Why does the Navy get to do all the cool stuff?

So we're going to shoot down a satellite. I watched the target in question lift off from Vandenberg in 2006--it was inspiring, even though the booster in question was just a Delta. Gen. Cartwright (CDRUSSTRATCOM) said last week that we would simply use an SM-3 (an ABM-capable surface-to-air missile) to hit the satellite as it came low on a pass, and that it would be done due to the poisonous hydrazine on board--not to mention the sensitive payload. In summary, the missile would go high, the satellite would go low, and we would violently de-orbit a very expensive failure.

Now for the impact of all this. Pardon the pun. Let's start domestic. The Air Force boosted this thing to orbit in the first place. As the "executive agent for space", don't you think it would also bring it down? Think again. While the AF has all sorts of neat radars, it doesn't "do" surface-to-air missiles. Those belong to the Army and Navy. Thanks a lot, guys. Not only do the other services get Top Gun and Band of Brothers, they get the splashy space warfare, too.

Overseas: The Chinese are going to take note of this, since they did a similar thing with a malfunctioning satellite about a year ago. Our intercept, however, will result in a whole lot LESS space junk up there, as the orbit is very low.

The Russians are exhibiting their typical paranoia when it comes to anything ballistic in nature. They're being complete hypocrites, since the only functioning ABM system in the world is the ring around Moscow.

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