Russia is developing an indiscriminate anti-satellite nuclear device that would threaten all satellites operated by countries and companies around the world, which could lead to catastrophic consequences.
This was reported by NBCnews.
"The concept that we are concerned about is Russia developing and — if we are unable to convince them otherwise — to ultimately fly a nuclear weapon in space which will be an indiscriminate weapon that will not distinguish among military, civilian or commercial satellites," said John Plumb, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Space Policy, at a House Armed Services subcommittee hearing.
According to him, the threat is “not imminent,” but the Pentagon and the US presidential administration are concerned about the program.
"It is difficult to estimate the precise impact of such a weapon depending on the size of a nuclear explosion. But a rough assessment would suggest satellites that aren’t hardened against a nuclear detonation in space, which is most satellites, could be damaged and affected, and some would be caught in an immediate blast. Low-Earth orbit — the most common orbit for satellites — would be rendered unusable for possibly up to a year because of the radiation from a nuclear detonation," Plumb said in response to a question about the potential effect of such a weapon.
In a written report to lawmakers, Plumb said the project being developed by the Russians "could pose a threat to all satellites operated by countries and companies around the globe, as well as to the vital communications, scientific, meteorological, agricultural, commercial, and national security services."
In his turn, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, without mentioning the specific weapons that Russia is developing, said that a nuclear explosion in space "would have devastating consequences on a lot of our capabilities in space — not only our capabilities but the capabilities of other countries."
"We think it’s irresponsible for anybody to even consider deploying or employing a nuclear device in space,'' Austin added.
Earlier, we wrote about how much time does it take for Russia to capture the Baltic States.