The Pentagon and the intelligence community are moving on several fronts to introduce satellites as a tool in pursuing moving targets on the ground and in the air.
A batch of satellites enhancing existing assets will be launched in the next year to help the U.S. Space Force prepare for an operational ground moving target indication constellation, retiring Lt. Gen. DeAnna Burt told the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies in August 2025.
In addition, demonstrations and prototypes are underway to prove space-based airborne moving target indication (AMTI), according to top generals with Space Force and U.S. Northern Command. Congress has included $2 billion in its 2025-2026 spending plan for AMTI satellites.
As the Pentagon is awaiting an analysis of alternatives, expected in late 2025, it has eliminated the E-7 Wedgetail, a proposed battle management and targeting platform built around a Boeing 737 jet. The program was to replace the iconic but aging dish-topped E-3 airborne warning and control system aircraft, but military leaders instead are counting on satellites.
Nearly 20 former general officers are among those pushing back on the decision, signing a letter in June 2025 urging Congress to restore funding for the Wedgetail. They argue that space-based targeting plans have spread faster than the proof they’ll work and that AMTI is a far more complex undertaking than tracking ground forces.
Integrating data from a variety of sensors will be a challenge in implementing satellite-based targeting programs, military and intelligence leaders have acknowledged. To address this, they are conducting exercises and wargaming events to identify and resolve policy gaps, National Reconnaissance Office Director Chris Scolese said during an October 2024 event sponsored by the Center for Strategic and International Studies.