Space Force Lt. Gen. DeAnna Burt, Deputy Chief of Space Operations for Operations, Cyber, and Nuclear, talked at length about current plans for space-based air and ground moving-target indicator (AMTI\/GMTI) capabilities during an online talk<\/a> the Air & Space Forces Association\u2019s Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies hosted today. Burt said a formal \u201canalysis of alternatives,\u201d or AoA, to help inform the Space Force\u2019s path forward on space-based AMTI capabilities is due to be wrapped up this fall.<\/p>\n AMTI coverage in the U.S. military today is primarily provided by an increasingly geriatric fleet of U.S. Air Force E-3<\/a> Sentry Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) aircraft, as well as various ground-based radars. The latter of these assets are largely tasked to support the strategic homeland defense mission<\/a> rather than tactical operations. GMTI capacity has also been steadily migrating off aircraft and toward space, notably with the retirement of the Air Force\u2019s E-8<\/a>\u00a0Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System (JSTAR) aircraft.<\/p>\n \u201cI think the important part here is the [space-based AMTI] alternative analysis of alternatives that will be delivered this fall\u2026 are [sic] going to be very telling. As I said earlier, we believe it\u2019s multiple phenomenologies,\u201d Burt explained. \u201cThere\u2019s no one silver bullet of a phenomenology that\u2019s going to do this. It\u2019s going to require a variety of phenomenology.\u201d<\/p>\n Burt was responding to a question about how some $2.2 billion in additional money for AMTI capabilities in orbit that Congress included in a\u00a0recent reconciliation funding bill, also known as the\u00a0One Big Beautiful Bill Act<\/a>, could help accelerate those developments.<\/p>\n \u201cSo we\u2019re testing out those. Some of that additional funding was really about how to do the RDT&E [research, development, test, and evaluation] of these various capabilities and how to flesh them out and see how they would operate,\u201d she continued. \u201cAnd then how would [we] put them together as a constellation, and supporting [them], and the data being provided machine-to-machine to compare different phenomenologies, to be able to say, \u2018okay, that is an air moving target.\u2019 And how would I then pass it to a combat controller working with aircraft or directly to the cockpit as needed.\u201d<\/p>\n Burt declined to say whether or not she believed it would be possible to field an operational space-based AMTI capability, even on a limited level, within two years. Space Force officials have said in the past<\/a> that they see new satellite constellations capable of persistently providing AMTI and GMTI coverage as coming online in the 2030s. <\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re really focused, right now, from an operator perspective, \u2026 on the ground moving target indicators,\u201d Burt stressed. \u201cSo, GMTI, working very closely with the NRO [the National Reconnaissance Office] and NGA [the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency]. We are working together in the Joint Mission Management Center, the JMMC out at Springfield[, Virginia], working with NGA, and really building off their expertise in looking at moving targets and how do you pull multiple intelligence capabilities together to execute that.\u201d<\/p>\n NRO is America\u2019s top satellite intelligence arm<\/a>, and a formally situated within the Department of Defense, but has a very close relationship with the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). NGA is the U.S. military\u2019s main hub for geospatial intelligence<\/a>, which includes satellite imagery analysis and exploitation.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have designated Delta 7 as the lead Delta to help us deliver ground moving target indicator [capabilities],\u201d she continued. \u201cWe have a small detachment of Delta 7 operators that are sitting today at Springfield, working side by side with NGA on how do we get after the tactics, techniques, and procedures, how would we do this.\u201d<\/p>\n Space Delta 7<\/a>, headquartered at Peterson Space Force Base in Colorado, is the Space Force\u2019s main intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) unit.<\/p>\n Space Force is also working with regional combatant commanders to lay the groundwork for how space-based GMTI data would get to where it needs to go, and do so in near real-time. Burt also said Space Force views artificial intelligence and machine learning as critical to helping process the huge amount of data the new GMTI sensors in orbit are expected to collect.<\/p>\n \u201cHow do I quickly machine-to-machine go from sensing a moving target to getting it to a shooter on the other end, and the timelines they need to be able to action it before it\u2019s a fleeting target and gone,\u201d she said. \u201cThose are all going to have to be machine-driven. They\u2019re going to have to be automated. That\u2019s going to have to be \u2013 we\u2019re talking, in a matter of sub minutes, to make that happen.\u201d<\/p>\n Burt noted that work on space-based GMTI capabilities is itself drawing on technology developed for monitoring satellites in space when it comes to automation.<\/p>\n \u201cWith space domain awareness, we have both our own dedicated sensors that do space domain awareness, you have contributing sensors, you have commercial now, a very robust commercial sensing capability for space domain awareness \u2013 how do you harness and put all of that together?\u201d she explained. \u201cThe machine will, much faster with artificial intelligence, tell me a pattern of life of a satellite, and then very quickly notice, based on the data coming in, \u2018hey, it\u2019s doing something different,\u2019 and highlight that to an operator to very quickly address is that nefarious, or is there an anomaly, or what\u2019s going on.\u201d<\/p>\n The physical architecture to support the space-based GMTI plans is also already taking shape.<\/p>\n \u201cSo GMTI is part of a larger family of satellites that we\u2019ve been working with the intelligence community, and GMTI is the final to launch. The initial satellites that are launching are capabilities that will help enable the GMTI, so think electro-optical, as well as a low-end radar capability. So those satellites have been launching,\u201d Burt said. \u201cWe\u2019ve also launched quite a few of the com[munications] mesh net<\/a> that will allow those satellites to transfer data.\u201d<\/p>\n She said that more specific details about how many satellites tied to the GMTI constellation already in orbit are classified. What other relevant work may be going on in the classified realm is unknown. You can read more about what is known publicly about the groundwork that has been laid for future space-based GMTI capabilities in TWZ\u2018s past reporting here<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cI think there\u2019s a lot to be learned from GMTI, how do we apply [it] to AMTI, and then really just fleshing out all the different phenomenologies, and what\u2019s the best in the AOA combination,\u201d Burt added. \u201cSome targets will be bigger, some smaller, faster movers. What\u2019s the best phenomenologies of how you would detect those from space, which is very different than doing it on a very close airborne or ground-based platform?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI think the lessons we are learning in GMTI are building the framework for how we will task and execute as we move into AMTI,\u201d she continued. \u201cSo we\u2019re buying down a lot of the operational risk and normalizing the way we will do it with GMTI to then later be able to apply to AMTI.\u201d<\/p>\n As TWZ has noted<\/a> in the past<\/a>, functional space-based GMTI and\/or AMTI sensor networks have the potential to provide game-changing capabilities. Satellites offer advantages in terms of persistence and global reach compared to traditional air and ground-based platforms tasked with these missions. Historically, space-based assets have also been more survivable, though threats to assets in orbit are only growing by the day<\/a>. The U.S. military is now investigating heavily in distributed constellations<\/a> made up of larger numbers of smaller satellites to make them more resilient in the face of losses of individual nodes. These constellations are also expected to offer even greater persistence compared to traditional satellites in low Earth orbit, with the potential to monitor huge parts of the planet continuously.<\/p>\n At the same time, Burt\u2019s comments today highlight significant technical challenges still to be surmounted, especially when it comes to fielding useful space-based AMTI capabilities. Space Force officials have previously indicated that they continue to see a role for traditional aerial and ground-based assets, at least for some amount of time, even as capabilities in orbit start to become operational.<\/p>\n \u201cThe closer I can come to the target, the more resolution I get on the target,\u201d Space Force Gen. Michael Guetlein, then Vice Chief of Space Operations, said last year<\/a>. \u201cAs I move to space, it becomes harder and harder to get that same level of resolution on a target that may be required.\u201d<\/p>\n Guetlein was recently made head of the top office at the Pentagon in charge of the Golden Dome air and missile defense initiative<\/a>. Golden Dome would benefit heavily from any future AMTI satellite constellation.<\/p>\n All of this continues to raise questions about plans to modernize the Air Force\u2019s current airborne early warning and control capabilities. In 2022, the service decided to replace a portion of the aging and increasingly unsupportable E-3s with E-7A Wedgetail aircraft<\/a>. This June, the Pentagon revealed its intention to cancel the E-7 program<\/a> and acquire a number of additional E-2D Hawkeyes<\/a> to help fill the gap in the interim. However, the ultimate plan has been and remains to push more and more of the airborne early warning sensor layer into orbit. <\/p>\n \u201cI have been concerned. We have E-3 capability up north, of course, but we were all counting on the E-7 Wedgetail coming our way. We\u2019re kind of limping along up north right now, which is unfortunate. And the budget proposes terminating the program,\u201d Sen. Lisa Murkowski, an Alaska Republican, had warned at a hearing in June<\/a> where the E-7 cancellation plan was first confirmed. \u201cThe E-3 fleet [is] barely operational now, and I understand the intent to shift towards the space-based \u2013 you call it the \u2018air moving target indicators\u2019 \u2013 but my concern is that you\u2019ve got a situation where you\u2019re not going to be able to use more duct tape to hold things together until you put this system in place. And, so, how we maintain that level of operational readiness and coverage, I\u2019m not sure how you make it.\u201d<\/p>\n Since then, members of the Senate and the House of Representatives have made moves<\/a> to block the cancellation of the E-7 program<\/a>. Burt\u2019s comments today, which have provided new and important clarity on plans to push AMTI capability into orbit, indicate that moving beyond traditional airborne early warning and control aircraft, in general, or even significantly reducing that capability, remains a high-risk proposition at present.<\/p>\n If Space Force can make good on even a portion of its space-based AMTI (and GMTI) ambitions, it could fundamentally change how the U.S. military conducts that kind of surveillance and open up a host of new operational possibilities. At the same time, AMTI and GMTI, in general, are capabilities that are already in high demand now, and gaps will need to be plugged until the planned new satellite constellations prove their worth.<\/p>\n Contact the author: joe@twz.com<\/p>\n Joseph has been a member of The War Zone team since early 2017. Prior to that, he was an Associate Editor at War Is Boring, and his byline has appeared in other publications, including Small Arms Review, Small Arms Defense Journal, Reuters, We Are the Mighty, and Task & Purpose.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The TWZ Newsletter Weekly insights and analysis on the latest developments in military technology, strategy, and foreign policy.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":43728,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[64,63,128,285],"class_list":["post-43727","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-space","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-science","tag-space"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43727","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43727"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43727\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/43728"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43727"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43727"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43727"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/e-3-sentry.jpg\")
A US Air Force E-3 Sentry AWACS jet. USMC <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/darpa-satellite-constellation.jpg\")
DARPA <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/nga-springfield.jpg\")
An aerial view of NGA\u2019s main campus in Springfield, Virginia, where the Joint Mission Management Center is located. NGA <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/nrol-69-launch.jpg\")
A SpaceX Falcon 9 space launch rocket carrying a payload for NRO blasts off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on March 24, 2025. US Space Force Senior Airman Spencer Contreras<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/counter-space-jamming.jpg\")
Another graphic giving a general overview of different kinds of terrestrial anti-satellite electronic warfare jamming.\u00a0DIA A graphic giving a general overview of different kinds of anti-satellite electronic warfare jamming, which fall in the category of \u201creversible attacks.\u201d DIA<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/e-7-render.jpg\")
A rendering of an E-7A Wedgetail in US Air Force service. USAF <\/p>\n