Demonstration of "peacefulness": why did the United States announce a moratorium on testing anti-satellite weapons

US Vice President Kamala Harris announced that Washington is imposing a moratorium on testing anti-satellite missiles.

She made such a statement, speaking to military personnel at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

“I am pleased to announce that today the United States is committed not to conduct destructive tests of direct interception anti-satellite missiles (satellites. -

).

Simply put, these tests are dangerous, we will not conduct them, ”said Harris.

She stressed that the United States was the first country to commit not to carry out full-scale tests of anti-satellite missile systems.

On behalf of the United States, Harris called on other states to join the moratorium "regardless of whether the country is a space power or not."

"Irresponsible" tests

Harris's statement about the temporary refusal to launch anti-satellite missile weapons was made in the context of US accusations against the Russian Federation and China of "reckless" tests of their anti-spacecraft systems.

“These trials are, of course, reckless and irresponsible.

They also jeopardize much of what we do in space.

And here's how: when China and Russia destroyed their satellites, it created thousands of pieces of debris - pieces of debris that will now be in Earth orbit for years, if not decades," Harris said.

According to the Vice President of the United States, she received data from the 18th Space Defense Squadron that the launch of Russian anti-satellite weapons generated more than 1.6 thousand debris, and tests of a Chinese missile, which took place back in 2007, led to the appearance of more than 2, 8 thousand fragments.

Recall that the last known test of the anti-satellite complex of the RF Armed Forces took place in mid-November 2021.

According to the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation Sergei Shoigu, the target was hit "with jewelry."

The role of the target was played by a spacecraft that had expired its service life.

As the head of the military department emphasized, the resulting fragments did not pose any threat to space activities.

However, the US State Department said that Russian tests threatened the safety of space research.

The Russian Foreign Ministry called Washington's reproaches hypocrisy.

According to experts interviewed by RT, Moscow and Beijing are largely forced to develop anti-satellite weapons due to the policy of the United States itself.

The Pentagon openly recognizes space as an area of ​​warfare and refuses to conclude an international treaty to prevent the placement of weapons in orbit.

The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation does not disclose the name of the weapons that were tested in November last year, however, it follows from open data that the Russian army has a number of means of countering enemy satellites.

In particular, these are the Tirada-2S electronic warfare complex, the latest long-range anti-aircraft missile system (SAM) S-500 Prometheus, and inspector satellites of the Kosmos family.

In an interview with RT, Dmitry Kornev, the founder of the Military Russia portal, admitted that the Peresvet self-propelled combat laser system and the MiG-31 fighter-interceptor could also have anti-satellite potential.

• Satellite in earth orbit

• Gettyimages.ru

• © Michael Dunning

According to the expert, the United States seriously fears for the safety of its orbital constellation.

As Kornev said, the failure of even a few satellites can cause significant damage to the military and economic capabilities of any space power, especially the United States.

“Now a lot depends on satellites - intelligence, communications and command and control, navigation, target designation.

The presence of a wide range and a large number of different spacecraft is one of the foundations of American military power.

Naturally, Washington negatively perceives any developments on the topic of anti-satellite weapons, ”Kornev noted.

"Impossible to be taken seriously"

Moscow reacted ambiguously to the moratorium announced by the United States on testing anti-satellite weapons.

Thus, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov called this decision "a step in the right direction."

At the same time, he urged Washington to clarify the terms of its temporary ban.

“Does the current moratorium mean that the corresponding development of anti-satellite systems is completely and completely stopped and that the United States refuses to develop them as a whole?

I would like to understand.

The United States has conducted similar tests in the past, it is quite possible that they simply do not need additional tests, ”RIA Novosti quotes the words of the Deputy Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation.

• Members of the US Space Forces

• AFP

• © Frederic J. Brown

Ryabkov also recalled the existence of a Russian-Chinese initiative on a treaty not to be the first to place weapons in outer space, against which, as the Deputy Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation put it, “the United States has put forward and continues, by the way, to put forward a series of not entirely adequate objections.”

In turn, as the head of Roskosmos, Dmitry Rogozin, suggested, the moratorium announced by the White House should be taken as evidence that the US military has completed the development of its own means of combating spacecraft.

“I am translating into Russian what she (Harris. -

) said: The United States has completed a series of tests of anti-satellite weapons and put them into service with the US Space Forces,” Rogozin wrote in his Telegram channel.

In a RT commentary, Vadim Kozyulin, head of the Center for Global Studies and International Relations of the IAMP Diplomatic Academy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, called the American moratorium a "propaganda ploy."

The expert is convinced that the Pentagon has already received anti-satellite weapons and has the ability to simulate their testing.

“The main thing is that the White House did not talk about the suspension of the development and manufacture of anti-satellite weapons.

By the way, modern computer technologies allow the United States to successfully simulate a full-scale strike on satellites.

Nuclear warheads, for example, also do not explode for a long time.

But the nuclear powers continue to improve them - their undermining is modeled with a high degree of reliability," Kozyulin explained.

According to the expert, today the Pentagon does not have any urgent need for a practical launch of missiles capable of destroying spacecraft.

“Moreover, to effectively combat satellites, there are non-lethal means that disable their equipment, there is an X-37B orbital drone, which NASA operates in the interests of the US Air Force.

Its military purpose is not disclosed, which cannot but be alarming, given the wide technical capabilities of this apparatus,” Kozyulin stated.

According to the US authorities, during the long missions, the X-37B is engaged in various studies related to space flight.

However, experts are convinced that the drone also has a military purpose, which is to coordinate the transmission of information from satellites and destroy constellations of spacecraft from other countries.

In a RT commentary, Vladimir Batyuk, head of the Center for Military-Political Studies of the Institute for the US and Canadian Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, regarded the experiments with the X-37B as "evidence that the Americans want to get a powerful backlog in the field of space militarization."

• U.S. X-37B Orbital Drone

• AP

• © US Air Force

“US Space Command is very active.

In the foreseeable future, the United States will try to maintain its leading position in space... In principle, this moratorium cannot be taken seriously, because at the moment the Americans have carried out all the necessary tests of their anti-satellite arsenal.

And if full-scale experiments are required, then Washington will simply refuse to comply with its own temporary ban, ”Batiuk believes.

According to the expert, the moratorium imposed by the White House on testing anti-satellite missile weapons is also dictated by certain political aspirations.

In particular, the United States seeks to emphasize the "aggressiveness" of the actions of Moscow and Beijing, as well as to neutralize the efforts of the two states to promote a more specific and binding agreement on the demilitarization of orbital space.

“The White House, represented by Harris, demonstrates “peacefulness”, the real purpose of which, I think, is that the international community will increase pressure on Moscow and Beijing, demanding that they join the American initiative.

The United States is avoiding negotiations on a draft treaty between the Russian Federation and China in every possible way, because they expect to retain the opportunity to place their weapons in space at any time, ”Batyuk summed up.