The United States Space Force is set to enhance its electronic warfare capabilities with the service entry of the Remote Modular Terminal.
Reports in late July said that the US Space Force’s (USSF’s) Remote Modular Terminal (RMTs) jammers will enter service at undisclosed locations by the end of this year. The reports continued that 24 jammers have been ordered with eleven expected to begin deployment by late 2024. Four of the jammers are thought to have already been delivered. Few details exist regarding the RMT’s capabilities although they are intended to jam Satellite Communications (SATCOM). This may mean they transmit jamming waveforms into ground-based, airborne or ship-based SATCOM terminals. Specifically, the jammers may cover wavebands of circa 240 megahertz/MHz up to 40GHz. By covering these wavebands, RMTs could attack a raft of frequencies routinely used for SATCOM. This April, it was confirmed that the USSF had concluded Remote Modular Terminal testing.
Complementing CCS
Once in service, the Remote Modular Terminals will complement the USSF’s Counter Communications System (CCS) SATCOM jammers. Like the RMTs, much remains unknown vis-à-vis the CCS apparatus including the SATCOM frequencies it targets. CCSs operated by the Space Force are undergoing an upgrade dubbed Meadowlands. The $219 million Meadowlands programme is reducing the quantity of equipment racks used by the CCS; a reduction which will help reduce the CCS’s maintenance burden and ease of deployment.
It is unclear why the Space Force has moved ahead with the RMT acquisition. Previous analysis by the Secure World Foundation surmised that the CCS may attack C-band (5.925GHz to 6.425GHz uplink/3.7GHz to 4.2GHz downlink), X-band (7.9GHz to 8.4GHz uplink/7.25GHz to 7.75GHz downlink) and Ku-band (14GHz uplink/10.9GHz to 12.75GHz downlink) SATCOM frequencies. The Secure World Foundation is a thinktank based in Washington DC specialising in space policy.
Is it possible that the RMT has been procured to attack other SATCOM frequencies not covered by the CCS? The Russian SATCOM sector has made investments into Ka-band capabilities in recent years. Russian military SATCOM has already been confirmed as using C-band and Ku-band frequencies. Likewise, analysis of the SATCOM market confirms that the People’s Republic of China is investing in Ka-band. It would be prudent to ensure that the USSF has SATCOM jammers targeting frequencies used by US and allied strategic rivals.
Tactical and operational deployments
In the USSF’s own words the Remote Modular Terminals are compact, portable and cost-effective, and designed for deployment in difficult environments. The terminals have a small, modular design employing off-the-shelf components. One of the few technical specifications in the public domain is the terminal’s three-metre (ten-feet) diameter dish. It is possible that the larger CCS equipment will be statically deployed for SATCOM jamming at the operational/tactical level. In contrast, the RMTs may be intended for tactical level use at the halt and be easy to redeploy as the tactical situation warrants. Although details regarding the RMT remain scant, more maybe forthcoming once the system enters service later this year.
by Dr. Thomas Withington
