China Attempted To Blind U.S. Satellites With Laser
By VAGO MURADIAN
China has fired high-power lasers at U.S. spy satellites flying over its territory in what experts see as a test of Chinese ability to blind the spacecraft, according to sources.
It remains unclear how many times the ground-based laser was tested against U.S. spacecraft or whether it was successful.
But the combination of China’s efforts and advances in Russian satellite jamming capabilities illustrate vulnerabilities to the U.S. space network are at the core of U.S. Air Force plans to develop new space architectures and highly classified systems, according to sources.
According to experts, lasers — depending on their power level — could blind electro-optical satellites like the giant Keyhole spacecraft or even interfere with radar satellites like the Lacrosse. Blinding, one source said, is different than disabling given the enormous power required to shoot a laser through the dense lower atmosphere and reach a fast-moving satellite in space. The hardware on the spacecraft can’t be changed given they’re in orbit, but software changes can help them weather disruptive attacks.
Russian jamming systems are publicly known — the Air Force destroyed such a system deployed to Iraq to keep American GPS guided bombs from finding their targets during the 2003. The site was destroyed by GPS guided bombs.
Pentagon officials, however, have kept quiet regarding China’s efforts as part of a Bush administration policy to keep from angering Beijing, which is a leading U.S. trading partner and seen as key to dealing with onerous states like North Korea and Iran.
defensenews
Guys, you're going to get into trouble copy and pasting whole articles, even if properly attributed. I think the limit is about 1/3 of the article.
ReplyDeleteThanks met. It has been liposuctioned, reduced, word counted and I would have taken more away but I think someone flashed a laser at me.
ReplyDeleteJust one more thing to worry about; here's Another.
ReplyDeleteWill the new super-collider create a black hole that will devour the world? hmmm
This is why you have to keep the pressure on with new systems like SDI, B-2, F-22, F-35, "Aurora?" etc.
ReplyDeleteThey need to "understand" that they're just not going to be able to win. At the same time we entertwine their well-being in with our own through trade, etc. All the things we failed to do with 1940's Japan.
Duce, check out your link. Is it working?
ReplyDeletesnip from article:
ReplyDeleteBut the chance of planetary annihilation by this means "is totally miniscule," experimental physicist Greg Landsberg at Brown University in Providence, R.I., told LiveScience.
Oh, okay, so long as it's totally miniscule.
I gotta admit, I wasn't, at first, totally reassured.
ReplyDeleteha--like Kerry said--vigorously--when some reporter axed him if he'd've done something or other,
ReplyDelete"You BET I might have!"
The link is fixed, thanks. It amazes me that considering the tremendous investment we have in our satellites, the security implications and the vulnerability, there is so little interest in this.
ReplyDeletewell, I'm sure there's a whole lot that's simply "classified".
ReplyDeleteSurely this ain't a bureaucratic dropped ball. Surely.
Frankly, I thought this was illegal under the SALT Treaty of 1972 . That prohibits interference with space-based satellites for early-warning and imaging, or so I thought.
ReplyDeleteDuce, remember all those secret "Military" Missions the Space Shuttle was flying a few years back?
ReplyDeleteDid you ever wonder what we were putting up there? Maybe, there's a "reason" we're not too excited.
remember how long the F-117 and the B-2 flew around before they brought off the "wraps?"
ReplyDeleteWell, don't let the "black holes" get ya, Good night, and good luck. And same to you, p'tater, wherever you are.
ReplyDelete2164th:
ReplyDeleteI guess that it's kept on the QT because it's our "spy" satellite watching them. We would probably do the same thing to one of theirs.
All part of the game.