US weapon that jams Russian and Chinese satellites is finally ready

A secretive American weapon that jams Chinese and Russian satellites is finally set for delivery. The ‘Meadowlands’ system is a powerful satellite jammer built to temporarily knock out enemy communications at the start of a conflict. Using a blast of radio signal, the US Space Force’s new $120 million weapon ‘screams’ so loudly that it drowns out any other messages.

Originally slated for delivery in 2022, the weapon was dogged by a series of unspecified technical errors which led to more than two years of delays. However, Space Force now says that the system has passed ‘all system-level verification testing’ and is on track for delivery at the start of 2025. Designed by a Florida firm called L3Harris Technologies Inc., Meadowlands is a lighter, more mobile version of America’s first offensive electronic weapons.

Details of the system offer a rare peak into America’s highly secretive arsenal of space weapons designed to fight Russia and China . The Meadowlands system is essentially a massive radio transmitter on wheels that can produce an extremely powerful blast of radio noise that can drown messages from a foreign satellite. Potentially, these could be Russian or Chinese surveillance messages, such as the position of US military.

The tool would let the US Space Force temporarily disable Chinese or Russian satellites at the start of a conflict while allowing American satellites to function normally. Major Neal Carter, Space Force Space Systems Command’s deputy director of Intelligence, explained in a blog post last month: ‘I have two kids, and they can be very loud. ‘If I’m in the kitchen, washing dishes, and my wife is in the living room and she’s trying to tell me something from across the room, but the kids are talking so loudly, it’s just impossible for me to hear her – that’s jamming.’

Major Neal explains that satellite jammers work on the exact same principle and essentially ‘scream’ so loudly that the ground receivers can’t hear the intended signal. The Meadowlands system was commissioned to replace the older ‘Counter Communications System’ which became operational in 2020. The new ground-based weapon has been built to be lighter, and more mobile for quicker deployment.

Meadowlands can also be updated with new software and can jam a wider range of frequencies. A $124 million (£95.5 million) contract was signed with an expectation that the systems would be operational by 2022. However, due to unspecified technical issues, it has taken two years longer than expected to deliver the satellite jamming weapons. Speaking to Bloomberg, the company said: ‘The Meadowlands system will have significant upgrades in terms of technical performance, and simpler logistics for deployment and sustainment.

Although the company admitted that ‘verification testing took longer than anticipated’ they say that ‘L3Harris has now completed verification tests, and the program is on track for delivery early next year.’ The first five of 32 planned weapons will be given to Space Force in January next year for further testing. In March, if the tests are successful, the weapons will be declared operational and handed over to the Space Force’s electronic warfare unit, Space Delta 3. While America has kept much of its space warfare capabilities secret, the arrival of Meadowlands suggests a growing focus on offensive electronic capabilities.

Observation and communication satellites now play a massive role in shaping global conflicts. In the war in Ukraine, both sides use satellites to guide GPS missiles to their targets, coordinate troop movements on the ground, and spot enemy formations as they approach. However, the growing importance of satellites has also led to far greater use of satellite jamming weapons. Space Delta 3 has been using jamming weapons since 2004, but there has been a growing emphasis on electronic warfare since the outbreak of the war.

Major General Gregory Gagnon, Space Force’s deputy chief of Space Operations for Intelligence, told an Air Force Association symposium last year that America is facing an ‘armada’ of satellites. China is believed to operate 300 different remote sensing satellites with a wide range of different capabilities. Russia, while less advanced than China, has also made effective use of satellite observation during nearly three years of warfare. General Gagnon said: ‘Their on-orbit armada of satellites can track us, can sense us, can see us, can connect that data to their fires network and can now hold US forces at risk in a way we have never understood or had to face to date.’

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