September 14, 2024: For over a decade the United States has observed China putting more Remote Sensing satellites into orbit. Currently there are over 300 of them up there. A few dozen of these satellites would be sufficient for commercial use. China has spent billions to put a much larger number of satellites in orbit so that it has an assured network of surveillance satellites that could survive a major attack. China continues to maintain a larger number of these satellites in orbit, must frequently replace ones which become disabled or wear out, and also periodically replaces existing satellites with improved ones with more capabilities and longer use lives. China requires such a large and survivable satellite network to keep an eye on potential naval threats. It’s not just the U.S. Navy, but naval forces from South Korea, Japan, Australia, Taiwan and most other countries bordering the Western Pacific.
The U.S. government does not want to pay for an equally robust and comprehensive satellite system that can survive a Chinese attack. China has been smart about their threatening satellite network by not talking about it and, when pressed, insisting that all those satellites are for commercial uses, to assist Chinese fishing trawlers and China commercial shipping industry. China is currently the largest shipbuilder in the world, building over half the commercial ships produced each year.
The threat to the United States and its allies is real and for over a decade the U.S. Navy has been developing countermeasures. While the U.S. Navy has been quiet about how it plans to defend its ships against Chinese ship-killer ballistic missiles, they have not been idle. The navy has quietly expanded its layered air defense system with the addition of new electronic defenses. The navy is particularly quiet about any efforts to conduct realistic tests of its defenses against Chinese ballistic missiles.
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