The satellite network could replace AWACS aircraft.

The satellite network could replace AWACS aircraft. But there are huge technical problems. The needed number of satellites is the same class as the Starlink satellite system. Those satellites could use radars and optical target recognition systems. To see things like hypersonic missiles and stealth bombers. The next-generation threat in the military. It is the supersonic. Or even a hypersonic stealth bomber. 

If. It uses hypersonic stealth cruise missiles. That system. It can make extremely deadly attacks in extremely short warning time. There is a need. For. Some ability to respond to that kind of threat. If that combination exists. 

There is no time. To send AWACS (Airborne Warning and Control System). To search that aircraft. AWACS sees low-flying targets. But hypersonic missiles will travel far higher than AWACS. Russian Kinzhal missiles are very primitive. And they are hard to aim at targets, but there are more advanced systems. And those systems are far more deadly than Kinzhal. One thing that can cause grey hair in the future. It is the possible air-launched variant of the BrahMos or Zircon missile. The older Tu-95 Bear H and the Tu-22M can act as air-launch platforms for 3M22 Zircon missiles. The big difference between Zircon and Kinzhal is that.

The air-launched variant of the Zircon missile. It doesn’t need as fast a launch platform as Kinzhal. The Kinzhal can be launched only from MiG-31 if the launcher wants the missile to reach hypersonic speed. Zircon can reach hypersonic speed from any platform. 

“A Kh-47M2 Kinzhal being carried by a Mikoyan MiG-31K interceptor” (Wikipedia, Kh-47M2 Kinzhal)

Pentagon has plans to create a satellite-based surveillance system. This replaces aircraft-based radar systems. The main problem with airborne radar systems is this. Those systems are vulnerable to anti-radiation missiles. AWACS (Airborne Warning and Control System) platform. It must be protected against missiles. That protective system. It could be a laser weapon. 

That destroys the incoming missiles. But when the AWACS platform scans the area. It's visible to AA systems. And they can use lasers or high-power microwaves. There are two ways to improve those systems’ survivability. The first is to install the radar system somewhere other than in manned aircraft. 

Tu-22M could launch hypersonic missiles and ASAT weapons. 

Into large-sized drones like Poseidon. The Poseidon drone could carry radar and then communicate with manned platforms or with the Pentagon using satellite control. Drone-based system. It separates radar and other active components into another body. And communicate with manned aircraft. The second way is to replace those airborne systems with satellites. 

Satellite network. That includes thousands of satellites. It could see the target at any point on Earth. And things like hypersonic missiles and other technologies. Including air-launched hypersonic and stealth missiles, they require very fast reactions. The biggest problem with AWACS is that they cannot cover the entire Earth. There is no time to predict the point. There. The hypersonic weapon will be launched. Another thing. That makes hypersonic weapons complicated. Is that they travel at altitudes that normal aircraft cannot reach. The satellite network could solve the problem for fast location. 

B-1 carries a hypersonic ARRW missile. The B-21 Raider is also planned to act as a hypersonic missile launch platform.  B-2 could also probably carry and launch AGM-181 ARRW

Of the launching point. But the problem is that there must be a very large number of AI-controlled satellites. Those satellites will deliver an alarm signal. This means the satellite swarm operates independently when it locates hypersonic missiles. 

Sending. A warning signal to the air defense. Key elements in successful air defense are accuracy and speed. The missile travels at least one kilometer per second. That means. Defense has. 

A short time to aim missiles at that target. If. The missile has a speed over Mach 6. There is a very short time to reload the missiles. 

The incoming hypersonic glider has a plasma layer around it. This plasma causes so-called radio blackout when the spacecraft arrives on the ground. The same plasma prevents the hypersonic system from seeing its target. By. Using radar. This makes it possible to see the target using radar. The combination of inertial and AI-powered optical target recognition systems. The fact is that if HGV uses a nuclear warhead. It doesn’t require that accuracy.

Above: Russian Zircon missiles and their air-launched variants. They could be next-generation systems. 

In those cases. Their nuclear attack system could be the miniature shuttle that waits in orbit. Then that orbiter decreases its altitude. And activates ramjets or scramjets. 

That high-flying hypersonic system. It can attack from an unexpected angle. This means that the satellite network. It could be the only thing that can detect that missile. But there is one problem. Those warning and control satellites orbit in predictable trajectories. They are also targets for killer satellites. A high-orbiting satellite killer could shoot them from a high-altitude trajectory. That killer satellite can use soft ammunition or miniature robots that push those warning satellites into the atmosphere. This means that a satellite swarm requires higher or longer-distance systems. That follows them. 

A satellite swarm can point its cameras or radars into any point on Earth. They are also tools for real-time intelligence. This makes those systems vital. And that makes them targets for an orbital or a ground-based ASAT platform. This means that those satellites require protection. And if that protection is the anti-missile system. That destroys incoming missiles. Those systems. They can also be used against other satellites. 

https://interestingengineering.com/military/b1b-bomber-hypersonic-missile-system

https://rocketlabcorp.com/updates/rocket-lab-announces-flatellite-a-new-satellite-designed-for-mass-manufacture-and-tailored-for-large-constellations/

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/defence/international/can-ukraine-stop-russias-zircon-missile-all-about-moscows-mach-9-hypersonic-weapon/articleshow/132276845.cms

https://www.twz.com/space/pentagons-plans-to-track-aircraft-from-orbit-accelerated-with-new-4b-spacex-deal

https://www.wionews.com/photos/how-far-india-and-russia-have-reached-in-building-brahmos-ii-1764593647047

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3M22_Zircon

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BrahMos

https://www.reddit.com/r/Boooks1234/s/26wG2aR6rE