Russia developing ‘troubling’ new anti-satellite weapon, US says

BBC News:

Russia is developing a “troubling” new anti-satellite weapon, the US has said, but it emphasised that Moscow has yet to deploy it.

White House spokesperson John Kirby made the comments a day after a senior House Republican issued vague warnings of a “serious national security threat”.

The weapon is space-based and armed with a nuclear weapon to target satellites, the BBC’s US partner CBS News reported.

But Mr Kirby did not confirm this and refused to offer precise details on the threat on Thursday.

Moscow accused the US of using claims of new Russian weapons as a ruse to force Congress to pass additional Ukraine aid by “hook or by crook”.

Mr Kirby, who was recently made a top aide to President Joe Biden, told reporters that there is no immediate threat to the US public.

“We’re not talking about a weapon that can be used to attack human beings. or cause physical destruction, here on Earth,” he said.

President Biden was briefed on the intelligence, Mr Kirby said, and that his administration was taking the development of the weapon “very seriously”. He added that the president had already ordered “direct diplomatic engagement with Russia” over the threat.

House Intelligence Committee chairman Mike Turner issued a cryptic warning about a serious national security threat on Wednesday, sparking a flurry of rumours around the capital.

On Thursday, Mr Turner and others from the committee met with National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan to discuss the matter further.

“We all came away with a very strong impression that the administration is taking this very seriously and that the administration has a plan in place,” Mr Turner said following the meeting. “We look forward to supporting them as they go to implement it.”

While space weapons sound ripped from the pages of science fiction novels or films such as Superman II and James Bond’s GoldenEye, military experts have long warned that space is likely to be the next frontier of warfare in an increasingly technology-dependent world.