WASHINGTON (TND) — Russia is taking tensions with the United States into lower earth orbit.
The Pentagon confirmed during a press briefing on Tuesday that the Kremlin recently launched a counter-space weapon into the same path as a U.S. government satellite.
"Obviously that’s something that we'll continue to monitor. Certainly, we’ll say that we have a responsibility to be ready to protect and defend the domain, the space domain," said Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, press secretary for the Department of Defense.
Rep. Mike Turner, R-Ohio, was the first to sound the alarm on the issue in February, pressing the Biden administration for transparency and action.
“The threat is very serious. Everyone who has looked at it used the same language that I have that it is a very serious threat,” Turner told Meet the Press.
U.S. Intelligence shows Russia is developing a nuclear space weapon that, if detonated, could have devastating consequences. The bomb would take out not just American satellites but everyone’s satellites including Russia and China.
“So why would the Russians do this? The United States is more reliant on satellites than any country on the planet for everything GPS, communications, internet ... life would be like 1986 in a lot of ways,” explained Robert Peters, a research fellow for nuclear deterrence and missile defense at the Heritage Foundation.
Replacing satellites would be time-consuming and extremely costly. It could also make parts of space unusable for up to a year.
“The most immediate thing is like that’s a pretty big act of war," Peters added. "If the Russians detonate, we may be less concerned about when I can be using my GPS and posting on Instagram, and 'Holy cow we’re now at war with a nuclear-armed adversary.'”
Congress said they’re monitoring the threats.
“We have to stay on top of it because it is a dangerous step in the wrong direction,” said Rep. Dina Titus, D-Nev., who serves on the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
Any use of nuclear weapons in outer space would also violate a treaty signed by both the U.S. and Russia that explicitly bans such action.
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