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Old 15th Sep 2020, 17:34
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ORAC
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project Artemis

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/n...tter-5zpxq83w2

Dominic Cummings flaunts historic defence innovation letter


Dominic Cummings has been seen clutching an archive letter from a former US general who railed against defence procurement red tape and was a champion of technology in the military. The letter, written by the former US air force commander General Bernard Schriever, complained of a “blizzard of legislation” around defence procurement and a system “inhibiting technological innovation”.

Boris Johnson’s chief adviser is likely to have been aware that the text of the document would be captured by photographers as he walked into Downing Street this morning.......

The letter was written in 1986 to the architect of an American defence spending review conducted during Ronald Reagan’s presidency..... A pioneer of missiles that ushered in the space age, he had been quick to spot the growing importance of the domain beyond Earth’s atmosphere, remarking in 1957: “In the long haul, our safety as a nation may depend on our achieving space superiority.”

It was a sentiment echoed in a modern context today by the head of the RAF, who served notice that space is now a “contested war-fighting domain” in which attacks on satellites could have a “disastrous effect” on people’s lives......

Air Chief Marshal Michael Wigston declared that the UK “can no longer assume the unchallenged access to air or space that we have enjoyed for the last three decades”.

“We are critically dependent on space, so we must ensure the safety and security of the space domain,” the chief of the air staff said during a speech at RAF Waddington in Lincolnshire. “Our access to space is fundamental to national security and any loss or disruption to our satellite services would have a disastrous effect on people’s day-to-day lives. We are working closely with international allies, including the US, to reinforce responsible and safe behaviours in space and to build expertise, understanding of what others are doing in space.”

Last year Britain became the first formal partner in the US-led Operation Olympic Defender, a multinational military coalition formed to deter hostile actors against causing trouble in space.

The Ministry of Defence is pursuing its ambition to send into low Earth orbit a constellation of responsive small satellites, which are cheaper than previous generation satellites and easier to launch*. Codenamed Artemis, the programme aims eventually to beam live, high-resolution video imagery directly into the cockpits of the RAF’s fighter jet fleet.

The RAF will increasingly turn to unmanned drones rather than piloted aircraft. By 2040 drones will make up 90 per cent of the service’s fleet, with combat jets accounting for the remaining 10 per cent, Ben Wallace, the defence secretary, has said.

At present Britain has nine Reaper drones compared with 137 Typhoon fighter jets and 18 F-35 fighter jets......



*The real reason behind buying a controlling interest in OneWeb perhaps?


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