Theoretically, space and the orbit around Earth is a peaceful place, and
the world wants to keep it that way.
But in practicality, it is the subtle front of modern warfare, where
exotic weaponry and high tech gadgetry are used to operate systems on the
ground, and assert dominance over the spheres of the planet. And tensions are
running high.
The Pentagon has issued an alarming new report to Congress that identifies
several secretive and publicly unknown projects under development in China
that it perceives to a be an attempt to militarize space and undermine U.S.
military and strategic interests.
In particular, the Pentagon report concerns the use of anti-satellite space
weapons, which is has not been forthcoming to the public about:
The Pentagon has declared “China possesses the most rapidly maturing space
program in the world.” […] Among the key issues are the Chinese
regime’s experiments with space weapons. It has tested several of these, and
has consistently told the public that it was testing something else.
The United States is concerned that the Chinese regime’s “continued
development of destructive space technologies” is a “threat to all peaceful
space-faring nations,” states the Pentagon’s 2015 annual report to
Congress on the Chinese regime’s military and security developments.
The report is particularly concerned with China’s use of directed-energy
weapons, satellite jammers and other technology that can be used to take out
the communications grid and weaken U.S. military positions:
Such programs are of particular concern for the United States. A
significant part of modern military power relies on satellites—from GPS and
communications, to early warning systems.
The Chinese regime’s development of weapons designed to disable or
destroy satellites, the report states, are “inconsistent with
China’s public statements about the use of space for peaceful purposes.”
The most notorious of these tests was in January 2007 when the
Chinese regime launched a rocket and destroyed one of its own satellites.
Today, however, its space weapons have gone far beyond rockets to
include directed-energy weapons and satellite jammers.
There has also been concern about “small maneuvering satellites that can attack orbiting
satellites” under development by China.
China’s previous demonstration of its ability to destroy one of its own
satellites in orbit has already been seen as a direct threat to American
interests in space, which in turn control communications, navigation and
weapons technology. Now, the latest Pentagon report has gone so far as to
label China as a military threat – a sensitive declaration that diplomats and
politicians have been all too reluctant to do.
The report claims secretive Chinese pursuit of these aims
have included “military writings” about the need to destroy and damage
satellites in effort to “blind and deafen the enemy.”
Adding concern to an already suspicious program, Chinese defense academics
often publish reports on the Chinese regime’s space weapons, the report
states, yet “no additional anti-satellite programs have been publicly
acknowledged.”
Its military writings, however, “emphasize the necessity of
‘destroying, damaging, and interfering with the enemy’s reconnaissance … and
communications satellites,’” the report states. The statements
suggest, it notes, the Chinese regime may be targeting navigation and
early warning satellites, for programs “designed to ‘blind and deafen
the enemy.’”
If defense posturing by the Pentagon is to be taken at face value – as
they report to Congress, who authorize their funding – this high tech
militancy is much more alarming than anything ISIS or small potato terrorist
groups are doing on the ground.
That’s because China appears to be targeting the U.S. directly:
“Soon every satellite in every orbit will be able to be held at risk,”
Raymond told the website Breaking Defense.
[…]
The Chinese regime categorizes its anti-satellite weapons with its
little-disclosed “Assassin’s Mace” and “Trump Card” weapons. A report
from the National Ground Intelligence Center, declassified in 2011, states
“These modern Trump Card and Assassin’s Mace weapons will permit China’s
low-technology forces to prevail over U.S. high-technology forces in a
localized conflict …”
Russia is also believed to be building up a space weapons program.
Behind the scenes, there has been work for many years on ratifying and finalizing
an international treaty banning the weaponization of space.
But the superpowers of the planet are hardly ready to yield control over
their positions.
The United States has opposed draft treaty introduced jointly by Russia
and China in 2008, and updated in 2014, on grounds that the two Eastern bloc
nations are secretly building up arms in space. Objections to such a treaty
are significant inside the Defense Dept.:
“The Chinese and Russians have no interest in actually abiding by any
international treaty that limits the militarization of space, but they are
keen to get the United States to tie itself in knots over one,” Tkacik said.
[…]
Additionally, the space arms ban treaty is part of Russian and
Chinese efforts to attack U.S. and allied missile defenses, which are heavily
reliant on space sensors and weapons.
Additionally, “Russia is certain to cheat on any space treaty,” Schneider
said. “They have announced that they are developing ASAT weapons. Moreover,
they may be developing space offensive weapons.”
The Soviet Union in the 1960s deployed a nuclear space weapon system
called the fractional orbital bombardment system. It used an orbiting
strategic missile in low earth orbit that was designed to de-orbit and attack
the United States by transiting southward from the South Pole to avoid radar
detection.
Russian military writings have indicated recently that Moscow may revive
the orbiting southern polar missile attack system. Analysts have said
that in addition to providing Moscow with a first-strike space nuclear
weapon, the system could also be used in a devastating electro-magnetic pulse
attack over U.S. territory that would destroy all electronics over a large
area.
It would appear that the Cold War has officially be revived, with China as
a new player.
Among other things, it gives credence to concerns about a deliberate EMP
attack by an enemy determined to knock out the grid and disable the population
of the United States. Many Defense Dept. and Homeland Security officials are now stoking fears of the potential
catastrophe, while the military is re-fortifying Cheyenne Mountain in preparation to shield
military operations from such a major scale event.
Whether such a thing would actually happen is up for debate.
Best to bunker down, and get ready for all eventualities.
