The U.S. X-37B air-space fighter is a mystery in itself, and so far, it has launched a total of six, but its true purpose and details have not been announced to the public. Some people speculate that this kind of ** may have a "satellite-proof" function, which is undoubtedly a great risk for a large country like China. The article mainly conducts in-depth research and discussion from several perspectives such as the performance of the X-37B missile, the anti-satellite capability, and China's countermeasures.
1. The function and mission of the X-37B missile system.
The X-37B is an unmanned aerial vehicle developed by the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) for more than 20 years. The ship looks like a space shuttle, but it's a bit smaller than a space shuttle, about 88 meters, unfolded 46 meters and weighs about 5 metric tons. With the help of a rocket, it is put into low-Earth orbit and orbits the ground on its own energy supply. It can also land automatically like an aircraft to achieve multi-purpose purposes.
The most prominent features of the X-37B fighter are its long range, high speed and high maneuverability. From May 2015 to May 2017, its maximum record was 718 days, which no ordinary satellite can match. It can reach a top speed of 25 times the speed of sound, or more than 30,000 meters per hour, which means that it can fly fast whenever and wherever it is. At the same time, it can also carry out maneuvers in a short period of time to form a complete satellite network and enhance the effectiveness of reconnaissance and attack.
The U.S. side has always kept the X-37B's mission highly secret, and only vaguely stated that the X-37B is just a platform for space experiments and scientific and technological demonstrations. However, many agree that the real purpose of North Korea's missiles is to conduct space warfare, especially against satellite attacks. Recently, Global Times reported that the X-37B will complete its seventh mission in the short term and will be the first rocket to carry the Falcon Heavy, which means that the spacecraft has the opportunity to go to higher space and take on more difficult missions. U.S. Navy Secretary of Strategic Operations Saltzman also said the test flight would be a "breakthrough" test to build space combat capabilities, which incorporates"Future spatial perception technology", which can be used to reconnoiter satellites of other countries.
2. The role of the X-37B in countering satellites.
The so-called "anti-satellite" is a tactic that attacks, jams, or captures enemy satellites in a variety of ways in order to reduce or destroy their dominance in space. There are many ways to deal with satellites, missiles, lasers, electromagnetics, fragments, etc., and the X-37B is characterized by more stealth, more flexibility, and a longer service life.
According to Chinese experts, the X-37B has released information that involves four major areas, namely space reconnaissance and surveillance, space jamming operations, space support response, and space ground attack. And all this, against the enemy's satellites.
Space reconnaissance and surveillance is to give full play to the X-37B's characteristics of high speed, high mobility, and long life, track and monitor the enemy's satellites in real time, obtain information on their position, trajectory, status, and role, and lay the foundation for the next attack or interference action.
Space confrontation is the use of X-37B's ** equipment to directly attack, capture or jam the enemy's satellites, rendering them useless, paralyzing or destroying. The X-37B can carry missiles, lasers, electromagnetic waves and other types of attack means, which can not only carry out precision strikes on the enemy's satellites, but also grab and destroy the enemy's satellites through its mechanical arm.
Rapid space support response is to realize the rapid replenishment, repair or replacement of friendly spacecraft through the repeated application of X-37B, so as to improve its survivability and combat effectiveness in outer space. The X-37B can stay in space for hundreds of days, inspecting, repairing, replacing an ally's satellite, or sending it to Earth for repair or renewal at any time.
Ground attack is to give full play to the X-37B's high speed, high maneuverability and high stealth performance, and attack the ground to achieve the purpose of "sky to earth". The X-37B can carry missiles, missiles, lasers and other types of **, which can not only carry out precision strikes against the enemy on land, but also bring great damage to the enemy on land through its high-speed impact.
3. China's countermeasures and strength to deal with this problem.
Will China be able to deal with the American X-37B? Of course there is.
As a space power, China has strong space science and technology strength, and has made outstanding contributions to satellite navigation systems, Chang'e lunar exploration projects, Tianwen Mars exploration, etc., and also has its own characteristics and methods in anti-satellite aspects, such as anti-satellite missiles, laser interference, electromagnetic interference, etc.
China has also made important progress on reusable spacecraft, with the successful return of a reusable test spacecraft to space in May, the world's longest manned spacecraft, with a range of 276 days. The United States is the most powerful country in the world, and its goal is to establish supremacy in space, and the X-37B is one of them. The X-37B has anti-satellite functions, which can detect, attack, jam or capture satellites of other countries, bringing great harm to the space security of China and other major countries. China is a space power, with independent intellectual property rights for anti-satellite missiles, laser jamming, electromagnetic interference, etc., and has made important progress in reusable space vehicles, and is expected to develop the X-37B unmanned aerial vehicle. China should be more vigilant about the U.S. X-37B, strengthen its space defense capabilities, and defend its space rights and interests.