New RAF unit will protect the satellites your phone relies on
Key Points
- RAF launches No. III Space Effects Squadron to defend UK satellites
- Unit will use electronic warfare to disrupt hostile activity in orbit
- Satellites support phone data, sat-nav, weather and power grids
- Government commits £880 million to space surveillance and control
- UK rules out destructive anti-satellite missile testing
The RAF has launched No. III Space Effects Squadron to defend British satellites from hostile threats.
The Ministry of Defence announced the new unit on Wednesday (23 September), with Chief of the Air Staff Air Chief Marshal Harv Smyth unveiling it at the first UK Space Power Conference.
It is the UK’s first squadron dedicated to disrupting, degrading and denying hostile activity targeting British interests in space. The unit will bring together specialist personnel from across the Armed Forces and use advanced technology, including electronic warfare, to counter threats in orbit.
The RAF already runs two space units that watch for danger. No. I Space Operations Squadron and No. II Space Warning Squadron track and warn of threats, while the new No. III Squadron will act against them.
The squadron will support both offensive and defensive space operations. The RAF will expand it over time as new capabilities enter service.
Satellites support a wide range of everyday services across the UK, including:
- Mobile phone data and online ordering
- Weather forecasts
- Satellite navigation for ambulances, firefighters and police
- Power grid management for energy networks
- Navigation for British ships
- Missile warning and intelligence gathering
“Space no longer supports operations from the sidelines. It’s a domain of direct competition, where our military advantage can be won or lost,” said Smyth.
“No. III Space Effects Squadron will safeguard the vital benefits that space gives to our integrated armed forces, and will be capable of denying those benefits to our adversaries,” he added.
Hostile states are developing capabilities to jam, disrupt or disable satellites, according to the Ministry of Defence.
“Our dependency on space is precisely why it is increasingly under threat from our adversaries. That threat is growing in scale, speed, and sophistication,” Wes Streeting, Defence Secretary, is expected to tell the conference in his keynote address.
The squadron delivers on the UK’s Control of Space Requirement, which aims to keep space open for British forces while denying adversaries the same freedom. The government set out the requirement in the UK Space Strategy earlier this month.
The government will invest £880 million between 2026/27 and 2029/30 in space-based intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, alongside space control activities.
The UK has formally ruled out destructive anti-satellite missile testing. It continues to promote rules for responsible behaviour in space through the UN Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space.
