Sadly, the potential for war in space seems to have grown - or at least I have now become aware of this in an email sent to me.
Below are the opening and closing paragraphs of this recent detailed, well-researched and sourced article, with a link to the full article. Military agencies have been aware of this for a while, so there is probably much more about this that the public does not know.
What we can we or should do with this information?
This issue and article is all the more significant with the recent escalation of tension between North Korea and the world as a result of nuclear testing, missile tests and assassinations, China's support of N. Korea against South Korean and US alliance activity, and especially China's escalation of trade war tactics against the new THAD defensive anti-missile technology.
"Light wars: space-based lasers among Beijing’s hi-tech arms...
China’s military is developing powerful lasers, electromagnetic
railguns and high-power microwave weapons for use in a future “light
war” involving space-based attacks on satellites.
Beijing’s push to produce so-called directed-energy weapons aims
to neutralize America’s key strategic advantage: the web of
intelligence, communication and navigation satellites enabling military
strikes of unparalleled precision expeditionary warfare far from US
shores.
The idea of a space-based laser gun was disclosed in the journal Chinese Optics in December 2013....
“In future wars, the development of ASAT [anti-satellite] weapons is
very important,” they wrote. “Among those weapons, laser attack system
enjoys significant advantages of fast response speed, robust
counter-interference performance and a high target destruction rate,
especially for a space-based ASAT system. So the space-based laser
weapon system will be one of the major ASAT development projects.”
The researchers propose building a 5-ton chemical laser that will be
stationed in low-earth orbit as a combat platform capable of destroying
satellites in orbit. Given funding by the Chinese military, which is in
charge of China’s space program, the satellite-killing laser could be
deployed by 2023.
According to the article, an anti-satellite attack in space would
employ a ground-based radar to identify a target satellite, a special
camera to provide precision targeting and a deployable membrane
telescope that would focus the laser beam on the target satellite....
The closing paragraph of the article does not bode well:
“As long as China demonstrates its willingness to exploit much of its
space program for potential military missions, the US must possess
options for at least neutralizing potential threats, preferably short of
threatening lives,” Fisher says."
http://www.atimes.com/article/light-war-space-based-lasers-among-beijings-high-tech-arms/
