US intel says Russia highly unlikely to launch nuclear warhead into space
The space-based weapon US intelligence believes Russia may be developing is more likely a nuclear-powered device to blind, jam or fry the electronics inside satellites than an explosive nuclear warhead to shoot them down, analysts said on February 15.
The intelligence came to light on Wednesday after Representative Mike Turner, Republican chair of the US House of Representatives intelligence committee, issued an unusual statement warning of a "serious national security threat."
A source briefed on the matter told Reuters that Washington had new intelligence related to Russian nuclear capabilities and attempts to develop a space-based weapon, but added that the new Russian capabilities did not pose an urgent threat to the United States. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken echoed this view on Thursday, saying "this is not an active capability."
Analysts tracking Russia's space programs say the space threat is probably not a nuclear warhead but rather a high-powered device requiring nuclear energy to carry out an array of attacks against satellites.
These might include signal jammers, weapons that can blind image sensors, or - a more dire possibility - electromagnetic pulses (EMPs) that could fry all satellites' electronics within a certain orbital region.
"That Russia is developing a system powered by a nuclear source ... that has electronic warfare capabilities once in orbit is more likely than the theory that Russia is developing a weapon that carries a nuclear explosive warhead," said Daryl Kimball, executive director of the Arms Control Association advocacy group.
A 2023 US Defense Intelligence Agency report said Russia is developing an array of weapons designed to target individual satellites and may also be developing "higher-power systems that extend the threat to the structures of all satellites."
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