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"The Role of Space in the Gulf Conflicts"by Dr Stuart Eves
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Public open lecture - All visitors welcome - No admission fee - No tickets required - No advance booking - Just turn up ! - Doors open 5:30pm |
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...we can legitimately say that Iraq 2003 was indeed the first space war... |
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American military manpower involved in the 2003 Iraq war was less than a quarter that used a decade earlier in the Gulf war – 132,000 compared to 542,000. No new major weapons systems had been introduced in the intervening period, and America's increased military effectiveness was down to three things: (1) better communications, (2) better positioning and (3) better integration of various systems. |
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Communications bandwidth in use rose by a factor of 30 from 100Mbps in 1991 to over 3Gbps in 2003 - and >80% of that was provided by satellites. |
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Where ten bombs were needed to destroy a target in 1991, one bomb was enough in 2003. This order of magnitude improvement in Allied bombing efficiency was achieved by using Global Positioning System satellites to guide munitions. |
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24 GPS satellites provide <5m accuracy, 24 hours a day world-wide |
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Given this central role of satellites in both communications and positioning, we can legitimately say that Iraq 2003 was indeed the first space war. The lecture will address the role played by space systems in the conflicts with Iraq, with an emphasis on the contribution made to operational and tactical capabilities in 2003. The use of satellites for a variety of roles including communications, surveillance, navigation, missile warning, etc. will be illustrated, and it will be shown how certain existing strategic space assets were used in a more tactical fashion during the conflict. The lecture will conclude with some speculations on how the lessons learned in Iraq are likely to drive the development of future military space systems. |
| Dr Stuart Eves joined SSTL in January 2004 as principal engineer for military systems, having spent more than 16 years working in various space-related jobs for the UK MoD. Stuart's experience covers both communication and surveillance satellites, in a research capacity and as part of the UK's Defence Intelligence Staff (DIS), the latter role including a two year posting in the USA. Stuart helped create the UK's Topsat dual use imaging satellite programme, and having instigated the initial research into the project in 1997, he is currently assisting with the integration of the flight hardware in preparation for a launch this summer. Stuart has an MSc in Astrophysics, a PhD in constellation design, and has been a Fellow of the UK's Royal Astronomical Society for 15 years. |  |
| PROGRAMME | |
| 17:30 | Doors open: Opportunity for networking. |
| Refreshments: Tea and biscuits. | |
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18:00 |
Welcome: |
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Presentation by Dr Stuart Eves |
| 20:00 | Further opportunity for networking. |
Public open lecture : all visitors welcome : no admission fee : no tickets required
(prior RSVP by email or phone of intended attendance appreciated)
This lecture has been organised by the Royal Aeronautical Society (RAeS) Space Group. The lecture will take place at 4 Hamilton Place, London W1J 7BQ. map...
For further details: Melissa Warner, Conference & Events Department, Royal Aeronautical Society, 4 Hamilton Place, London W1J 7BQ. tel 020 7670 4345 fax 020 7670 4349 email conference@aerosociety.com
To receive details of the RAeS Space Group and other future events please an email to space@aerosociety.com with "subscribe" in the subject.
Related web sites: The Royal Aeronautical Society www.aerosociety.com RAeS Space Group www.aerosociety.com/space/ Surrey Satellite Technology Limited (SSTL) www.sstl.co.uk
