Introduction
Technology has empowered humans that allows a man a large reach with speed and precision. Any growth in technology is double edged and can be put to use for both need and greed. The world is witnessing the technology aggregation the same way that offers quick solution by adopting designs for precise targeting. The war Between Israel and Hezbollah has reached a new ebb where any electronic gadget designed as non-lethal can be turned lethal to target an individual by minor change in technology.
Similarly, on the other hand the world is also bracing for space war leading to Planetary domination. Cyber and Space domains have emerged as new frontiers and are fast becoming major war winning factor at all levels from surgical to tactical, operational to strategic, and are deep enough to break the backbone of the adversary in critical areas of Strategic depth. Technology has enabled the ‘standoff warfare’ to be major form of destruction.
As the arc of conflict widens, the target choice and ranges also widen. Space Observation allows higher Commanders the luxury of making such choices provided the observation is persistent and of military grade. Ever since SpaceX has extended services to support Ukraine, a space war has erupted not only between Russia and Ukraine, but also between the Western and the Eastern world. The militaries are engaging targets in depth with accuracy and with real time monitoring with the latest being Iran shooting hypersonic and conventional missiles at targets of military importance in Israel.
Space and Cyber synchronization are essential for such military space applications. Drones have emerged as a new domain of war, from sub-tactical to strategic, non-kinetic to Kinetic, terrestrially operated or space controlled, drones are now a new business of war with Small, Medium and Large scale industry entering into the domain.
Cyber Surveillance
Space observation and cyber surveillance assets are cost prohibitive as they have to remain constantly at work, irrespective of whether a nation is at war or not. The satellites keep taking pictures and continue to provide observation inputs about the adversary and cyber bots keep crawling down the networks simultaneously. Military units, installations or infrastructure continue to be scanned, called persistent surveillance; without the adversary knowing that their movements are being picked up.
This constant flow of data builds repository of regular inputs that are used as Intelligence, post analysis. The storyboard at the military Command Posts gets constantly updated with LLM (Large Language Models) revising information in real-time that gets transposed on the GIS (Geographic Information System), an essential foundation to build the mosaic of the ‘area of interest’. Once the data is available, the choice is available to the military Commanders on what to target? when to target? and what punishment to be delivered to a specific target?
Cyber Attacks
Cyber-attacks targeting critical infrastructure and businesses have surged. These include the 2017 WannaCry and NotPetya ransomware attacks, the 2015 attack on Ukrainian power grids. The September 2024 attacks through exploding pagers and radio sets are being attributed to Unit 8200 of Israel Defence Forces. It is the same unit that had manifested the 2010 Stuxnet attack on Iranian nuclear reactors. An attack on SpaceX by LockBit is noteworthy.
The systems that are earmarked as ‘high security networks’ are classified as critical infrastructure and given top priority in Cyber Security. Unfortunately, space assets are not classified for such priority and can also be attacked. Since space is all pervasive and ubiquitous in application, it has far too many critical elements that go beyond typical classification. Also, the Space networks lie in open spectrum. Therefore, space infrastructure that has a global spread needs a cyber shield. China has launched a Quantum satellite using QKD (Quantum Key Distribution) encryption to secure space communications. China is sending survey ships into the Indian ocean for sensing the Indian vulnerabilities. Such actions of China support their ‘Boiling frog strategy’ – to get the adversary used to measured belligerence and push them to gradual defeat.
New Domains of Warfare
Space and Cyber are known as the fourth and fifth domains of warfare. Both these domains when added to the first three primary domains; Land, Sea and Air power, to become five domains of Multi-Domain Operations (MDO) with cohesive operational centricity. Till the time the Army, Navy and Airforce remained confined within their respective domains, there was not much to worry as it was convenient to maintain protection of networks through isolation. Similarly, when the space emerged as the new turf in the 1950’s it also remained confined within its domain; remained isolated and secure.
Soon the space programmes began running military communications and terrestrial observation for deeper and better communications and to provide Intelligence introducing the lexicon C3-I and further expanding into C3-I2 (Command, Control, Communications, Intelligence and interoperability) where the Command and Control of the forces was possible over larger distances and wider areas and territories. It was now possible to connect arrayed forces and make them interoperable.
With the advent and introduction of Computers (the fourth ‘C’) the terminology extended to C4-I2. This gave birth to introduction of smarter systems with high power of computing and communicating through internet. The shift of millennia has brought in Cyber (the fifth ‘C’) to integrate the early combine and defined as CEMA (Cyber and Electromagnetic Activities) that exploits Electronic Warfare, Cyber and Security capabilities to deliver information advantage in multi-domain operations.
Today, we are near achieving the C5-I2-STAR2, (Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Cyber – Intelligence, Interoperability – Surveillance, Target Acquisition. Reconnaissance and Robotics), which is capable of meshed intelligence and operations. The web so created are now making it possible to interlink terrestrial and non-terrestrial networks that make processes faster but complex. The complexity is best handled through effective Central and/or Distributed Command and Control.
ISR
Persistence ISR (Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance) is a three-stage process. The first stage is the Reconnaissance. This is a preliminary survey to gain information or an exploratory military survey of enemy territory. It allows the Commanders first-hand information regarding the presence of enemy in the area of interest. If there is none, the process is repeated constantly day after day. Lack of presence of military activity is also an input of value, even though there is nothing to analyse. The resolutions of these earth observation satellites at this stage can be more than a meter with larger swaths to cover larger areas. Once the enemy is detected, the Commander keeps a close watch over it. The cyber unit then zeros down on the same target. That means that the target has to be kept under constant surveillance lest it disappears or gets lost through camouflage, movement or lack of capability of the satellite/ cyber bots to recapture it.
The coordination of complementary sensor systems enhances and optimizes persistent monitoring processes over large areas. Tip and cue process work towards monitoring an area or an object of interest by a sensor and requesting “tipping” another complementary sensor platform to acquire “cueing” an image over the same area. Typically, the process of tip and cue is initiated with an object or location identified with a cost-effective, low resolution (but wide field-of-view) sensor.
Once military activity is detected, the observation gets more specific to a narrow area of interest – a point of focus. Repeat re-visits by orbiting satellites are made until the time the object gets identified as a potential or confirmed target. The information collected is then passed to a higher resolution (and costlier) sensors for follow-up investigation and analysis.
Certain targets need a closer look, which calls for even better resolution, probably sub-metric and hyperspectral images to pick up targets for decision to engage. A resolution of 50 mm and 30 mm are considered appropriate for military grade intelligence. Similarly, pattern recognition through AI engines is a most sought-after technology. Military Commanders, can subject a single/ multiple target to analysis, so as to grade their importance. Many targets such as communication centres or radar stations emit electronic signatures/ radiations. Such signatures are picked up by Electronic Intelligence (ELINT) sensors.
Depending on the profile of the object/target, specific sensors such as Electro Optical, High-Resolution cameras, Synthetic Aperture Radars and ELINT are used. As the numbers of such targets increase and form a pattern, it gives a warning about the type of combat related activity or a probable military build-up. The LLM can quickly analyse this information and convert this into intelligence. These targets are put on the target list for neutralisation or destruction. These targets have to be locked for engagement. Multi-sensor satellites and constellation of satellites are becoming increasingly popular.
The next important factor is the ability to find the exact position of the target in Latitude-Longitude (Lat-Long) cross-section as also its height. If the target is moving in a particular direction it would be necessary to track the movement and predict the future location of the target through track and follow. It is important to know the angle, direction and distance of the objects or targets.
PNT satellites have three attributes Position, Navigation and Time. That would give out the precise location of the target, the direction in which it is moving, in case of mobile column and what time the object was at which place and the prediction of probable location it would or is expected to show up at a particular time. American PNT constellations called the GPS (Global Positioning System) are being used worldwide. Post denial of GPS services to India during the Kargil Conflict in 1999, India developed her own PNT called the NaviC or the IRNSS. Multi-constellation GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite Systems) receivers get information from many such systems at the same time for better accuracy.
PNT systems like GNSS are essential assets in all aspects of military operations, from designation of precise target to delivery of conventional/smart munitions, with extreme accuracy under any conditions of target visibility. The essence of GPS efficiency is in its ability to send precise signals that are its fundamental feature. The GPS provides a direct and unambiguous correlation between a target point and the guidance of the weapon intended to hit the target precisely. This translates directly into increased kill probability for any particular weapon, and therefore making the execution of war more efficient. However, GPS signals can be vulnerable to spoofing (sending false signals to deceive receivers) and jamming (interfering with signals to disrupt navigation). Military users in any country need to have measures in place to mitigate these risks and ensure the reliability of the system.
Communication
The most fundamental use of Military Space is the Communication. Whatever objects get located on ground, the pictures, electronic signatures and radiation along with the location have to be plotted on Mosaic or GIS maps. These are transmitted through communication data links using the most suitable spectrum or band. Once the target location is plotted on the screen, a dedicated and uninterrupted link is necessary between the object and the warhead.
This is called the seeker-shooter-sensor combination. These links are generally a combination of ground and satellite links. Due to the contested environment in which battles are fought, these links have to be secure and reliable. In the wartime far too many frequencies open up. There are likely to be over one million sensors transmitting frequencies per square Kilometre through terrestrial and non-terrestrial links. This aggregation is best handled through Mosaic Warfare that creates a mesh within a Tactical Battle Area (TBA) for distributed decision.
Conclusion
The Space triad supports not only the deep battles at the strategic level, but also works at the operational levels as also in the TBA. The IoMT (Internet of Military Things) in a larger conflict zone and IoBT (Internet of Battle Things) in TBA is all about communication, positioning and targeting enabled by the triad. Communication technology and algorithms must ensure compatibility within various emitters, receivers and transceivers. There should not be any conflict in programmes, applications, or frequencies causing any electronic clutter.
Industry and R&D organisations must coordinate such norms, standards and protocols. The manned and unmanned aerial platforms in aerospace and near space are also the users of triad.
Artillery which has remained confined to tactical battle areas for close support to infantry in analogue battles are now transforming into digitally integrated battles and with longer ranges. Drones are intrinsic part of artillery battles. Artillery is now emerging as the stakeholder in military space domain. As the ranges of guns, missiles and rockets increase and precise targeting has become essential. Mechanised Forces, Artillery, Strategic and Special Forces and Infantry have to be brought on the common mosaic for standoff warfare to be executed with precision and economy.
Author: Lt Gen (Dr) PJS Pannu, PVSM,AVSM,VSM ( Retd) is a former Deputy Chief of Integrated Defence Staff. He commanded 14 Corps in Ladakh. He was also the Director General of Infantry. He pioneered the raising of Defence Space Agency, Defence Cyber Agency and Armed Forces Special Forces Division. He is currently Senior advisor to Satcom Industries Association (SIA-India) and FICCI chair for ICT modernization for Defence and He is also a National Cyber Security Scholar for ISAC. He has a doctorate on Indigenization of Defence Industry.
