A secret American weapon that jams Chinese and Russian satellites is finally ready to be delivered.
The ‘Meadowlands’ system is a powerful satellite jammer built to temporarily disrupt enemy communications at the start of a conflict.
Using a burst of radio signal, the US Space Force’s new $120 million weapon “screams” so loudly it drowns out any other messages.
Originally scheduled for delivery in 2022, the weapon was hit by a series of unspecified technical errors that caused more than two years of delays.
However, Space Force now says the system has passed “all system-level verification tests” and is on track to be delivered in early 2025.
Designed by a Florida company called L3Harris Technologies Inc., Meadowlands is a lighter, more mobile version of America’s first offensive electronic weapons.
Details of the system offer a rare glimpse into America’s top-secret arsenal of space weapons designed to fight Russia and China.
Jammers work by “screaming” so loudly that enemy signals are drowned out. This means that enemy satellites cannot distinguish signal from noise and transmit an encrypted message.
The Meadowlands system is essentially a huge radio transmitter on wheels that can produce an extremely powerful burst of radio noise that can drown out messages from a foreign satellite.
These could potentially be Russian or Chinese surveillance messages, such as the position of the US military.
The tool would allow the US Space Force to temporarily disable Chinese or Russian satellites at the start of a conflict, while allowing US satellites to operate normally.
Maj. Neal Carter, deputy director of Intelligence for the Space Force’s Space Systems Command, explained in a blog post last month: ‘I have two children and they can be very noisy.
“If I’m in the kitchen, washing dishes, and my wife is in the living room and she’s trying to tell me something from across the room, but the kids are talking so loudly that it’s impossible for me to hear her, that’s interference. ‘
Major Neal explains that satellite jammers work on exactly the same principle and essentially “scream” so loudly that terrestrial receivers cannot hear the desired signal.
The Meadowlands system was commissioned to replace the aging ‘Counter Communications System’ which became operational in 2020.
The new ground weapon has been built to be lighter and more mobile for faster deployment.
America’s new secret weapon built to jam Russian and Chinese satellites (pictured) is finally ready for delivery, more than two years late.
Meadowlands can also be updated with new software and can interfere with a wider range of frequencies.
A $124 million (£95.5 million) contract was signed with the expectation that the systems would be operational in 2022.
However, due to unspecified technical problems, it has taken two years longer than expected to deliver the satellite jamming weapons.
Speaking to Bloomberg, The company said: ‘The Meadowlands system will see significant improvements in terms of technical performance and simpler logistics for its implementation and maintenance.
Although the company admitted that “verification testing took longer than anticipated,” they state that “L3Harris has already completed verification testing and the program is on track to be delivered early next year.”
The first five of the planned 32 weapons will be delivered to the Space Force in January next year for further testing.
In March, if the tests are successful, the weapons will be declared operational and delivered to the Space Force’s electronic warfare unit, Space Delta 3.
While the United States has kept much of its space warfare capabilities secret, the arrival of the Meadowlands suggests a growing focus on offensive electronic capabilities.
The ‘Meadowlands’ system uses a powerful burst of radio signal to drown out enemy communications, disabling satellites during the onset of a conflict. It offers a rare glimpse into America’s growing arsenal of space weapons designed to fight Russia and China.
Observation and communication satellites now play an enormous role in shaping global conflicts.
In the Ukraine war, both sides use satellites to guide GPS missiles to their targets, coordinate troop movements on the ground, and detect enemy formations as they approach.
However, the growing importance of satellites has also led to much greater use of satellite jamming weapons.
Space Delta 3 has been using jamming weapons since 2004, but there has been a growing emphasis on electronic warfare since the outbreak of war.
Maj. Gen. Gregory Gagnon, the Space Force’s deputy chief of Space Operations for Intelligence, said last year at an Air Force Association symposium that the United States faces an “armada” of satellites.
China is believed to operate 300 different remote sensing satellites with a wide range of different capabilities.
Russia, although less advanced than China, has also made effective use of satellite observation during almost three years of war.
General Gagnon said: “Their armada of satellites in orbit can track us, sense us, see us, connect that data to their fire network and can now keep American forces at risk in a way we have never understood or had to do.” face to date.”
