New Report By the Pentagon Highlights Russian and Chinese Space Threats
Both China and Russia are working on the ability to threaten the US’ leading position in the space-race, according to a new Pentagon report. The report states that threats in space include lasers that could aim to annihilate US satellites.
The Defense Intelligence Agency report was published on Monday, it is called “Challenges to Security in Space,” and looks at Russian, Chinese, Iranian, and North Korean space abilities. US satellites are crucial to many things like navigation, weapons targeting, and gathering intelligence. This includes keeping an eye on North Korea’s nuclear weapons program and tracking activity in the Russian and Chinese military.
US satellites are also equipped with sensors that help spot enemy missile launches. The report comes due to an increase in space activity. The Chinese government has been developing its space program, and they’ve become the first country to get a probe to land on the dark side of the moon successfully in January.
The growth seen in China’s space abilities and the need to keep US satellites safe are two reasons that have been cited by the Trump administration to create a US Space Force. China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has not yet responded to the new Defense Intelligence Agency report.
The report also outlines many different Russian and Chinese anti-satellite weapons, such as electronic warfare systems, directed-energy weapons, and “kinetic” anti-satellite missiles. The report states that Beijing and Moscow are both “likely” working on laser weapons that could interrupt, ruin, or harm satellites and their sensors.
Besides, the report states that it is likely China will begin working on a ground-based laser weapon that can counter low-orbit space-based sensors by 2020, and by the mid-to-late 2020s, China might look into higher power systems that will threaten the structures of non-optical satellites. Moreover, the report said that China might already have a limited ability to use laser systems against satellite sensors.
The report also outlined that Russia delivered a laser weapon to their Aerospace Forces before July 2018, which is likely to be used for an anti-satellite mission. The Trump administration is actively thinking about using advanced sensors in space as part of their recent Missile Defense Review, which they announced in January.
The report also details that China has a functional missile that can target satellites in low-Earth orbit while Russia is in the process of making one. What’s more, the report says Russia is “likely” working on a ground-based, mobile missile system that can annihilate space targets in low-Earth orbit as well as ballistic missiles and this system has the potential to be working within the next several years.
Furthermore, Russia and China are also working on inspection and servicing satellites that could be used to carry out attacks on satellites in orbit, according to the report. US and China have not been on the best of terms, and their relationship has deteriorated on many issues in the past year. There have been trading tensions with the Trump administration and diplomatic and military arguments.
Furthermore, acting Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan told senior leaders at the Pentagon on his first full day in January, to remember China!
However, space exploration has been one area where both countries have cooperated. Although the US had a good head start Beijing is quickly scaling its space program. By the end of 2020, China intends to land its first probe on Mars, and they have a goal of sending a crewed mission in the years to follow.
However, Rep. Mike Rogers, then-chairman of the US House Armed Services Strategic Forces Subcommittee, told CNN in 2018 that Russia and China are exceeding the USA in space abilities, so the US needs to dedicate a separate force for space missions because the next great war will be fought in space.
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