SpaceNews:

The U.S. Air Force wants to use small radar satellites to track moving objects on the ground and the Space Force will help to make it happen, chief of space operations Gen. John Raymond said May 12.

A project to look at the use of radar satellites for GMTI — short for ground moving target indicator — has been pursued in secret since 2018 by the Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office. Raymond said this effort will be discussed more openly to allow more participation from the commercial space industry.

“We’re building a ‘GMTI from space’ program,” Raymond said at the McAleese & Associates annual defense conference. He revealed that the Space Force and the Air Force are “actively working” on concepts for the deployment of GMTI satellites.

The Air Force currently uses large aircraft known as JSTARS — or Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System — that are equipped with radar sensors to discriminate targets against the ground clutter. JSTARS require large crews and the Air Force for years has been concerned about its aircraft and operators being vulnerable to enemy air-defense missiles when flying over combat zones…



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