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The art of satellite warfare seems to have passed over the heads of
most of America’s generals – an oversight that worries the country’s experts
in space technology. To remedy this the US Air Force last week opened its
new Space Warfare Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado, where it will initiate
its commanders in the ways of space warfare.

Military satellites were designed with nuclear war in mind, so most
officers are largely ignorant about how satellites can help them in a conventional
war, says Michael Francisco, director of operations at the centre, which
is part of the air force’s Space Command: ‘If you don’t know how to ask
for space support, you don’t get it.’

So the centre has created teams of satellite experts on call to help
military commanders around the world who are planning any military activity,
be it an exercise or a real attack.

The space task force will advise on what satellites are available –
such as spy satellites that can track the enemy’s movements or weather satellites
that can determine if conditions are suitable for laser-guided weapons.

And, as the generals learn the tricks of the trade, they are likely
to come to rely on them – which is what the air force is banking on. A three-star
general packs more punch in a battle over budgets than Space Command. ‘When
they know how to ask for it, the request makes it through the bureaucracy,’
Francisco says.

In another move designed to produce dependence on their satellites,
Space Command has produced a book for fighter pilots promoting the use of
technology such as navigation satellites. The book, classified ‘secret’,
is a big hit among aviators, says Francisco. Space Command is also taking
its message to the air force’s Air War College – so the next generation
of military leaders will expect to have access to such spacecraft.

In future, Space Command might take its attempts to indoctrinate the
country’s fighting forces one stage further, offering them the opportunity
to play war games with computer simulations that highlight the role of satellites.
‘You have to teach them about space,’ Francisco says. ‘We haven’t done that
very well in the past.’