ABC News report: US White House’s Intelligence Committee chairman warns of “national security threat” due to Russian nuclear capabilities.
According to the intelligence report, Russia is reportedly aiming to deploy a nuclear weapon in space, potentially targeting satellites.
The revelation surfaced following an uncommon and enigmatic statement from Representative Mike Turner, the Republican chairman of the US House of Representatives intelligence committee, cautioning about a “significant national security threat” on Wednesday.
In his statement, Turner urged President Biden to declassify all pertinent information regarding this threat, enabling Congress, the Administration, and allied nations to openly deliberate on the necessary actions to address it.
House Speaker Mike Johnson stated his understanding that the threat pertains to a space-deployed Russian anti-satellite weapon, potentially posing a significant risk to U.S. satellites responsible for transmitting billions of bytes of data every hour.
Previously, the New York Times had disclosed that the recent intelligence concerned Russia’s endeavors to create a space-based antisatellite nuclear weapon.
Following his leadership of a bipartisan congressional delegation to Ukraine, Turner alerted fellow lawmakers about the dwindling time for Ukraine in its struggle against Russian aggressors.
Renowned for advocating stronger US national security measures, Turner’s stance contrasts with certain Republican colleagues advocating a more isolationist stance. While Turner has advocated for the renewal of a crucial US government surveillance tool, some fellow Republicans and liberal Democrats have voiced privacy concerns.
Turner also advocates for the continuation of US military assistance to Ukraine in its ongoing conflict with Russia.
In recent years, both China and Russia have been actively pursuing various methods to disrupt satellite operations, including jamming signals, intercepting data transmissions, blinding satellites, physically damaging them, and potentially even manipulating their orbits using robotic technology. As a response to this evolving threat landscape in space, the United States established the Space Force in 2019. One of the primary objectives of the Space Force is to train personnel proficient in identifying and countering these emerging threats.
Outlined in its 2020 Defense Space Strategy, the Pentagon identified China and Russia as posing the most significant strategic challenges in space due to their aggressive pursuit of capabilities to disrupt space operations. This includes the development of counter-space technologies and their military doctrines, which emphasize the extension of conflict into space.