The US has deployed weapons in space
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What did the US military confirm about weapons in space?
The Claire Byrne Show on News Talk. With Aviva Insurance.
Now the United States has deployed weapons in space. The US military has confirmed that it and analysts are warning it can accelerate a high risk arms race with Russia and China in Earth's orbit. Let's get more on this now with military analyst and co host of the Red Matrix podcast, Sean Bell. Good morning, Sean.
Good morning to Clan.
The war has moved to space, has it?
Well, in a way, yes. I mean this is nothing new, to be brutally honest. Um there are various treaties that go back to the nineteen sixties, basically, because do you know the only nuclear power that's any ever actually exploded a nuclear weapon in space is America.
How did historic treaties like Starfish Prime shape current space‑weapon policies?
Back in nineteen sixty two, a four hundred kilometers high over the um um Pacific, they actually designated a nuclear weapon and that caused it was called Starfish Prime, I think, the exercise. And it took out the EMP burst took out disabled six satellites, which was about a quarter of all those that were around at the time. Um, and and as a result of the devastation that caused, it was agreed that actually nobody should put nuclear weapons in space. And that's why we had this out of space treaty in the six in the late sixties. But That frankly, ever since then, technology has moved on and the very fact that all the big nations deny it, there's no doubt that Russia and China have been developing nuclear um space capabilities and it's simply a recognition that America is doing exactly the same.
And the the rules then around this are very loose, aren't they, despite that agreement that you've referred to there. So they can they can do pretty much what they want up to a point.
Well, there's two points there, Claire. Yes. Nineteen sixty-seven Outer Space Treaty basically bans nuclear weapons or weapons of mass destruction in space, but it doesn't stop you doing virtually anything else in space.
Why are the Outer Space Treaty and its loopholes important for modern arms races?
And to be brutally honest, it's not like you can easily check. So how do you police such a thing? And one of the problems here, in a way, it's a little bit like the AI conversation. You can all sit around a table with the Russians, the Americans. And these Chinese and say, no, we won't put weapons in space. But if one of you decides to do it, you'd have an advantage over everybody else because it is the sort of new frontier of weapons, of capability. So it almost doesn't matter what people agree. The very fact is that I'm old enough to remember Reagan, was it back in 1983? He said that strategic defenses. initiative which was known as Star Wars, a missile defense system based in space. Now eventually it became too costly
And couldn't be done.
How are Russia and China developing anti‑satellite capabilities?
But that was 83. That was over 40 years ago. Just imagine what technology has done since that day. Imagine what America can actually do in space now. Not what they're declaring they can do, but what they can actually do. There's a lot of stuff going on in space that you and I have no knowledge of. This is simply a recognition that the frontiers of where weapons can be based and our critical reliance on space. space these days, it's quite reasonable that we should protect our capability.
So then should we accept the contention from some senior military leaders that Russia and China are developing ways to attack and disrupt US satellites in any future conflict, so that rather than saying we should prevent an arms race from occur happening in space, it's already underway.
Yeah, unfortunately, I'm a bit of a pragmatist here, Claire, is that um you only have to look in a not too distant past. China um uh launched an anti-satellite weapon back in two thousand seven, destroyed its own satellite, and left a cloud of debris that caused carnage in um space. And in November, only in nine uh twenty twenty-one, only a few years back, Russia um destroyed a defunct uh satellite.
What are the risks of debris and self‑defeating actions in space warfare?
That left 1500 bits of trackable debris. And the lesson there was that if you put stuff in space and destroy stuff, you're not only going to destroy your friends, uh your enemies' satellites, you're also going to control destroy your own.
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Chapters
7 chapters
1
What did the US military confirm about weapons in space?
0:01–0:51
2
How did historic treaties like Starfish Prime shape current space‑weapon policies?
0:51–2:01
3
Why are the Outer Space Treaty and its loopholes important for modern arms races?
2:01–2:47
4
How are Russia and China developing anti‑satellite capabilities?
2:47–4:00
5
What are the risks of debris and self‑defeating actions in space warfare?
4:00–4:56
6
Why is the United States’ reliance on space assets considered a critical vulnerability?
4:56–6:05
7
What role does the US Space Force play in both defending and attacking in orbit?
6:05–6:59