The mystery of America's space weapons program

Washington [USA], June 8: The Pentagon is rushing to expand its military capabilities in space because it believes rapid advances by China and Russia pose a growing threat to the US military and military assets on the ground. as well as satellites in Washington's orbit.
Details of the Pentagon 's effort remain secret, but Defense Department officials increasingly acknowledge that the plan reflects a major shift in military operations, as space becomes increasingly into a real battlefield, according to recent information from The New York Times .
The Pentagon's worries
Under the plan, the United States will no longer rely solely on military satellites to communicate, navigate, track and target threats on the ground, tools that for decades have given The Pentagon has a big advantage in conflicts.
Instead, the US Department of Defense is looking to acquire a new generation of ground- and space-based tools that will allow it to protect its satellite network from attack and, if necessary, disrupt it. or disable enemy spacecraft in orbit, Pentagon officials said in recent interviews, speeches and statements.
"We must protect our space capabilities while being able to prevent adversaries from using their space capabilities in a hostile manner. Because if we don't have space, we lose." , US Space Force Chief of Staff Chance Saltzman said in March.
According to US military and intelligence officials, Russia and China have tested or deployed land-based laser weapons, anti-satellite missiles or moving satellites - systems that could be used for sabotage. US space assets. Concerns have increased as reports surfaced that Russia may be developing nuclear weapons in space that, if detonated, could wipe out large numbers of satellites in orbit. Russia's use of electronic jamming equipment in the conflict in Ukraine is also the reason given by Pentagon officials to call for strengthening space defense.
US Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall said China has deployed many space capabilities to target US forces. He acknowledged that the United States will not be able to operate successfully in the Western Pacific unless it can defeat those capabilities.
"It's no longer theoretical. It's real. It has been deployed in the environment," General Stephen Whiting, commander of the US Space Command, said at a conference in Colorado in April. He said China has tripled the number of intelligence and surveillance and reconnaissance satellites since 2018 in a network to search, track and target the military capabilities of the US and its allies.
China and Russia have rejected the above accusations, saying that it is the United States that is leading the militarization of space.
Mystery programs
The US, China, Russia and India have each tested anti-satellite missiles. The US also has ground-based systems that can jam radio signals, disrupting adversaries' ability to communicate with satellites, and has taken steps to modernize these systems, according to The New York Times .
However, under the new approach, the Pentagon is moving towards a more ambitious mission, which is to suppress threats in orbit in the same way as naval forces do on the ocean. troops carried out in the sky. One of the priorities is force protection. That means the Space Force will ensure other military services are not threatened by enemy satellite search and targeting activities.
The US military refuses to disclose its war tools for security reasons. However, in a recent report by former Space Force colonel Charles Galbreath, there are three examples of capabilities that can disable enemy satellite networks, including cyber attacks and ground-based laser systems. and in space, and high-energy microwave weapons.
The mysterious X-37B spacecraft program that has made 7 US space flights is also speculated to be a weapons system. Meanwhile, the Pentagon is also working to launch a new generation of military satellites that can move, refuel in space or have robotic arms to grab enemy satellites.
Another focus is the protection of satellites in the US missile defense network. The country's Ministry of Defense is said to have requested the construction of a new tracking system in space equipped with tools to avoid or respond to a potential attack.
The Space Force has proposed a $29.4 billion budget for 2025 operations. No reports outside the administration have been able to provide a reliable estimate of the budget for systems to destroy assets. opponent's space, because these programs are classified information. However, aerospace engineer Todd Harrison, who specializes in researching the military's space budget at the American Enterprise Institute, believes the number could be hundreds of millions of dollars per year. Mr. Harrison predicted that it could take another 5-10 years for the United States to have a significant set of offensive weapons in space, assuming these programs are moving forward.
Source: Thanh Nien Newspaper