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General Lidder’s Dream : Joint Defence Space Agency Needs To Be Upgraded To Joint Space Defence Command
By
Colonel Awadhesh Kumar, Veteran
The USA has become the first country to create the US Space Force as the sixth branch of the US armed forces distinct from the Army, the Navy. the Air Force, the Marines and the Coast Guard. This move has not caused much concern around the world except in Russia and China. However India has probably just noted it down quietly.
The National Defense Authorization Act passed by the American Congress has now become a Law of their country. The President has signed and approved for Fiscal Year 2020, $40 million for Space Force operations and maintenance. It is estimated that about $13 billion would be spent in the first five years with effect 2020 to establish the Space Force.
The USA has established the Space Force knowing fully well that weaponization of space is a violation of UN resolutions. The UN General Assembly Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space was formed in 1959 to govern the exploration and use of space for the benefit of all humanity. Finally the Outer Space Treaty was approved by the General Assembly and it entered into force on October 10, 1967. All Countries became Party to the treaty and recognized the common interest of all mankind in the progress of the exploration and use of outer space for peaceful purposes.
The treaty calls on all members to “refrain from placing in orbit around the earth any objects carrying nuclear weapons” and forbids the “establishment of military bases, installations and fortifications.” The United States of America is also a party to the above Treaty. Thus the creation of the US Space Force and America’s intention to deploy military forces in space have seriously violated the above treaties on outer space.
The quest for a Space Force for the USA had commenced when Ronald Reagan,in 1983, had started the Strategic Defence Initiative for developing anti ballistic missile defence system to destroy incoming missiles. Now USA has commenced raising a separate defence force Space Force, in spite of stiff resistance by the USAF, with declared intention of defending itself against all military threats from Space.
The US Space Force with its mission of DOMINANCE IN SPACE has certainly become a threat to all the major World powers right from the word go.This Force will not only aim to protect its own satellites, but will certainly strengthen its capability of detecting other countries’ activities and launch military strikes from outer space. The USA has already shown its perfect COWBOYISH GUN SLINGER behaviour by its Afghanistan and Iraq invasions, misadventures in Syria and confrontation with Iran.
Even if the above move does not trigger an arms race and threaten current Strategical stability, inevitably countries like Russia, India, China, Japan and France will have no choice left but start improving their defensive actions in space.The Government of Japan has already approved a record defense budget for fiscal year 2020 totaling $48.5 billion, which includes strengthening the country’s defense capabilities in outer space and cyberspace.
NATO, a lackey of USA has already declared that Space is the fifth operational domain for NATO, alongside land, air, sea, and cyber. So no wonder Putin, forced by the American and NATO move, has said “ the situation requires us to pay increased attention to strengthening the orbital group, as well as the rocket and space industry as a whole.” And every one is sure that China will not take all this lightly and thus has already started accelerating its own space based weapon systems.
So where does all this leave India. Presently it will take more than a decade for the USA to deploy any Space based threatening combat capability. India since the days of establishing the Thumba Rocket Launching Station has dedicated its Space Mission for peaceful development of Outer Space for the entire mankind. However if any other country develops space combat capabilities and deploys weapons in space, then India too must prepare itself to replicate the technology of the Mahabharat Days and be ready accordingly.
As per the current situation, India too needs to carry on with the further development of its ongoing anti missile and anti satellite weapons, both in very advance stages and demonstrated to the whole world, so that neither friends nor enemies remain in any doubt.
Adding to the already existing the Research and Development domain, India must also develop a suitable and adequate command and control organization for Space Warfare. A major task of this Defence Space Agency Organization, initially will be to formulate effective strategy to deal with all kinds of feasible threats from outer space.
All the required structures must be in place in the next 10 years. The combat capable defensive weapons must also be ready with suitable tactics for deployment and use. Deployment of offensive weapons may follow as per international situation, a decade later.
It is not that India has been sleeping over the issue, otherwise World would have not be able to see the ASAT test conducted by India last year. Prelim work was going on quietly. Around 2003, a space cell was created within the Air HQ. Then in 2006 came along a Chief of Staff to the Chairman Chief of Staff Committee ( CISC ) with great vision.
General Hardev Singh Lidder formulated the futuristic plan for an Integrated tri services Space Agency including DRDO and ISRO with aim to establish a full fledged tri Service Space Command on the lines of Strategic Forces command. Had it not been for General Lidder, by now we would be having just an IAF Space Directorate or something to that effect.
In spite of all the road blocks, General H S Lidder had his way but only in the form of an Integrated Space Cell against a Space Agency. This was due to sudden change in the Government.The Government of India which had ordered the conduct of a combined Nuclear & Thermonuclear tests was once again in the old “ Dhoti Shivering “ mindset …..what will the rest of the World say or feel.
The Integrated Space Cell comprising the three Armed Services, DRDO and ISRO scientists was established under the HQ IDS to oversee the security of India’s space based military and civilian hardware systems.
When appointed CISC, Lt General H S Lidder, Colonel of Parachute Regiment and an ex Commanding Officer of 9 Parachute Special Forces, may have had a feeling of being deprived of the post of an operational Army Commander. The power of COMMAND over nearly a quarter million All Ranks is quite heady. The post of CISC ( equivalent to Army Commander / VCOAS ) also lacks all the military Pomp and Show.
However as an Army Commander or even the VCOAS, he would have been simply deprived of such visionary role and could not have achieved goals having such far reaching futuristic implications not only for India but the entire world. It so happens that at that time while posted at the Army HQ, from the side lines whatever was observed by me, I can say that this achievement of General Lidder was just one of the many major achievements.
The Integrated Space Cell, even in its nascent stage had begun to utilize more effectively the country’s space-based assets for military purposes and to look into threats to these assets. All space technology including assets began to be leveraged, achieving closer cooperation and coordination among the Services and Civilian agencies.
Warfare per force is getting increasingly dependent on satellites for all kinds of communications, aircraft and missile guidance, navigation even at Squad / Platoon level, recce both at tactical and Strategic level and a continuous need of 24×7 …..surveillance. At the same time Satellites have become essential for purposes such as weather forecasting, civil communication, ground and air navigation, agricultural purposes, town planning and most important disaster management. Therefore it is of utmost importance that apart from protecting India from all threats emanating from Space, all our Space based assets also remain protected 24×7.
It actually took a few more years for the Indian Defence Forces to formally announce the establishment of an Integrated Space Cell. When the Chinese demonstrated their capability in May 2010 by shooting down one of their own 10 years old polar orbit weather Satellite, the Raksha Mantri Shri A K Antony had to announce the Space Cell. For a change, he said that “ while India remains committed to non-weaponization of space, emergence of offensive counter space systems and anti-satellite weaponry posed new threats which had to be countered.” Till that time only Russia and USA had demonstrated this kind of expertize.
The creation of the Defence Space Agency as envisaged initially by General Lidder was finally announced by PM Narendra Modi, along with the Defence Cyber Agency and the Armed Forces Special Operations during the Combined Commanders’ Conference on 28 September 2018 at Jodhpur. Just six months later on 27 March 2019 India carried out its first demonstration of Anti Satellite weapon technology by destroying a satellite in a low orbit altitude of 300 km. Immediately till now “ blind” Americans and NATO became alarmed because of the “ extensive “ debris created in space by India. Without wasting time the fourth country in the World to demonstrate ASAT technology, stated that this capability was a deterrent and was not directed against any nation.
In 2006 and 2007, India had tested its first exo atmospheric interceptors. India had therefore begun to work on its ASAT soon after the 2007 Chinese ASAT. It is presumed and is beyond doubt, that India is currently working on directed energy ASAT weapons, co-orbital ASAT weapons, lasers and electromagnetic pulse (EMP) based ASAT weapons. The ability to protect space assets from hostile electronic and physical attacks has to be developed by India at all costs.
The Defence Space Agency is still in a downsized form. The Defence Imagery Processing and Analysis Centre located at New Delhi and the Defence Satellite Control Centre in Bhopal already form part of the DSA along with other assets slowly building up. While still forming up, the DSA conducted its first simulated Warfare Exercise in Jul 2919 namely EX INDSPACE.
The overall supervision was exercised by HQ IDS. It was aimed at formulating a Space Warfare Doctrine based on which the DSA will develop the warfare Strategy and later the Combat elements when formed will develop the tactics. Indian interests in the Outer Space, on the moon and Mars will be fully protected.
The Defence Space Research Agency, the scientific organisation responsible for developing space-warfare systems and technologies for the Defence Space Agency was also approved by the Indian government in June 2019. The DSRA is composed to undertake research and development in close coordination with the HQ IDS.
Now the Chief of Defence Staff has taken over his responsibilities. He needs to start working to ensure that in the near foreseeable future the DSRA becomes a fully integrated component of Defence Space Command when the current Defence Space Agency gets upgraded to the next level.
