The Next Stage: Satellite Wars
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The evolution of war was a process of development and change throughout human history. At the beginning war was fought on ground, after which man progressed and built the technology allowing to sail across the seas, which he then used in order to fight on water – thus adding another battle platform in addition to land. The third stage in global warfare was at the beginning of the 20th century, when the Rite brothers amazed the world with their bird-like transportation vehicle. During WWI this vehicle was transformed into a means for battle and then, in WWII, being commonly used by Hitler and his third Reich as well as by the countries of the free world, these flying platforms became the norm of war. Ever since, these platforms were developed and modernized into the battle planes we know today. Throughout time man has aspired for technological developments and aimed to push innovation and ingenuity as far as possible, all the while using every new development for war. This chase led to satellites being the fourth stage of warfare.
Today there are more then 1,200 active satellites in space, many of them used for military needs, whether communication between soldiers and command at the base or visual communication allowing to accomplish missions without any soldiers being present near the target, such as with unmanned vehicles. Just last May the U.S. air force announced that it intends to invest an astronomical sum of $5 billion in order to develop weapons for defense and attack based on satellite technology.
Even today satellite wars between countries aren’t unrealistic: Russia and the U.S. are in the midst of a cold war to develop defense and offense capabilities relying on the global satellite network. China has also decided to invest in satellite-based weapon systems.
In order to cope with potential attacks arriving from outer space, many countries, the U.S. among them, have decided to invest in projects aiming to develop defense capabilities against satellites. For example, DARPA has begun working on developing a possible defense method in which hundreds of mini-satellites will be launched into space in order to absorb such an attack, should it happen.
The evolution of war, however, does not stop evolving and reaching for more fields to use for combat. The virtual battlezone, meaning cyber attacks of all kinds, is a probable fifth stage in the historic development of human warfare. And what comes next? All we can do is sit and imagine newer, better and more technological weapons, or simply new uses for existing, peaceful technologies to be transformed into battle tools.
