RAF chief’s alarm as space turns into a new war zone

SPACE has become a ‘contested war-fighting domain’, the head of the RAF warned yesterday.

Air Chief Marshal Mike Wigston made his comments amid fears Russia and China are developing systems to jam satellite links, fire lasers from one satellite to another and use smaller ones as weapons.

He cautioned that if Britain’s satellites were targeted there could be disastrous effects on our day-to-day lives.

At RAF Waddington in Lincoln, from where Reaper drones are flown over Iraq and Syria, the air chief added: ‘Space is now a contested war-fighting domain.

‘Today we can no longer assume the unchallenged access to air or space that we have enjoyed for the last three decades, nor can we ignore the threat of air, ballistic and cruise missile attack.

‘Our access to space is fundamental to national security and

‘Cannot ignore threat of attack’

any loss or disruption to our satellite services would have a disastrous effect on day-to-day lives.’

Millions of pounds are expected to be poured into defending British assets in space in a major defence review.

The UK wants all countries to pledge not to engage in warfare in space but Russia has already been accused of firing a missile-like projectile into outer space.

The speech came as Boris Johnson’s chief aide Dominic Cummings was pictured going into Downing Street for a Cabinet meeting holding a clearly visible archive letter on defence.

It was written in 1986 for a review of defence spending for President Ronald Reagan by former US air force general Bernard Schriever.

He was one of the leading figures of the US missile and space programmes, and backed ‘the wise and timely application of technology to provide qualitatively superior weapons’.

The document fits with comments from defence chiefs and Defence Secretary Ben Wallace about the importance of technological innovation.