Russia and China have capabilities in space that allegedly threaten the security of the United States.

General John Raymond, Commander of the US Space Forces, said this in an interview with The New York Times.

“The threats that exist today are very serious.

There is literally everything here: from jamming signals from communication satellites and GPS to, say, directed energy weapons.

We are talking about lasers that can blind or disrupt our systems.

Both China and Russia have a variety of ground-based laser systems of varying capacities, ”Raymond said.

Citing examples of Russian space weapons, Raymond talked about a satellite that he compared to a matryoshka - there is supposedly another satellite inside it that can launch rockets.

According to the American military leader, this system is supposedly designed to destroy US satellites.

At the same time, Raymond did not voice its name and did not provide any other details.

Raymond also mentioned the newest Nudol missile defense system, the presence of which allegedly indicates that Russia poses a threat to the US space infrastructure today.

“Russia also has a similar potential - this is Nudol, a ground-based missile of the same type.

It is designed to physically destroy satellites in the so-called low-earth orbit - the least distant from the Earth ... Both countries have orbital facilities that cause some concern.

And all these threats already exist today - we are not talking about some distant future, ”said Raymond.

Defense or attack

It should be noted that the A-235 Nudol complex mentioned by Raymond is a development of the A-135 Amur anti-missile defense system and is designed to protect Moscow from a strategic weapon strike.

Its main task is to destroy the warheads of intercontinental ballistic missiles on the flight paths.

"Nudol" is one of the most secret developments of the Russian defense industry, and there is no information in open sources about the characteristics of this complex.

It is known that the tests of "Nudoli" began in 2014 at the Plesetsk test site.

The American media and their sources at the Pentagon claim that Nudol is a satellite interception system, and its development and testing indicate that Russia is a threat to the United States in outer space.

In 2019, CNBC reported, citing sources allegedly familiar with the contents of a classified US intelligence report, about the successful test of the Nudol complex (PL-19 Nudol in the Western nomenclature), which was again named an anti-satellite weapon.

  • Satellite in low earth orbit

  • globallookpress.com

  • © John Pulsipher

Then, in April 2020, John Raymond issued a statement in which he emphasized that the Pentagon knows about the test launch of a Russian anti-satellite missile of direct interception and is monitoring the development of the situation.

Raymond said the launch is further evidence that the US space forces and their allies are facing real and growing threats.

In addition, Raymond then accused Russia of hypocrisy.

According to him, Moscow is promoting arms control initiatives in outer space aimed at limiting the capabilities of the United States, but at the same time it allegedly does not intend to stop work on its programs to create anti-satellite weapons.

At the same time, in his statement, Raymond did not directly designate this weapon as "Nudol".

However, the American media, including the same CNBC channel, mentioned this system in their materials on this issue.

In response, the Russian Foreign Ministry said that Washington was inventing excuses to ignore Moscow's proposals to develop an international legal framework to prevent an arms race in space.

Thus, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov commented on Raymond's accusations.

“I would like to urge my colleagues in Washington not to glance over the surface of our proposals, inventing excuses to ignore them, but to think at least for a minute about the meaning of these ideas.

We are talking about not being the first to place weapons in space, ”said Sergei Ryabkov.

He also noted that Moscow has reasons to be concerned about such behavior of Washington.

“If the United States rejects this offer, the natural conclusion that we draw is that it has embarked on a course of creating strike systems for deployment in outer space.

There is no other logical conclusion from this position of their denial, "- quotes Ryabkov TASS.

Parliamentary interest

Threats from space, which Russia and China allegedly represent, were concerned not only in the Pentagon, but also in the US Congress.

So, at the end of February, the House of Representatives Committee on Armed Forces held hearings, during which congressmen called on the military to more openly discuss the nuclear and space weapons of Russia and China.

Democrat Congressman, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Strategic Forces, Jim Cooper, cited the GPS global positioning system allegedly threatened by Russia and China as an example.

“Why do our potential adversaries and even some allies spend billions of dollars to build their own global positioning systems, and then develop technologies that can destroy our GPS satellites?

Friendly neighbors don't do that, ”Space News quoted Cooper as saying.

  • US Congress

  • © REUTERS / Tom Brenner

In turn, Republican Michael Turner said that hypersonic missiles, tactical nuclear missiles and anti-satellite weapons that Russia and China are developing should be of concern to the United States.

"If we fail to secure ourselves a reliable nuclear deterrent, as well as (reliable) space and anti-space capabilities, this will have serious and unpredictable consequences for the national security of both our country and our allies," Turner said.

Todd Harrison, a defense and space analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said at the hearing that China and Russia are “closing the gap” with the United States in space technology.

“We have vulnerabilities that we don't pay attention to,” Harrison said.

The statements of John Raymond and the American congressmen are due to the fact that the United States is losing its superiority in many areas, including space, Dmitry Litovkin, a military expert and editor of the newspaper Nezavisimoye Voennoye Obozreniye, explained in a commentary to RT.

At the same time, the expert recalled that so far there are no energy storage devices necessary to generate a laser beam that could destroy the satellite.

“Russia has laser systems“ Peresvet ”, which protect the areas of deployment of strategic missile forces and can blind reconnaissance equipment in low-earth orbit.

If American satellites are blinded by this laser, then this is done legally, ”Litovkin said.

According to the expert, Russia, China and the United States have had the ability to shoot down satellites from Earth since the 1980s.

“However, Russia does not use such opportunities, and it is ready to conclude an agreement with the United States on the non-withdrawal of military objects into space and the prevention of the destruction of each other’s facilities.

But Washington does not want to sign such an agreement, since it intends to reserve the right to destroy the satellites of Moscow, Beijing and any other country.

But no one gave the United States such a right, ”stressed Dmitry Litovkin.

The United States does not like it if Russia, China or any other country can defend itself, as they would like them to be defenseless against American pressure, the expert added.

In the United States, such statements are made because American military leaders highly appreciate Russia's capabilities and China's potential in this area, says Andrei Koshkin, a member of the Academy of Military Sciences.

At the same time, the United States does not abandon plans to implement Ronald Reagan's idea of ​​creating platforms in space carrying nuclear and laser weapons, the expert added.

“The American military has concerns about Russia, because it has made quite serious progress in the development of laser weapons, for example, it already has the Peresvet complex in service.

It can be considered that this statement testifies to the fact that Russia can quite successfully neutralize all the threats that come from the United States in outer space, "Koshkin emphasized.

According to the expert, the United States is fighting for superiority in outer space and in the information field with the help of provocative accusations.

“In the information space, such attacks are being prepared against Russia and China and accusations of aggression.

At the same time, the United States is taking measures to "contain", although in reality it is preparing to withdraw weapons into outer space.

There is no doubt that the United States would like to ensure its superiority in space, ”the expert concluded.