GAINING AND EXPLOITING INFORMATION ADVANTAGE
Space vision Barely a month before the first lockdown, Air ViceMarshal Harv Smyth assumed the role of the UK’s first Director Space at the Ministry of Defence. Simon Michell outlines the lofty ambitions of this appointment
“A Skynet 6 will offer advanced Satcom services, as well as the ability to carry payloads currently under development as part of the Defence Space Enterprise Portfolio (PHOTO: AIRBUS)
s a nation the UK is fundamentally reliant upon Space as a domain. Moreover, the UK has extensive expertise and capabilities in the Space arena, with some first-class commercial companies, R&D programmes and operational experience. The trouble is, we have not been organised in a very coherent manner,” explains Air Vice-Marshal Harv Smyth, the UK’s first Director Space at the Ministry of Defence (MOD). This a polite way of saying our space activities and operations are scattered across the MOD in an ad hoc and sometimes confusing manner. Those wishing to initiate or expand Space activities with UK MOD often don’t know who to approach, as, hitherto, there has been no single point of contact with whom to engage.
With AVM Smyth now in position, supported by a team of 12 within the nascent Space Directorate, all this is changing. “Put simply, my role, and that of the Space Directorate, is to improve coherency for MOD’s Space efforts: ‘down and in’ across the Front Line Commands, and ‘up and out’ across Government, with the UK’s Space Sector, and with international partners and allies.”
An ambitious proposition Working with colleagues across Government, in particular the UK Space Agency, AVM Smyth and his team have put in place an ambitious space proposition that will establish the UK in a leading role in Space across the realms of defence, commerce and diplomacy. “If we get this right, it will be an elegant, joined up, national effort. We will no longer be working in silos, but instead delivering a National Space Strategy that will benefit the whole of the UK. From an MOD perspective, we already know that our Skynet Satcom capability is worldbeating, and this will only improve throughout this decade as we deliver Skynet 6. In parallel, we have ambitions to further explore the use of small satellite constellations in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) to conduct ISR missions across the EM spectrum, to include electro-optical, infra-red, synthetic aperture radar and hyperspectral solutions. Such capabilities would prove game-changing to Defence in terms of providing commanders with true global reach and
Information Advantage for the Next Generation Air Force
AIR & SPACE POWER 2020
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