UK ‘delusional’ about Russian and Chinese space threat and must ‘redouble efforts’ to protect itself

The UK is ‘delusional’ about the Russian and Chinese space threat and must ‘redouble its efforts’ to protect itself, MPs have been warned.

Dr Rob Johnson, defence expert at the Oxford Changing Character of War Centre, said both the UK and the US needed to accept that the “age has already past” where space will remain “pristine” and “un-militarised like the Arctic”, and said that the UK was “deluding itself” if it believed it would remain peaceful.

While space is international, signatories agree to a set of protocols prescribed by the United Nations Office of Outer Space Affairs.

The UN Register of Objects in Space dates back to 1962 as a mechanism to aid peaceful uses in space.

The Telegraph revealed last August that the UK is consulting with other countries on a new initiative called Reducing Space Threats through Responsible Behaviours, which will seek to increase knowledge of space threats while reducing the risk of conflict through miscalculation of distance around satellites, in order to avoid collisions.

However, Dr Johnson hailed the fact that as of September 2020, China had completed its own satellite navigation system, which means it no longer requires American GPS, as “an absolute gamechanger”.

He told the Defence Select Committee on Tuesday: “I really hope the UK realises how serious that is. What it means is China has the ability to maneuver space vehicles, as has Russia, that could easily interdict Western space assets.”

Dr Johnson said this could be done “either by electronic means or physical means”.

“They could continue to operate their own GPS system without any reference to any western damage points putting the western world at significant military disadvantage,” he said.

“I would urge a redoubling of efforts by the United Kingdom to examine how we protect ourselves from space.”

His comments come ahead of the highly anticipated defence review, which is expected to have a strong focus on cyber and space as the threat from this realm increase.

Ben Wallace, the Defence Secretary, previously wrote in The Telegraph that as Russia and China are developing offensive space weapons “such behaviour only underlines the importance of the (defence) review”.

He said: “The MoD that emerges from this review will be a much more threat-lead organisation, pivoting away from what we have become used to in recent decades, and reshaped to operate much more in the newest domains of space, cyber and sub-sea.”