22.03.2022

Air Vice-Marshal Cath Roberts has been named as Australia's inaugural space commander amid warnings of potential civil and military consequences in the realm.

Catherine Roberts will head Space Command.(Defence: CPL Veronica O'Hara)

Australia has stood up its own command outfit for its space defence initiatives as Defence Minister Peter Dutton warns of an unfolding competition and conflict in the realm.

The command will be headed by Air Vice-Marshal Cath Roberts in a bid to protect Australia’s interests in space where “losing access would have significant civil and military consequences”, Mr Dutton said.

New military space capabilities will be used to counter threats, continue access to space-based intelligence, to conduct surveillance and reconnaissance and uphold the free use of space.

“(Space) will undoubtedly become a domain which takes on greater military significance in 21st century,” he will tell an air and space power conference in Canberra on Tuesday.

“It is a domain which must be used to deter aggression, rather than become a new realm for conflict.”

Mr Dutton says coercion and belligerence from countries such as Russia and China have reinforced the importance and need for hard power to both defend against, and deter, such aggression.

Australia will also join the United States in a broad range of cooperative satellite activities to expand its space capabilities.

After warning that an expansion of “grey-zone activities” such as cyberattacks is making it harder to combat and deter aggression, the defence minister also opened a new cyber centre in Canberra.

The new Australian Signals Directorate facility in the year marking the cyber intelligence agency’s 75th anniversary will bring together experts, federal police, the defence force and various department officials to enhance cyber defence and intelligence.

“In an interconnected world where the boundaries between competition and conflict are increasingly blurred, cyber is the new frontline,” Mr Dutton will say at the facility’s opening on Tuesday.

“It is a vector for a spectrum of activities - from those which fall below the threshold of conflict in the so called hazy ‘grey-zone’, through to those which accompany outright hostilities.”

Russia used cyberattacks in the lead-up to its invasion on Ukraine to disrupt not only government and military systems, but also banks and civilian networks.

Hijacked Ukrainian government websites were also used to spread disinformation, Mr Dutton said as he raised concerns about foreign interference.

Russia, North Korea, Iran and China have been publicly named by Australia since 2017 as having launched malicious cyber activities.

“The conflict in Ukraine is testimony to how cyber is changing the nature of warfare and countries need to prepare for this change,” he said.

“The ramifications of a cyberattack can be considerable. Disruption or shutdown of vital services. Loss of revenue or the collapse of businesses. Injury or loss of life.”

And Australia remains in the crosshairs of foreign adversaries, the defence minister says.

“We will continue to invest in cyber capabilities which send a clear deterrent message to any adversary: that the cost they would incur in threatening our interests outweighs the benefits.

“Peace can only be maintained from a position of strength.”

Quelle: 7News

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Defence Minister Peter Dutton flags future US-style Space Force for Australia

The Australian military's new Space Command will formally begin operating on Tuesday, with Defence Minister Peter Dutton flagging a possible US-style Space Force in the future.

In a speech to the Air and Space Power Conference on Tuesday, Peter Dutton will warn "space is becoming more congested and is already contested" with Russia and China developing hypersonic missiles capable of travelling faster than 6,000 kilometres per hour.

Twelve months ago, the Royal Australian Air Force confirmed plans to follow other nations by establishing a new military Space Command, which is now officially beginning operations.

While acknowledging the new Space Command is "modest" compared to similar, well-established bodies operated by Australia's allies, including the US Space Force established by Donald Trump in 2019, Mr Dutton will argue it is a "necessary endeavour with a view to protecting our national interests and our need for a Space Force in the future".

Space Command, which is headed by Air Vice-Marshal Cath Roberts, comprises personnel from the three armed services, Defence public servants, and industry contractors, working alongside the Australian Space Agency.

"Together with like-minded partners and the United Nations, Australia has long championed the responsible and peaceful use of outer space in accordance with international norms," Mr Dutton will tell the industry conference in Canberra.

According to remarks distributed ahead of his speech, Mr Dutton will discuss the "growing importance" of hypersonic missiles (missiles which are initially launched into space) as well as space-based satellite communications, in future warfare.

"While space is primarily a civil domain — to support navigation, communication networks, financial systems, scientific enterprises, weather forecasting, and disaster response — it will undoubtedly become a domain which takes on greater military significance in the 21st century," Mr Dutton will say during his keynote address.

"Russia and China are already developing hypersonic missiles which can travel at more than 6,000 kilometres per hour."

Just last week Russia announced it had used its latest hypersonic missile for the first time in combat, during its invasion of Ukraine.

In a separate speech in Sydney on Tuesday, Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews will confirm Australian intelligence agencies have been closely monitoring Russia's involvement in malicious cyber security incidents that are occurring as a result of the invasion of Ukraine.

"Following Russian aggression against Ukraine, it is a sad reality that there is a heightened cyber threat environment globally, and the risk of cyber attacks on Australian networks, either directly or inadvertently, has increased," Ms Andrews will say.

Quelle: ABC News