Star Wars: US Tools of Space Supremacy

198 Pages·2003·0.7 MB·English

by  Loring Wirbel

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Star Wars
US Tools of Space Supremacy
Loring Wirbel
P
Pluto Press
LONDON • STERLING, VIRGINIA
Wirbel 00 prelims 8/10/03 16:31 Page iv
First published 2004 by Pluto Press
345 Archway Road, London N6 5AA
and 22883 Quicksilver Drive,
Sterling, VA 20166–2012, USA
www.plutobooks.com
Copyright © Loring Wirbel 2004
The right of Loring Wirbel to be identified as the author of this work has
been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and
Patents Act 1988.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 0 7453 2115 1 hardback
ISBN 0 7453 2114 3 paperback
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Wirbel, Loring, 1957-
Star wars : US tools of space supremacy / Loring Wirbel.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0–7453–2115–1 (HARDBACK) –– ISBN 0–7453–2114–3 (PAPERBACK)
1. Ballistic missile defenses––United States. 2. Astronautics,
Military––United States. 3. Space weapons. 4. Space warfare. 5. Space
surveillance––United States. 6. Militarism––United States. 7. United
States––Military policy. 8. Military-industrial complex––United
States. I. Title.
UG743.W56 2004
358'.8'0973––dc22
2003015720
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Designed and produced for Pluto Press by
Chase Publishing Services, Fortescue, Sidmouth, EX10 9QG, England
Typeset from disk by Stanford DTP Services, Northampton, England
Printed and bound in Canada by Transcontinental Printing
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Contents
Acronyms and Abbreviations vi
Acknowledgements xi
Preface xv
Introduction 1
1 The Birth of Intelligence Policy and Space Use 8
2 Civilian and Military Space Policies, Post-Sputnik 19
3 Star Wars Part 1: Safeguard, ABM, and Intelligence
Struggles in Space 30
4 Star Wars Part 2: The Reagan Arms Buildup 50
5 Intelligence Goes Real-Time 61
6 Military Space Policy, Post-Challenger 71
7 BMDO, ‘3+3’, and the New Missile Threat 85
8 ‘In Your Face From Outer Space’ 105
9 Permanent War 119
10 Reclaiming Multilateralism and Peace in Space 147
Resources 154
Notes 164
Index 168
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Acronyms and Abbreviations
ABL Airborne Laser
ABM Anti-Ballistic Missile
AFSA Armed Forces Security Agency
AFSC Air Force Space Command
ALCOR ARPA-Lincoln (Labs) Coherent Observable Radar
ALTAIR ARPA Long-Range Tracking And Instrumentation
Radar
AMSTE Affordable Moving Surface Target Engagement
ARPA Advanced Research Projects Agency
ASAT Anti-Satellite
AUV Autonomous Underwater Vehicle
AWACS Airborne Warning And Control System
BMDO Ballistic Missile Defense Organization
BMEWS Ballistic Missile Early Warning System
C4ISR Command, Control, Communications, Computers,
Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance
CALEA Communication Assistance to Law Enforcement Act
CAOC Combined Air Operations Center
CIA Central Intelligence Agency
CMO Central MASINT Office
COIL Chemical Oxygen Iodine Laser
COMINT Communications intelligence
CONAD Continental Air Command
CPIS Citizens for Peace In Space
CSOC Consolidated Space Operations Center
DARO Defense Airborne Reconnaissance Office
DARPA Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency
DEFSMAC Defense Special Misile And Aeronautics Center
DEW Distant Early Warning radar system
DHS Department of Homeland Security
DMSP Defense Meteorological Satellite Program
DRAM Dynamic Random Access Memory
DSCS Defense Satellite Communication System
DSP Defense Support Program
EELV Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle
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Acronyms and Abbreviations vii
ELINT electronic intelligence
EMP electro-magnetic pulse
EOKA National Organization For Cypriot Struggle
EPLF Ethiopian People’s Liberation Front
ERIS Exoatmospheric Re-Entry vehicle Interceptor
Subsystem
ESA European Space Agency
EXCOM Executive Committee
FALCON Force Application and Launch from Continental US
FAS Federation Of American Scientists
FEWS Follow-On Early Warning System
FIA Future Imagery Architecture
FISC Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act
FIST Fleet Imagery Support Terminal
FOL Forward Operating Location
GBS Global Broadcast System
GCHQ Government Communications Headquarters
GPALS Global Protection Against Limited Strikes
GPS Global Positioning System
GRACE Global Resource Action Center for the Environment
HAPDAR Hard Point Demonstration Array Radar
HARM High-Speed Anti-Radiation Missile
HEDI High Endo-atmospheric Defense Interceptor
HUMINT human intelligence
ICBM intercontinental ballistic missile
ISA Intelligence Support Activity
IUS Inertial Upper Stage
JDAM Joint Direct Attack Munition
JEDI Joint Expeditionary Digital Information
Joint-STARS Joint Surveillance Target Attack Reconnaissance
System
KH Keyhole
LEO low-earth orbit
MAE Metropolitan Area Exchange
MASINT measurement and signature intelligence
MDA Missile Defense Agency
MIDAS Missile Defense Alarm System
MIRV Multiple Independently-Targeted Re-Entry Vehicle
MOL Manned Orbiting Laboratory
MONET Multiple Wavelength Optical Network
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viii Star Wars
MUOS Mobile User Objective System
NACA National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics
NADGE NATO Air Defense Ground Environment
NAI National Aerospace Initiative
NAP Network Access Point
NASA National Aeronautics and Space Administration
NATO North Atlantic Treaty Organization
NGO non-governmental organization
NIMA National Imagery And Mapping Agency
NMD National Missile Defense
NOAA National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
NORAD North American Air Defense Command
N-POESS National Polar-Orbit Operational Environmental
Satellite System
NPR Nuclear Posture Review
NRO National Reconnaissance Office
NSA National Security Agency
NSC National Security Council
ORS Operationally Responsive Spacelift
OSR Office Of Space Reconnaissance
PACBAR Pacific Barrier Radar System
PAVE PAWS PAVE = Air Force Program Name; Phased Array
Warning System
PNAC Project for a New American Century
PRESS Pacific Range Electromagnetic Signature Study
QDR Quadrennial Defense Review
RADINT radar intelligence
RAF Royal Air Force
RLV Reusable Launch Vehicle
RMA ‘revolution in military affairs’
RSOC Regional SIGINT Operation Center
SAC Strategic Air Command
SACEUR Strategic Air Command Europe
SAGE Semi-Automatic Ground Environment
SALT Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty
SAMOS Satellite and Missile Observation System
SBIRS Space-Based Infrared System
SBL Space-Based Laser
SBR Space-Based Radar
SDI Strategic Defense Initiative
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Acronyms and Abbreviations ix
SDIO Strategic Defense Initiative Office
SDS Satellite Data System
SIGINT signals intelligence
SIPRNET Secret IP Router Network
SLBM submarine-launched ballistic missile
Sosus sound surveillance system
STARS Strategic Target System
START Strategic Arms Reduction Talks
TCA Transformational Communications Architecture
Tebac Telemetry and Beacon Analysis Committee
TELINT telemetry intelligence
TENCAP Tactical Exploitation of National Capabilities
THAAD Theater High Altitude Area Defense
TMD theater missile defense
TSAT Transformational Satellite
UAV Unpiloted Aerial (Reconnaissance) Vehicle
UCAV Unpiloted Combat Aerial Vehicle
UHF ultra-high frequency
VHF very high frequency
WebTAS Web-enabled Timeline Analysis System
WGS Wideband Gapfiller System
WWMCCS Worldwide Military Command and Control System
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Acknowledgements
My understanding of the way military space networks interop-
erate has been aided immensely by those scholars who make a
point of sharing their work openly, including independent UK
journalist Duncan Campbell, Jeffrey Richelson of National
Security Archives, and John Pike of globalsecurity.org.
It is particularly gratifying to work with those arms researchers
who combine study with action. I have been very lucky to have
lived in the same community and shared many ideas with Bill
Sulzman, director of Colorado-based Citizens for Peace in Space.
Through Bill, I have met many brilliant members of the Global
Network and War Resisters League affiliates, including Bruce
Gagnon, Mary Beth Sullivan, Karl Grossman, Michio Kaku, Dave
Webb, Regina Hagen, Stacey Fritz, Alice Slater, Sheila Baker, Peter
Lumsdaine, Carol Rosin, David Knight of CND, and many other
activists working in local communities. Frida Berrigan and
William Hartung have assembled fine resources at the World
Policy Institute, and through Frida and Bill Sulzman I have met
many brilliant people associated with the Nukewatch
community, including John LaForge, Bonnie Urfer, Jerry
Berrigan, and Molly Mechtenberg-Berrigan.
My deepest respect goes to those who are willing to sacrifice
personal freedoms to challenge space militarism: Lindis Percy
and Anni Rainbow of the Campaign for the Accountability of
American Bases; Helen John, Anne Lee, Wind Euler, and all the
remarkable women of the WoMenwith Hill camp in Harrogate,
UK; Sisters Carol Gilbert, Ardeth Platte, and Jackie Hudson of
Jonah House; and of course, the many Colorado activists and
members of CPIS, Pikes Peak Justice and Peace Commission, and
Bijou Community, who are an endless source of inspiration on
how to live one’s beliefs.
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