Colonel Khodarenok: US assets in space are not protected and are a profitable target
The United States has new intelligence about the Russian nuclear potential in space. Washington started talking about a serious threat to national security, and Joe Biden ordered a direct dialogue with Moscow. What was so scared in the United States and how dangerous the anti-satellite weapons of the Russian Federation are for Washington, the military observer of the Newspaper understood.En" Mikhail Khodarenok.
The United States has new intelligence on Russia's military capabilities related to Moscow's efforts to deploy a nuclear anti-satellite system in space. This information was brought to the attention of the US Congress and Washington's key allies. Some American lawmakers argue that the data obtained is serious enough and should be declassified and made public.
According to the US intelligence community, a promising Russian anti-satellite warfare system is currently under development and has not yet been deployed in near-Earth space. That is, so far, according to representatives of the American expert community, it does not pose an immediate threat to the United States and its interests.
"A new threat level"
It is still unclear how far Russia's technologies have advanced in this regard, Washington says. There is also no certainty in the United States whether the intelligence received refers to the Russian anti-satellite potential with nuclear power plants (or nuclear engines) or the potential with nuclear weapons.
"If Russia deploys an anti-satellite system in near-Earth space, then this is a new level of threat to the orbital grouping of US spacecraft, regardless of whether this system is nuclear or not," Hans Christensen, director of the nuclear information project of the Federation of American Scientists, said in an interview with CNN.
He added that even conventional weapons in an orbital anti-satellite system can pose a significant threat to the American side.
Earlier, the chairman of the Intelligence Committee of the House of Representatives of the United States Congress, Mike Turner (representative of the Republican Party, Ohio) caused at least a storm on Capitol Hill when he issued a statement in which he announced that he had "information concerning a serious threat to national security." According to him, this is due to the "destabilizing foreign military potential, which all politicians of the US Congress should be aware of."
By and large, such information has been publicly available before. For example, according to the report of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) on space security for 2022, for many years Russia has been developing anti-satellite warfare systems designed to neutralize the orbital grouping of military and commercial spacecraft of the United States. Moscow provides for the possibility of hitting enemy satellites from the ground, air, in cyberspace and from space, using means that range from temporary suppression to complete destruction.
In 2020, according to CNN, Russia has already tested a space-based anti-satellite weapon "with complex orbital capabilities, which could have a dual purpose.": it could service and inspect friendly satellites, while being able to attack enemy spacecraft."
The vulnerable place of the USA
Why are American lawmakers so alarmed? The reasons for this concern are quite simple. Thus, it is very difficult to gain the upper hand over the United States in the course of an armed struggle on the seas and oceans, and I must say, it is unrealistic. The country's Navy is strong and very technologically advanced. An equally difficult task is to achieve air supremacy in the war with the United States. Americans traditionally occupy leading positions in this area. And their army is very strong on land.
What opportunities does the American orbital group provide for conducting armed struggle today? These are reconnaissance of almost all types (overview and detailed optoelectronic, radio and radio engineering), a nuclear missile strike warning system, many types of communication and information transmission, navigation and the use of precision weapons. If the United States is deprived of these devices, the American army will become blind, deaf and lose the idea of where it is at the moment.
The United States is well aware that even today they are quite heavily dependent on space. Moreover, the rate of intensification of this dependence is increasing year by year, which creates conditions for the vulnerability of the United States through near-Earth space. For example, only the failure of the GPS global positioning system can significantly affect the course and outcome of an armed struggle.
Timely stuffing
Currently, the "space assets" of the United States are practically not protected and represent a very profitable target for a hypothetical enemy. For these reasons, even rumors about the upcoming deployment of the Russian anti-satellite warfare system caused almost panic (at least a commotion) in the US Congress the other day.
But I must say bluntly that this information appeared among American lawmakers at the right time.
There is every reason to believe that the hype in the United States around new intelligence has arisen due to the fact that a $60 billion aid package to support Ukraine in its fight against Russia has stalled in the House of Representatives of the US Congress, and former President Donald Trump publicly supports members of the Republican Party who oppose this package.
Trump has also said in recent days [...] that he would urge Russia to "do whatever the hell they want" with US NATO allies who do not meet the standards set by the alliance for spending on their own defense.
After the appearance of data on Vladimir Putin's "Death Star", it becomes more than advisable in the United States to annoy the villains from Moscow, at least with the help of Ukraine. Apparently, everything in the US Congress was started for this purpose. In particular, the report of the head of the House Intelligence Committee, Mike Turner, was announced at the right time.
The opinion of the author may not coincide with the position of the editorial board.
Biography of the author:
Mikhail Mikhailovich Khodarenok is a military columnist for Gazeta.Ru", retired colonel.
He graduated from the Minsk Higher Engineering Anti-Aircraft Missile School (1976), the Military Air Defense Command Academy (1986).
Commander of the S-75 anti-aircraft missile division (1980-1983).
Deputy commander of the anti-aircraft missile regiment (1986-1988).
Senior Officer of the General Staff of the Air Defense Forces (1988-1992).
Officer of the Main Operational Directorate of the General Staff (1992-2000).
Graduated from the Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Russia (1998).
Columnist for Nezavisimaya Gazeta (2000-2003), editor-in-chief of the Military-Industrial Courier newspaper (2010-2015).
Mikhail Khodarenok