The Space Force now has a unit that can jam enemy satellite links and guard its own at the same time.
The 1st Electromagnetic Warfare Squadron activated Aug. 3 at Peterson Space Force Base, Colorado, and falls under Mission Delta 3. Combat Forces Command announced the activation Aug. 14. Most of its operators came from Air National Guard units, and the squadron’s people will work from five different sites.
The unit fields Meadowlands, an L3Harris-built roving ground station that can locate, disrupt and degrade hostile satellite communications and radar. Cleared for combat missions in June, it is described as a mobile, downsized successor to the Counter Communications System.
The other half of the pair is Bounty Hunter, a defensive listening post that watches for electromagnetic interference and jamming aimed at U.S. and allied satellites and works out where it came from. The concept goes back to the early 2010s and reached operational status under U.S. Pacific Command in 2018. Equipping one squadron with both systems is a first for the service.
The move tracks a growing counterspace problem: adversaries are jamming communications and navigation signals more aggressively, and the service wants offensive tools for enemy systems alongside defenses for its own. The Guard background supplies experienced operators as the unit spreads across its five locations.
