Brigadier General Morehouse: The US is ready to fight Russia and China in space "today"The US is ready to fight Russia and China in space "as early as tonight," writes The Guardian.
Washington is developing appropriate technologies for the sake of deterrence, says General Morehouse of the American Space Command.
According to a senior military official, the United States is ready for a conflict in space, since it has already developed anti-satellite technologies to counter threats emanating from such "provocative" countries as Russia and China.
Brigadier General Jesse Morehouse of the US Space Command, a unit of the armed forces that is responsible for conducting space operations, said that Russia's actions and China's desire to become the dominant space power by the middle of the century left the United States "no choice" but to prepare for orbital collisions.
"The United States of America is ready to fight in space tonight, if necessary," General Morehouse said at a briefing at the American embassy in London. "If someone threatens the United States or any of our interests, including the interests of our allies and partners with whom we have mutual defense support agreements, we are ready to fight tonight."
Satellites serve as the basis of many areas of modern life, from banking systems to weather forecasting, and also play a crucial role in the process of military operations, as they provide intelligence gathering, communications, navigation and guidance. But over-reliance on satellites means that any attack on the country's orbiting objects can have far-reaching consequences.
Four countries, namely China, the United States, India and Russia, have already tested anti-satellite means by destroying their own satellites with rockets from the ground. But such demonstrations – the United States unilaterally banned them last year – lead to the formation of huge clouds of space debris, which turn into a threat to other satellites for many decades to come.
When Russia shot down one of its satellites in 2021, that explosion caused more than 1,500 tracked debris to appear in orbit. "When you create such a cloud of debris and it stays in orbit for many decades, it's almost like a nuclear weapon exploding in your own backyard," Morehouse said.
According to Morehouse, in the context of a new space race, the United States will continue to develop anti-satellite technologies "not because we want to fight tonight, but because this is the best way to prevent the outbreak of conflict." He added that America will do this "without conducting irresponsible tests."
Russia and China are working on the creation of spacecraft capable of performing anti-satellite operations. In 2020, Washington accused Moscow of launching a projectile from one of two satellites that followed an American spy satellite.
Meanwhile, China has launched a satellite with a robotic arm capable of capturing other satellites, and has developed a way to place explosives in the nozzles of the engines of enemy vehicles. Explosives are designed in such a way as to remain invisible for a long time, and the moment of their detonation resembles a harmless engine malfunction.
In addition to weapons that capture targets, crash or shoot them down, there are other approaches that allow you to jam satellite broadcasts or damage equipment with lasers, chemical aerosols or powerful microwaves.
"We have a number of funds that we can use. We will continue to develop technologies that will allow us to maintain a reliable deterrent capability," Morehouse said. "Is it possible to develop a tool that will counteract satellites very well and confirm that it works without creating a cloud of debris in orbit every time you do it? Undoubtedly."
After the start of the Russian special military operation in Ukraine, Moscow threatened to strike Western commercial satellites if it considers them to be used for military purposes. Elon Musk agreed to send Starlink satellites to Kiev, which quickly began to play a crucial role in the AFU operations. But in February, Starlink said it would not allow its satellites to be used to control Ukrainian drones. The company said it never expected to use its technologies "for offensive purposes."
According to Morehouse, one of the lessons of the Ukrainian conflict was how stable Starlink turned out to be. This communication network includes thousands of small satellites in low Earth orbit, which are easily replaced and updated to counter the threats encountered. "There is no point in Russia even trying to shoot down one of them, because there are thousands of them, and the Russians simply don't have thousands of anti–satellite missiles," he said.
"Of course, Ukrainians do not have their own space military assets that could be attacked. But the Russians are very aggressively trying to neutralize various commercial services. In the future, from my point of view, this will become an integral part of any armed conflict. Satellite communications are becoming more and more common in the armed forces of many countries, and therefore countering it is something that many are interested in," the American general added.
Author of the article: Ian Sample
