Pentagon Awards Lockheed With A $3 Billion Contract For Next-Gen Missile Warning Satellites

The next-generation OPIR satellites will replace the Space Based Infrared System. Credit: Lockheed Martin

Warzone/The Drive: USAF Hands Lockheed Billions For New Warning Satellites Amid Rush For More Space Sensors

The service is trying to push up the schedule for deploying its newest space-based sensor system, but it might not be fast enough for Congress.

The U.S. Air Force has formally hired Lockheed Martin to build three new missile warning satellites as part of the Next-Generation Overhead Persistent Infrared program, also called Next-Gen OPIR. Under pressure from members of Congress and critics within the U.S. military, the service is pushing an aggressive timetable for the project, which is just one part of still-developing plans for a broad array of new space-based sensors to help guard against both advanced ballistic missiles and emerging hypersonic threats.

On Aug. 14, 2018, in its daily contracting announcement, the Pentagon announced that Lockheed Martin had received the $2.9 billion dollar contract and that the Air Force expected to take delivery of the trio of satellites by April 30, 2021. In May 2018, the service had first revealed plans to give sole-source deals to both Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman for Next-Gen OPIR work. The two firms have worked together in the past on the existing Space-Based Infrared System (SBIRS) missile warning constellation.

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More News On The Pentagon Awarding Lockheed With A $3 Billion Contract For Next-Gen Missile Warning Satellites

Lockheed Gets $3 Billion Contract for Next-Gen Missile Warning Satellites -- Defense Tech
Lockheed Martin awarded $2.9 billion Air Force contract for three missile-warning satellites -- Space News
Lockheed receives contract for missile warning satellites -- UPI
The US Air Force is ordering new satellites to harden defenses against Russian and Chinese missile threats -- Business Insider
These New Pentagon Satellites Must Endure Future Space Warfare -- IBD
Pentagon wants new early warning satellites for nuke detection -- We Are The Mighty/Business Insider
US Awards $2.9 Billion for Early Warning Missile Defense Satellites -- Sputnik

Russia's Satellite Nuclear Warning System Used To Detect Missile Launches Is Down Until November

Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) takes part in a video link with Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu onboard the Vice-Admiral Kulakov anti-submarine warfare ship in Novorossiysk, Russia. Mikhail Klimentyev / Reuters/RIA Novosti/Kremlin

Moscow Times: Russia's Satellite Nuclear Warning System Down Until November

Russia has delayed the launch of a new military satellite system by four months, news agency TASS reported Wednesday, leaving Moscow nearly blind in the event of a nuclear missile attack till at least November.

Russia's decaying constellation of Soviet-designed early warning satellites was left nearly blind last year, when one of the three remaining units malfunctioned. The remaining two satellites were taken offline in January, leaving Russian decision-makers reliant on land-based radar systems to detect incoming missiles.

Radar systems, however, give far less warning than the satellites of incoming strikes, as radar can only detect objects within a set range.

WNU Editor: I first reported on this story in February .... Russia Has Lost Its Early-Warning System For Detecting An Incoming Nuclear Missile Strike .... and I warned at the time that this could be dangerous. 5 months later my advice still stays the same .... this is not a good time to spook the Russians. In comparison to the U.S., NORAD has at least 16 satellites in orbit watching for missiles and is planning to add up to 24 more in the coming years..

More News On Russia's Satellite Nuclear Warning System Being Down Until November

Russia vulnerable to nuclear attack; new satellite system delayed until November -- Washington Times
Russia’s Satellite Nuclear Warning System Down Until November -- Defense Tech
Russia's Military Satellite Delay Leaves Country Vulnerable To Nuclear Missile Attacks: Report -- IBTimes

China Developing Plans To Cover The Globe With Surveillance Satellites

China mulls global satellite surveillance after flight 370 riddle

China Mulls Global Satellite Surveillance After Flight 370 Riddle -- South China Morning Post

Beijing mulls launching network of dozens of satellites, giving it the ability to monitor the whole world, in wake of lost flight 370

China is considering massively increasing its network of surveillance and observation satellites so it can monitor the entire planet, scientists working on the project said.

The government is mulling building more than 50 orbiting probes, which Chinese researchers said would make the nation's satellite surveillance network on par with, or even larger than, that of the United States.

Frustration with the search for the missing Malaysia Airlines aircraft over the past three weeks had led the project to win strong backing from decision makers in Beijing, the researchers said.

"If we had a global monitoring network today, we wouldn't be searching in the dark. We would have a much greater chance to find the plane and trace it to its final position," said Professor Chi Tianhe, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Institute of Remote Sensing and Digital Earth.

"The plan is being drafted to expand our regional monitoring capability to global coverage."

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More News On Reports That China Is Developing Plans To Cover The Globe With Surveillance Satellites

‘Frustrated’ China mulls building 50 satellites following failure to find MH370, says daily -- Malaysian Insider
In wake of MH370 saga, China plans 50 satellites for global surveillance -- Malaysia Chronicle
China’s plan for global network of surveillance satellites spurred by fruitless search for missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 -- Daily Telegraph
China considers launching 50 satellites to set up global monitoring network -- Today Online
China mulls global satellite surveillance after flight 370 -- Indian Defense

DARPA Wants Swarms of Cheap And Disposable Satellites

SeeMe Satellites The SeeMe program would give warfighters the ability to receive timely imagery of their specific overseas location directly from a small satellite, all at the press of a button. DARPA

DARPA Wants Swarms of Cheap, Disposable Satellites That Take Pictures On Demand -- Popular Science

Warfighters have plenty of eyes in the sky, with a massive drone fleet and a satellite network that can spot their locations on the ground. But satellites are only helpful when they’re overhead, and battlefield situations can’t wait for orbital physics. To solve this problem, DARPA wants a swarm of cheap satellites nestled between the big ones up above and the aerial drones down below. The satellite swarm would be positioned in tactical orbits and able to send a space-based image back to any individual who wants a picture.

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My Comment: This is taking surveillance and reconnaissance to an entirely different level.

Spy Satellite Ready To Beam Images From War Zones In Real Time

Image: Illustration of the ORS-1 satellite, an operational prototype, scheduled for a one- to two-year mission. U.S. Air Force

CENTCOM's Spy Satellite Set To Beam Images From War Zones -- Stars And Stripes

WASHINGTON — Commanders in Afghanistan and Iraq will soon be able to track the enemy with their own spy satellite.

ORS-1, developed by the Pentagon’s Operationally Responsive Space Office and launched June 29, is the first satellite dedicated to a single combatant command. It’s scheduled to start beaming back tactical imagery in August after a check of the satellite’s systems is completed in orbit.

“What it does for CENTCOM is it gives us direct command over the tasking of this particular satellite,” said Col. Laura Berry, chief of the intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance division for Central Command. “For all the others out there, we have to compete with the rest of the intelligence community”

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My Comment: The ORS-1 was launched a few weeks ago, the Air Force announcement is here. This is an incredible development and it will change the dynamics on the battlefield.

Giant White Blimp Has Afghans In Kandahar On Edge

A mysterious white blimp over the skies of Kandahar is making locals uneasy.
Photograph by: Bruce Ward, Canwest News Service

From Canada.com:

KANDAHAR CITY, Afghanistan — There's a giant blimp, white with three tail fins, hanging over the city these days and it's causing a stir among Kandaharis who believe the Americans are using it to spy on them.

And it could be they're right.

"Many people believe it's a spy blimp that can see through walls to look at our women," said Ghulam Ghami, a local fixer attuned to the buzz in coffee shops and kebab stands.

While that notion is outlandish, the U.S. is developing a $400-million blimp-like surveillance airship. It is expected to be deployed in Afghanistan by 2011.

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Update: U.S. Army orders more recon blimps -- UPI

My Comment: The technology behind this is incredible. It will provide 24/7 surveillance through the use of human operators and computers .... covering a vast area in the process. I would not be surprise to see more of these blimps in the future, covering even more square footage of territory.

Improving Air Force Situational Awareness With Smart Satellite Imagery

A map of Baghdad that has been automatically registered and aligned with imagery of Baghdad from GoogleMaps. (Credit: Image courtesy of Dr. Craig Knoblock, University of Southern California, Information Sciences Institute)

From Science Daily:

ScienceDaily (Aug. 13, 2009) — Researchers from the University of Southern California (USC) and small business Geosemble Technologies are improving Air Force situational awareness with software that presents vast amounts of map data in a more manageable format for its commanders in theater.

Using basic research funding from the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR), Dr. Craig Knoblock and his team developed a computerized method for aligning maps with satellite imagery. The resulting format combined the visual appeal of photographs with the attribution information found on maps.

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Spysat-Spying Spysats On Track For Launch, Says Boeing

Image from Infowars

The Register:

Letting the enemy know we know what they know.

US aerospace colossus Boeing says it has conducted successful ground testing of America's planned "space surveillance" satellite system. The idea, essentially, is spy satellites to spy on other spy satellites.

Boeing and the US Air Force refer to the new watcher-watcher kit as Space Based Space Surveillance (SBSS).

"The SBSS team is making good progress on the path toward launch," said Colonel James Jordan of the USAF Space Superiority Wing in Los Angeles.

The colonel was speaking of recent tests in which a space-command ops centre in Colorado successfully sent control signals over "the encrypted Air Force satellite control network" to an SBSS spacecraft on the ground.

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My Comment: If this works, no one will be able to match this technology for years.