales was first created in the Cold War era. The threat has not gone away.
Source: BBC
