The British defence requirement for satellites

Tasks expected of Britain´s Armed Forces in the next millennium are likely to require levels of responsiveness, flexibility, efficiency and information flow barely envisaged just a few years ago. Since the end of the cold war, defence posture has changed significantly, now seeing far greater mobility, dispersion of forces and the impact of smart weapon technology. Operations are likely to involve greater coalition with a variety of allies, driving interoperability needs. There will undoubtedly be a thirst for information and this is unlikely to diminish as a result of the Strategic Defence Review. Military success must be assurable with limited resources. Minimal collateral impact and under the remorseless world media spotlight. To support the widening span of defence needs across all operations other than war, to war itself, and from home base to widely deployed theatre, communications and information systems (CIS) require increasingly more effective capability but at affordable cost. Supporting CIS services must deliver a winning cocktail of selective information and the command and control facilities to execute tasks, in time to retain the advantage over whoever we face, in whatever circumstance and anywhere in the world. Space systems can help deliver that edge