US Alert to China Space Threat
Reliance on satellites is the Achilles’s heel of America’s military might, and China is making anti-satellite weapons a key focus in its military development. The United States is waking up to the threat: over the course of 11 days recently, Congress held five hearings where China’s foray into space warfare was raised as a major threat that will only grow.
“Chinese and Russian military leaders understand the unique information advantages afforded by space systems and are developing capabilities to disrupt U.S. use of space in a conflict,” said James Clapper, director of National Intelligence, during a Jan. 29 hearing.
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According to Michael Krepon, co-founder of the Stimson Center, space warfare is an old threat.
Krepon served as a staff member on the House Armed Services Committee during the Cold War. On Jan. 28 he testified before the same committee about China’s ambitions for space warfare.
“I think there are several reasons why we avoided warfare in space back then,” he said, referring to the Cold War. “One was that we couldn’t firewall it away from warfare in other domains.”
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