The United States is facing down a new war front in space and may be unprepared to meet the challenge, according to a Republican senator who is calling for a briefing on American preparedness following a ballistic missile strike on Israel by an Iranian terror group.
Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R., Tenn.) petitioned the Pentagon on Wednesday to provide Congress with information on the Biden administration’s "capacity to defend the United States in this emerging age of space warfare," according to a copy of the request obtained by the Washington Free Beacon.
Blackburn is "concerned about military readiness in the face of these new threats" following an October ballistic missile strike on Israel by the Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen. Israel intercepted the missile "outside of the Earth’s atmosphere, making it the first recorded instance of space warfare during an active conflict in world history," according to the senator.
With Iran, China, and Russia all working on advanced technology to conduct warfare in space, the Houthi missile strike is a wake-up call for the United States to step up its own defenses in this emerging battleground. The U.S. Space Force was established in 2019 to confront the new realities of warfare in space, but Blackburn is worried that recent delays in the deployment of hypersonic missiles may be a sign the United States is falling behind its adversaries.
"I am gravely concerned about this new theater of war that has opened," Blackburn wrote. "Given that the planned test launch of our new hypersonic missile system was canceled in September, I am concerned about military readiness in the face of these new threats."
China, for instance, "has a rapidly developing counterspace weaponry program and the space architecture that will enable them to execute long-range precision strikes," according to Blackburn. And Iran’s Houthi rebels have launched a series of missile strikes on American forces in recent months, indicating Tehran is growing increasingly bold in its regional military operations.
The senator is asking that U.S. Space Force leaders inform her and other lawmakers about its plans and "capacity to defend the United States in this emerging age of space warfare."
Recent events have exacerbated concerns in Congress: Russia continues to wage its brutal war in Ukraine, China is stockpiling advanced military hardware, and Iran is arming its proxy groups with advanced missile technology that not only threatens Israel, but U.S. forces and assets in the Middle East region.
"As conflict rages in Ukraine, China continues to threaten Taiwan and show aggression in the South China Sea, and Israel seeks to defend itself against Iranian-backed Hamas terrorists, we must remain vigilant on all fronts, including in space," Blackburn wrote.
In all of these conflicts, a "New Axis of Evil" composed of Russia, China, North Korea, and Iran is sending a clear message to America that they have the technology to carry out an unprecedented global war, the senator wrote. "When war in this new theater comes, it will not spare the United States and our allies."
The Houthi strike on Israel—like others launched in the wake of Hamas’s Oct. 7 strike on Israel—"was intended to send a message to America," Blackburn warned. "Not only does the New Axis of Evil have the intent to do us harm, but they also now have the capacity."