OMM Newsroom
Iran is emerging as a space power capable of challenging US military operations in the Middle East, despite American strikes on key Iranian space-related facilities, according to a Pentagon intelligence report cited by Anadolu Agency.
The Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) said Iran took offensive action against US space capabilities during “Operation Epic Fury”, using ground-based jamming systems that can disrupt satellite-based GPS signals.
Tehran is expanding its military and civilian space programmes to bolster its military capabilities, economic development and national prestige, the report said.
“Space is accessible and affordable today,” Brig. Gen. Todd Benson, commander of Space Forces Central, said at a Mitchell Institute webinar last month.
Iran has around a dozen operational satellites, according to space data from the “American Enterprise Institute”, while the United States operates more than 1,000 times as many.
Tehran has also reportedly received satellite support from China and Russia to improve its intelligence and targeting capabilities.
Despite US claims of having achieved “space superiority” over Iran, some American defence experts have questioned that assessment.
“If Iran can degrade U.S. space capabilities, we don't have superiority” over it, aerospace expert Todd Harrison of the “American Enterprise Institute” told “Axios”.
The DIA said Iran is also working to make its guidance and navigation systems more resistant to electronic attacks.
