Secret satellite system shields US forces in the Middle East
▶ SBIRS plays vital role in ensuring minimal casualties amid rise in missile attacks
A US satellite early warning system is protecting American forces and their allies in the Middle East by constantly scanning the entire planet for missile launches, a senior Space Force commander has told The National.
The US military’s highly classified Space- Based Infrared System (SBIRS) became fully operational last year.
The system comprises six bus-sized satellites 36,000km above Earth that track thermal radiation to identify potential missile launches.
It constantly covers the entire globe, but is capable of “staring” at certain regions to detect a wide range of threats. That ability is currently proving vital in the Middle East, said Sgt Tina Timmerman, who spoke to The National on the sidelines of the World Defence Show in Riyadh.
The system is protecting lives every day, said Sgt Timmerman, in a region where Iran- backed militias have launched dozens of missiles at American troops since the outbreak of the Israel-Gaza war on October 7.
Each SBIRS satellite weighs about 4,500kg and is capable of detecting not only the heat emissions of missiles but also any aircraft in or around a combat zone.
Sgt Timmerman praised the “outstanding detection capabilities” of SBIRS, and said the information it provides about every aspect of a major attack, or in some cases weapons tests by US adversaries, is sent to “national decision makers”.
“Every single day there are lives that are being protected because of the decisions made and how the information is disseminated to the combatant commands,” she said.
“This system is never turned off and operates every day.”
This constant coverage allows the SBIRS to work as an early missile warning system to alert US forces and their allies of potential attacks, including by Iranian proxy groups in the Middle East, which possess increasingly sophisticated weaponry.
Militias hostile to the US have acquired powerful ballistic missiles that can wreck naval vessels or smash bunkers, as well as low- flying cruise missiles that are hard to detect. These armed groups first gained access to the missiles during the Yemeni civil war, when Iran transferred powerful weapons to the Houthi rebels.
They have since been acquired by other Iran-backed militias across the region, such as Kataib Hezbollah, which Washington blamed for an attack on a US base in Jordan that killed three of its soldiers.
Iranian engineers have improved the accuracy and power of their missiles thanks to the revolution in microelectronics. Unlike earlier models of Scud missiles, which many Iranian weapons are based on and were able to hit targets at an accuracy of several kilometres, modern Iranian missiles can now hit targets within metres.
Early warning systems like the SBIRS therefore play a vital role in minimising US casualties from missile attacks.
This was evident in January 2020 when Iran fired at least 12 ballistic missiles at a joint Iraqi- US airbase in western Iraq, Ain Al Asad, in retaliation to a US drone strike that killed Iranian general Qassem Suleimani, who directed attacks against American troops.
The US said the SBIRS had detected the launches and alerted its troops, who ran to concrete shelters. As a result, no troops were killed in the attack.