The U.S. Air Force is concerned about American dependence on space satellites, particularly the GPS birds. The air force believes China is developing the ability to carry out a major attack on American military satellites. Their proposed solution is to take GPS out of orbit, and make it portable. High flying aircraft, UAVs or blimps would take over satellite communications, surveillance and navigation (GPS) chores, although for smaller areas. This would make GPS, and other satellite functions, more resilient to attack.
I think this is a splendid idea. It makes it far less likely that China can blind and confuse us in the early stages of a war so they can get their licks in before we can hammer them into the ground. Remember, despite all the talk of a rising China, they are inferior to us militarily and will be for some time. Any hope of success against us requires a surprise attack on us that hurts us enough to convince us to stand down rather than fight back.
The fact that Japan's same strategy in 1941 was an epic fail does not seem to matter to Peking.
