US Space Force Commander Claims Russia’s ‘Unsafe Behavior Has Not Slowed Down’ During Pandemic

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US Space Force Commander Claims Russia’s ‘Unsafe Behavior Has Not Slowed Down’ During Pandemic

One of the US Space Force’s leading commanders recently blasted Russian space activities during the COVID-19 pandemic, claiming Moscow has an “increasing penchant for unsafe and what I would consider unacceptable behavior in space.” Meanwhile, the Pentagon is readying its own plans for militarizing outer space.

While Washington has generated no shortage of noise about the space activities of Russia and China, the Pentagon has been hard at work preparing for the militarization of space, as exemplified by the formation of the US Space Force (USSF) as a sixth branch of the US Armed Forces.

“I can’t tell you what they’re doing with their crews and their individuals, but based on their macro-level activities, their cadence has certainly not slowed down,” Thompson said.

Thompson’s comments come just weeks after the US Space Command claimed Russia had tested a direct-ascent anti-satellite (DA-ASAT) missile, which USSF Chief of Operations and SPACECOM Commander Gen. John Raymond called “further proof of Russia’s hypocritical advocacy of outer space arms control proposals designed to restrict the capabilities of the United States while clearly having no intention of halting their counterspace weapons programs.”

Likewise, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said two days after SPACECOM’s claims, on April 17, that the accusation was “an attempt by the United States to divert global attention from real threats in outer space and to justify the steps they’re taking to deploy weapons in space, as well as to secure additional funding for these purposes.”

A Long History of US Space Weapons

However, the US isn’t without its own anti-satellite capabilities. In February 2008, the US became the first country to successfully test a DA-ASAT missile when it blasted an inactive, 5,000-pound US reconnaissance satellite with hazardous fuel compounds on board that was in a decaying orbit. Dubbed “Operation Burnt Frost,” the mission saw a US Navy destroyer fire an SM-3 ballistic missile interceptor at the satellite, destroying it at an altitude of 150 miles.

That, in turn, followed the massive effort begun by the Ronald Reagan administration to develop a satellite-based missile interception network called the “Strategic Defense Initiative,” or more commonly, “Star Wars,” which explored basing laser, missile and even kinetic energy weapons in space to eliminate a potential nuclear response by an adversary or even strike at ground targets.

US Space Force Commander Claims Russia’s ‘Unsafe Behavior Has Not Slowed Down’ During Pandemic

An artist’s concept shows an earth-generated laser beam being reflected toward a high altitude target by a space-based mirror

The progenitor of the 2019 attempt was Michael Griffin, defense undersecretary for research and engineering, who is an avowed fan of directed energy weapons.

In March, the USSF received its first offensive weapon: a ground-based satellite jamming system called Counter Communications System (CCS) Block 10.2 that Lieutenant Colonel Steve Brogan, the Combat Systems branch materiel leader within the Space Force Space and Missile Systems Center’s Special Programs Directorate, boasted at the time “puts the ‘force’ in Space Force.”

Sourse: sputniknews.com

US Space Force Commander Claims Russia’s ‘Unsafe Behavior Has Not Slowed Down’ During Pandemic

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