The first aerial “dogfight” occurred less than a decade after the maiden manned flight. It reportedly took place between two American pilots, who were serving as mercenaries on opposing sides during the Mexican Revolution. While both had received orders to kill the other, they opted not to harm one another but exchanged multiple shots fired from handguns.
Less than a year later, during the First World War, pilots actively attempted to down enemy aircraft. That included various improvised means such as throwing bricks and grenades, while a Russian pilot went so far as to ram his plane into an enemy spotter’s aircraft. Soon, machine guns were mounted on the primitive planes, and dogfighting became a staple of aerial combat.
By that time, the United States Navy had already conducted flights from and onto a warship, paving the way for naval aviation and eventually aircraft carriers.
The United States Space Force is now exploring options to conduct dogfights in orbit, but instead of manned space fighters, it could involve maneuverable satellites that could be launched by an “orbital carrier.”
Is the Final Frontier Being Weaponized?
When the sixth and newest branch of the U.S. military was created in late 2019, it was noted at the time that the U.S. was “militarizing” space – yet, that wasn’t seen as being the same as “weaponizing” space. It would seem the situation has changed as China and Russia have also explored options for developing space-borne weapons.
“We must simultaneously be ready to defend American spacepower as well as to protect our forces against hostile spacepower,” Chief of Space Operations Gen. Chance Saltzman said during the Air and Space Forces Association Warfare Symposium earlier this month in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
“Because that is the true essence of Space Superiority, which is the formative purpose of the U.S. Space Force,” added Saltzman. “Space Superiority is the fundamental difference between a civil space agency and a warfighting space service. It is the distinction between a company’s employees operating commercial satellites and Guardians conducting combat operations to achieve joint objectives.”
How Will Space Dogfighting Take Shape?
Militaries were quick to adopt heavier-than-air aircraft, and it didn’t take long for aviation pioneers to arm the early planes. Efforts are now underway that will transform existing satellite technology into combat platforms. But space dogfighting could have a very different vector.
“Dogfighting in space is not like atmospheric dogfighting or like what one may recall from ‘Star Trek: Deep Space Nine’ or ‘Babylon 5’ or yes, the ‘Star Wars’ movies, episodic dramas, books and more. Rather, in this case, it’s a matter of changing orbits and being able for one orbiting object to intercept another while racing around the Earth,” explained aviation news site SimpleFlying.com.
That report cited a 2020 whitepaper written by Dr. Rebecca Reesman, a project engineer in The Aerospace Corporation’s Defense Systems Group, and James R. Wilson, a member of the Astrodynamics Department at The Aerospace Corporation. It explained the numerous physical limits that satellites will face in orbit.
“Unlike an aircraft, which is free to change where it is heading at any time, a satellite in orbit generally follows the same path and goes in the same direction without additional propulsive maneuvers. These paths can be circular or elliptical (i.e., shaped like a watermelon) but must revolve around the center of Earth,” the paper explained.
Thus, we may not expect exciting dogfights from science fiction, but it may involve other means to counter an adversary’s satellites and spacecraft.
A Spacecraft Carrier
The U.S. Space Force has recently awarded a $60 million SpaceWERX contract to startup Gravitics to develop an “Orbital Carrier,” which could deploy satellites from orbit. The carrier will be designed to pre-position multiple maneuverable space vehicles, which in turn could deliver a rapid response to address threats in orbit. This spacecraft carrier would offer the U.S. Space Force greater flexibility and speed for in-space operations.
“We’re honored to partner with the U.S. Space Force on this critical initiative,” said Colin Doughan, CEO of Gravitics. “The Orbital Carrier is a game-changer, acting as a pre-positioned launch pad in space. It bypasses traditional launch constraints, enabling space vehicle operators to rapidly select a deployment orbit on-demand.”
The role of the carrier would be to isolate the satellites from the space environment, but also to “obfuscate the satellites inside from observation by other nations or hostile actors in space,” Ars Technica reported. “When a satellite is needed, it can be deployed into multiple orbits by the carrier.”
Arming Space – It was Done in the Cold War
How the satellites could be armed is unknown, but during the Cold War, the Soviet Union did develop the Rikhter R-23, a specialized aircraft cannon that was even fired in orbit.
Development of the Rikhter R-23 began in the late 1950s, before the first manned spaceflight. The aim of the program wasn’t to develop a space weapon, however, but rather to create a weapon that was designed to be as short as possible to avoid any issues found on high-speed aircraft when a gun is pointed into the airstream. The 23mm automatic cannon was designed as an oversized gas-operated revolver cannon that utilized the gas bled from holes in the barrel to provide the motive force.
The weapon was adopted to protect Moscow’s ALMAZ/Salyut 3/OPS-2 space station. Due to weight, only 32 rounds were ever brought to space. On January 24, 1975, it became the only weapon to be fired in outer space – and it highlighted an issue with orbital weapons, namely the recoil. The station’s jet thrusters had to fire to counteract the weapon’s recoil.
Recoil and Debris
The issues of the R-23 cannon are a reminder of the challenges that space presents for weapons developed for use on Earth.
It is unclear how a satellite would deal with recoil, while debris is another issue. Orbital debris is already an issue, and destroyed satellites won’t simply fall to Earth and burn up in the atmosphere but will remain, resulting in unintended collisions that could be impossible to predict.
Thus the U.S. Space Force’s efforts may be one of deterrence, as a war in space would be one with no winners and only losers.
