US, Russia, China: Why space is the next military flashpoint

But if you think the next major military battle for dominance will be over land or sea, or any other piece of the Earth, then think again.

Experts predict the world’s global powers will soon be taking their battles into space.

Not only is the space race becoming more competitive but global powers are continuing to militarise what has long been considered to be the final frontier.

Writing for global intelligence agency Statfor, senior military analyst Omar Lamrani warned while the race for dominance in space began some time ago the race toward its weaponisation is accelerating faster than ever before.

According to him, global powers are working to develop and deploy anti-satellite weapons known as ASATs.

“The technology, which began to be developed during the Cold War, has become an area of intense competition for the world’s most capable militaries over the past decade,” he writes.

However, the more pressing concern is the possibility of US technology being attacked in orbit.

“For the United States, being the leader in military space technologies provides immense advantages,” Mr Lamrani writes, adding, “At the same time, its out-size reliance on those technologies entails risks.” 

Ant-satellite weapons are being developed by the world’s super powers.Source:Supplied

The US “relies heavily on its orbital assets for navigation, intelligence collection, precision targeting, communication, early warning and several other crucial activities.”

The crucial point is China and Russia don’t rely on space technology as much as the US with Beijing able to rely on ground-based radars and sensors in a conflict in the Taiwan Strait.

“The United States, on the other hand, would have to lean on its satellites to support a response in the same area,” Mr Lamrani writes.

However he warns such a war will be one that no country will want to fight and if it did occur would be “devastating to all”.

RENEWED FEARS

Mr Lamrani’s warnings over the militarisation of space are not new.

Last year, the Scientific American reported a war in space may be closer than ever before with China, Russia and the US all developing and testing new technologies to fight such a war outside Earth.

All countries have denied this is the case.

Calling it “an arms race in all but name”, the magazine also predicted the next major military flashpoint won’t be in the South China Sea, the Middle East or even Ukraine, instead it will take place in orbit.

Thousands of objects are currently in orbit around the Earth.Source:News Limited

Some 1300 satellites currently orbit the Earth, providing vital communication, GPS, weather and surveillance.

The world’s militaries rely on that information for modern warfare and while the US clearly dominates, “China and Russia aggressively seek to challenge US superiority in space with ambitious military space programs of their own”.

It predicts a power struggle could “risk sparking a conflict that could cripple the entire planet’s space-based infrastructure”.

AIR BATTLE

Space isn’t the only bone of contention between the world’s superpowers.

Reports of the ongoing battle for military dominance in space comes just days after Beijing angrily rejected Pentagon accusations that a Chinese aircraft made an “unsafe” intercept of a spy plane in international air space.

China and the US have been at increasing logger heads amid rising tensions in the strategically vital South China Sea.

Rivalry between the super powers has been mounting in the disputed waterway, an important shipping route thought to be home to vast energy deposits, and which Beijing claims almost in its entirety.

Space is being militarised at a greater pace than ever before experts warn.Source:AFP

The US Department of Defence last Wednesday said that two Chinese tactical aircraft intercepted an American reconnaissance plane in an “unsafe” manner, without giving details.

China’s foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei hit back the following day saying such claims were “untrue”.

Two Chinese aircraft tailed a US EP-3 reconnaissance plan as it “flew close” to the island province of Hainan, he said, but kept “a safe distance” and did not make “dangerous moves”.

Such US flights were a “severe threat” to Chinese security, he added, calling for Washington to stop them immediately.

The incident comes more than a decade after a collision between a Chinese fighter jet and a US Navy EP-3 which killed the Chinese pilot and forced the US aircraft to make an emergency landing on Hainan.

A 11-day standoff ensued as Beijing interrogated the 24 US crew, seriously straining relations between the countries, and China went on to hold the plane for several months.

The two have traded accusations and warnings over such surveillance flights in subsequent years.