{"id":24005,"date":"2021-01-07T21:06:42","date_gmt":"2021-01-07T21:06:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/uncategorized\/2021\/01\/07\/exclusive-how-the-space-force-foiled-an-iranian-missile-attack-with-a-critical-early-warning\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T18:20:31","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T18:20:31","slug":"exclusive-how-the-space-force-foiled-an-iranian-missile-attack-with-a-critical-early-warning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/space\/2021\/01\/07\/exclusive-how-the-space-force-foiled-an-iranian-missile-attack-with-a-critical-early-warning\/","title":{"rendered":"Exclusive: How the Space Force foiled an Iranian missile attack with a critical early warning"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WASHINGTON \u2014 One year ago on the night of Jan. 7, 2020, Americans were shocked to learn that Iran had launched more than a dozen ballistic missiles at U.S. and coalition forces in Iraq.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Iran called it \u201cfierce revenge\u201d for the assassination of Gen. Qassem Soleimani. As reports of the attack inundated the airwaves, viewers were left wondering what had happened \u2014 and perhaps most importantly \u2014 were there casualties?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The barrage damaged runways, tents, equipment and a helicopter, and the Pentagon acknowledged that 110 people needed to be treated later for traumatic brain injuries. No one was killed<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The remaining U.S. and coalition forces that had not been evacuated were able to take cover in bunkers, thanks to what President Donald Trump referred to at the time as an \u201cearly warning system.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The public now knows what many in the national security community suspected: That early warning system was the Space Based Infrared System<\/a>, a constellation of satellites that surveils Earth\u2019s surface 24\/7 to detect missiles. Rarely has the Defense Department offered such a high profile example of the system\u2019s capabilities and its direct impact on the American war fighter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is the story of the people \u2014 the men and women of the Space Force\u2019s 2nd Space Warning Squadron at Buckley Air Force Base, Colorado \u2014 who operated SBIRS that night and provided that critical early warning to seek cover. In an exclusive interview, they brought C4ISRNET behind the scenes of one of the most high profile missile attacks on American forces in recent history. In many ways, it was a night like any other, with the squadron reading the data generated by the satellites and reporting it out. But with the lives of their fellow service members on the line, the stakes had rarely felt higher.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is what they\u2019re trained to do day in and day out,\u201d said Squadron Commander Lt. Col. Brandon Davenport. \u201cThat part felt very normal. That\u2019s why it felt surreal, because it felt like any other day other than the fact that we all knew there were Americans and allies on the other end of that missile.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t