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Russia Is Jamming UK Military Satellites Weekly, British General Reveals
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![Photo of Vlad Litnarovych]( "Photo of Vlad Litnarovych")
Russia is routinely shadowing and trying to jam British military satellites, according to Maj. Gen. Paul Tedman, head of the UK Space Command, in an interview with the BBC on October 3.
Tedman revealed that Russian activity in orbit has become persistent, deliberate, and increasingly aggressive since Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
“They’ve got payloads on board that can see our satellites and are trying to collect information from them,” Tedman said. “We’re seeing our satellites being jammed by the Russians on a reasonably persistent basis.” Asked how often, he replied: “Weekly.”
British satellites, he noted, are equipped with counter-jamming technology, but Russia has continued to attempt interference using ground-based systems.
The UK currently operates about half a dozen dedicated military satellites, far fewer than the fleets of the US, China, or Russia, which each field more than a hundred.
The warning follows recent comments by Germany’s defense minister, Boris Pistorius, that Russian spacecraft had also been stalking German satellites. Tedman said the behavior underscores the growing danger in orbit: “They’re interested in what we’re doing and flying relatively close.”
Russia and China have both tested anti-satellite weapons and developed lasers designed to dazzle or disrupt adversary spacecraft. Western governments have also raised concerns that Moscow is working on the ability to place nuclear weapons in space.
While the Pentagon sees China as the long-term “pacing threat,” Tedman considers Russia the more immediate danger. “I would say the Chinese have by far the more sophisticated capability, but the Russians have more will to use their counter-space systems,” he said.
Speaking during a visit to RAF Fylingdales in North Yorkshire, home to Britain and America’s Ballistic Missile Early Warning System, Tedman described an increasingly congested and contested domain.
Around 45,000 objects now orbit the Earth, including about 9,000 satellites, with another 300 rocket launches expected this year.
Earlier, Russia formally informed international regulators that it would consider European satellites aiding Ukraine’s military as “legitimate targets,” escalating its ongoing campaign of GPS and satellite signal jamming.
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-24ca8683eb01b729cd8fae98f952003a.jpg "Ukrainian Ratel-S drone equipped with a downed Shahed warhead. (Source: omelyanovi4/Instagram)")
-0158b6b681e3668f470de36aedad9e3c.jpg "Russian Su-24 bomber moments before Ukrainian drone strike, Crimea. (Source: HUR)")
