Russia is trying to develop nuclear space weapons that could destroy satellites by creating a powerful energy wave upon detonation that could cripple vast numbers of commercial and government satellites on which activity around the world depends, from talking on cell phones to paying bills and using Internet
CNN writes about this with reference to three sources familiar with American intelligence data about this weapon.
TV channel sources have provided more insight into what Russia is working on and what threat it could pose than the US government has previously disclosed.
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Republican Representative Mike TurnerOhio, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, caused a stir in Washington on Wednesday when he announced that his committee had information about a serious threat to national security. By Friday, President Joe Biden had publicly confirmed that Turner was referring to Russia's new nuclear anti-satellite capability, but officials have steadfastly refused to discuss the topic, citing the highly classified nature of the intelligence.
What is nuclear EMP
This weapon is still under development and has not yet been launched into orbit, Biden administration officials have publicly emphasized. But if used, officials say, it would cross a dangerous threshold in the history of nuclear weapons and could cause extraordinary disruptions to daily life that are difficult to predict, CNN writes.
This type of new weapon, known to military space experts as nuclear electromagnetic pulse (EMP), will create a pulse of electromagnetic energy and a stream of highly charged particles, which will sweep through space and disable other satellites orbiting the Earth.
Biden on Friday publicly stressed that “there is no nuclear threat to the people of America or anywhere else in the world due to what Russia is doing at the moment”.
— Everything they do and/or will do relates to satellites and space and has the potential to damage those satellites — he said.
The US Department of Defense and intelligence community have been tracking Russian efforts to develop a wide range of anti-satellite weapons, including EMP, for many years.
According to one of the defense officials, in recent months there has been a flurry of intelligence information specifically related to Russia's efforts to develop a nuclear-powered anti-satellite capability.
But Russia has recently made progress in its efforts to develop nuclear EMP — related, but much more disturbing technology.
— We know that Russia has been pursuing similar capabilities for many, many months, if not several years. But only in recent weeks has the intelligence community been able to assess with greater certainty exactly how Russia continues to develop it, — National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Thursday.
What US intelligence says
According to Biden, the intelligence community “has determined that it is possible to launch a system into space that could theoretically cause damage”, but “has not happened yet&# 8221;.
— This is not a new concept, and as a concept it dates back to the end of the Cold War, — said one of the American officials.
However, according to them, the “great concern is that any possible EMP device in orbit could disable a significant portion of the orbit”, creating a minefield of disabled satellites that “then prove dangerous to any new satellites we try to put into orbit to replace or repair existing satellites”.
It remains unclear at this point whether the device could impact GPS and nuclear control satellites, which operate in higher orbits than the vast number of commercial and government satellites zipping through low Earth orbit. These larger satellites are designed to be impervious to a nuclear blast, but a former senior Pentagon space official told CNN “they may be vulnerable” depending on how close they are to the EMP, how old they are, and how big the explosion was.
Weapon of last chance
Experts say such weapons could destroy huge constellations of small satellites, such as SpaceX's Starlink, which is successfully used by Ukraine in its ongoing war with Russia.
According to a US official and other sources, this will almost certainly be a “weapon of last resort” for Russia, since it will cause the same damage to any Russian satellites that are also in the area.
It also remains unclear how well developed this technology is. There have been a number of public failures with nuclear technology in Russia in recent years. In 2019, seven Russians died in a nuclear accident that occurred as Moscow tried to recover a nuclear-powered cruise missile that fell into the White Sea during a test failure.
However, a recent intelligence assessment of Russia's progress has so alarmed some lawmakers on Capitol Hill that Turner has extended an invitation to all members of the House of Representatives to review information on the matter.
Shortly thereafter, he made a vague public statement that brought the matter to the attention of the public.
Several sources familiar with the matter said the release of the intelligence was extremely damaging because the source was incredibly sensitive. The intelligence community is now grappling with how to maintain access to it, these sources said.
Biden administration officials say that if Russia launches a nuclear EMP, it would be the first-ever violation of the 1967 Outer Space Treaty, which prohibits the placement of weapons of mass destruction in outer space.
— This would be a violation of the Outer Space Treaty, to which more than 130 countries have signed, including Russia, — Kirby said Thursday, without providing details.
Russia has withdrawn from several arms control treaties in recent years, leaving the post-Cold War arms control architecture virtually gutted.
