February 21, 2024
For Heaven’s Sake: Why Would Russia Want To Nuke Space?
It can be more than a little scary to look into the mind of a dangerous dictator like Vladimir Putin. But as Russia has several thousand nuclear weapons, managing stability and avoiding nuclear war requires that America try to understand what is happening with both the mind of the country’s leader and capabilities of its military. Deterrence is about understanding how our actions influence that of others, and vice versa. Thus, it remains essential to consider what Russia (and other adversaries) is pursuing in terms of possible contingencies, and interpret changes in military and strategic capabilities.
Legally and morally, the U.S. and its allies should call out any such illegal and dangerous effort for what it is – madness.
So when news broke in February that Russia was reportedly building some nuclear connected anti-satellite weapon, a lot of people started scratching their heads. First, because of the manner in which the news was leaked. Congressman Mike Turner seemed to get ahead of both the process and the intelligence itself, and created a bit of a panic by demanding full and immediate declassification of all information about the system. It now seems this was alarmist, and perhaps motivated by other political factors. Leaks seemed to indicate that Russia might be planning to launch a nuclear-powered anti-satellite directed energy weapon into space. U.S. officials are reportedly telling allies Russia could launch the system into space within the next year. Details became a little clearer, thanks to a public briefing by White House Advisor Adm. John Kirby. Kirby confirmed that the planned system was still in development, and President Biden later said it was not clear if and when the system would be deployed. Importantly, Kirby also stated that the system, if deployed, would violate the Outer Space Treaty of 1967. That phrase made clear that the Russian program involved placing a nuclear weapon in outer space, since deploying nuclear weapons in space is the main and only specific constraint contained in the OST.
Read the full article from the Federation of American Scientists.
More from CNAS
-
What Ukraine and Russia are Negotiating in Turkey
Direct talks between Russia and Ukraine in Istanbul this week – the first since March 2022 – have got off to a shaky start. Putin’s no-show meant President Zelenskyy remained ...
By Andrea Kendall-Taylor & Jim Townsend
-
Putin Desperate to Maintain Fractured Relationship with Trump | Jim Townsend
Trump could push Putin further to "get on board" with a 30 day ceasefire as Russia grow more keen grow a relationship with the US, says Adjunct Senior Fellow at the Center for...
By Jim Townsend
-
Ukraine Negotiates for Its Future
There’s been a flurry of activity on the Ukraine front this week. Over the weekend, Donald Trump briefly met with Zelensky in Rome during ceremonies for Pope Francis’ funeral....
By Andrea Kendall-Taylor & Jim Townsend
-
Trump ‘Humiliated’ as Putin Sends Clear Message That He Doesn’t Care About US
"Putin is not playing ball." Putin's Palm Sunday attack on Sumy is "embarrassing for the White House" as it comes just days after Steve Witkoff met with the Kremlin, says adju...
By Jim Townsend