The possible deployment of Russian nuclear weapons in space would threaten “our entire modern way of life” in America and Europe, senior US generals have warned.
“It’s a completely indiscriminate weapon,” Gen. Stephen Whiting, the commander of U.S. Space Command, told the Aspen Security Forum, describing Moscow considers the possible use of such a weapon “an incredibly reckless decision.”
Although a White House official previously said such a weapon would not cause “physical destruction here on Earth,” experts warn it would still have catastrophic consequences.
“If they detonate a nuclear weapon in space, it will not only hit military targets,” said Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Kruse, director of the Defense Intelligence Agency.
He explained that it would immediately affect “everything in plain sight in low Earth orbit,” meaning cell towers, internet, GPS, banking systems, power grids and emergency services could all be affected.
According to Lieutenant General Kruse, US intelligence agencies have been monitoring Moscow’s project for almost a decade
General Stephen Whiting, the commander of the US Space Command, made these comments at the Aspen Security Forum
“It would hit the satellites of the United States, China, Russia, Europe, India and Japan,” General Whiting said. “And so it puts the entire modern way of life at risk.”
The use of such a weapon by Russia would be a violation of Russia’s obligations under the Outer Space Treaty.
“It is an expectation of humanity that we will not place nuclear weapons or weapons of mass destruction in space,” the Washington Examiner he reports that he said, “And now they do, potentially.”
According to Kruse, US intelligence agencies have been closely monitoring the project in Moscow for almost a decade. They are now almost finished with the preparations, Kruse said.
China is also developing weapons to attack US installations in space. There has been a huge increase in anti-satellite weapons, including a so-called ‘kill web’ that could have huge consequences for the Earth.
According to Whiting, such a network of systems is intended to enable Chinese forces to locate and attack US positions in the Indo-Pacific region.
In doing so, they increase their military capacity on Earth, making their armed forces ‘more accurate’ and ‘more lethal’.
Moscow and Beijing are also cooperating more than ever, Kruse said, in their efforts to expand and maintain their presence in space.
While detonating a nuclear bomb may conjure up images of mass casualty events like those we have seen in the past, it is more likely that they would be used in space to create an electromagnetic pulse (EMP).
When a nuclear device explodes, whether on land or in space, it creates an EMP. This burst of electromagnetic energy can disable or destroy electronic equipment, including satellites.
While Russia already has several space-based assets in its arsenal, nuclear weapons are believed to be one of its emerging threat capabilities
The US currently has no defenses against such a threat. If satellite communications were destroyed, the remaining satellites would have to be moved into place and new satellites would have to be launched on rockets to bring them back online. Both of these actions would take days or weeks.
Although Russia already possesses several space weapons, nuclear weapons are believed to be one of the emerging threats.
The move to place a nuclear weapon in space would also violate the Outer Space Treaty, a 1967 agreement to which the then-USSR was a party. One provision of the treaty is a ban on placing nuclear weapons in orbit around the Earth.
That Russia and China threaten the US and its allies in space is nothing new.
In 2021, Russia demonstrated that it can shoot down satellites with missiles fired from Earth, destroying one of its own decommissioned satellites.
And in 2020, Russia fired a projectile from a satellite into space, though Russian officials insisted the projectile was not a weapon.
China, India and the US have also all tested ASAT missiles on their own decommissioned satellites.