'Near space' enhances joint warfighting

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  • By Master Sgt. Julie Briggs
  • Air Force Print News
ORLANDO, Fla. --  "Near space" can be the Air Force’s focus, said the commander of Air Force Space Command during his speech Feb. 17 at the Air Force Association’s 2005 Air Warfare Symposium here.

“It can be our legacy if we work hard to integrate the effects of the medium of space in a way that supports the joint warfighting capabilities of our country,” Gen. Lance W. Lord said to about 1,000 symposium attendees.

“We want … space to be employed like any other theater asset,” he said.

One area currently being evaluated is near space, which is located between 65,000 and 325,000 feet above the Earth’s surface. The goal, General Lord said, is to create effects like close-air support and communication relay systems that are useful for joint forces commanders in the early phases of conflict.

And the vehicle currently being demonstrated to reach near space is the balloon.

“The concept has already been validated by industry in Texas,” General Lord said. “Some of the oil fields in Texas … are monitored by balloons that are launched and flown over the fields.”

The value of working in near space is during close-air support, he said. At about 65,000 feet, balloons carrying communications receivers and transmitters can relay communications between air controllers on the ground and pilots in the air.

The system allows pilots to receive information earlier in the “kill chain” so they can remain focused on the mission and avoid problems from the ground, General Lord said.

Another advantage is persistence over the theater, he said. Near space gives warfighters the ability to continue flying over a certain area for a longer period of time, he said.

Close-air support is just one way to exploit near space. Others include acting as a relay system for the Global Hawk and MQ/RQ-1 Predator unmanned aerial vehicles, serving as “pseudo” satellites and gathering imagery, General Lord said.

Demonstrations of the concept so far have been successful, the general said.

To explore its potential, AFSPC officials transferred $3 million from their operations funds to the Space Warfare Center at Schriever Air Force Base, Colo., to develop residual theater capability, General Lord said. The goal is to use them as part of a total-force program.

“We think this is an ideal mission that we can have Guard, Reserve and (active-duty Airmen) working side by side helping each other in this medium,” he said. “(It has) tremendous potential for the future.”

Officials are looking at adding a glider to the balloon, General Lord said. The glider would deploy once the mission is complete to bring the payload back to the sender.