If adversaries attack all DMSP satellites, how serious would the effects be on military capabilities and civil society?

• A. The effects would be temporary and not very great in the long run, because other nations would backfill the data.
• B. The effects would be significant for both military capabilities and civil society.
• C. The effects on military operations would be significant, but civil society would be minimally affected.
• D. The system would be permanently disabled and irrecoverable.

Answer: (A)

The idea being tested is how resilient global weather and environmental data are when a major source is taken offline. DMSP provides important weather and space-environment data used by both military operations and civilian forecasting, but the overall system isn’t dependent on a single fleet.

If all DMSP satellites were disabled, the immediate impact would be a disruption in that data stream. Yet meteorology and space weather information come from many sources beyond DMSP: other nations operate weather satellites, international data-sharing networks (like the World Meteorological Organization programs), civilian and commercial data providers, and a mix of polar-orbiting and geostationary platforms. Forecasting relies on integrating data from all these inputs, so backups would fill the gap while new or alternative satellites and sensors come online. For military planning, while there would be a temporary dip in the precision or timeliness of weather data, operations would not be crippled in the long run because there are other sources to support decision-making. Civil society would similarly recover as non-DMSP data streams and forecasts remain available through international and commercial channels.

That’s why the answer emphasizes a temporary effect rather than a lasting or irreversible loss—the system is designed with redundancy and international cooperation that allow data backfill when a major single-source capability is disrupted.