“I am pleased to announce that, starting today, the United States has made no commitment to testing anti-satellite weapons. Simply put, such tests are dangerous and we will not perform them,” Harris said.
He stressed that the United States was the first country to promise not to carry out such tests. Harris urged other states to join the moratorium. He especially emphasized that Russia and Beijing should stop the tests.
Moscow reacted skeptically to the US moratorium.
“Does the current moratorium mean that the development of corresponding anti-satellite systems has been completely and completely stopped and the United States refuses to develop them as a whole? I would like to understand. The US has conducted similar tests in the past, it is quite possible that they will not need additional tests, ”said Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov.
Roscosmos head Dmitry Rogozin called the moratorium announced by the White House a “cheat”. “I’m translating what was said into Russian: The United States has completed a series of anti-satellite weapons tests and has put them into service with the US Space Force,” Rogozin said on his Telegram channel.
A similar position is held by retired Air Force Major General Vladimir Popov, former head of the Federal Aerospace Search and Rescue Directorate of the Russian Ministry of Defense.
“For example, the United States recently conducted the sixth launch of the Boeing X-37 orbital drone, also known as the X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle (OTV). This project was transferred from NASA to the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency of the US Department of Defense – DARPA. Its official purpose was not disclosed. It could very well be that these are anti-satellite weapons, among other things, Popov told socialbites.ca.
At the same time, the general recalled that Washington has repeatedly accused Russia of testing anti-satellite weapons. Popov recalled that most often it concerns the layered regional missile defense system A-235 “Nudol”.
On November 15, 2021, the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation announced the successful test of anti-satellite weapons as a result of the destruction of the inoperative spacecraft Kosmos-1408. What exactly was destroyed is not reported. At the same time, NASA stated that it was Nudol.
“This system was developed in the late 1970s. Then the work was stopped. In the 2000s, there were few official reports that the work was in progress. But no details. It is important to note here that Nudol is, first of all, a weapon against ballistic missiles, hypersonic missiles. Therefore, claims that this is a special weapon against satellites are unfounded,” he said.
Political scientist Valery Volkov recalled that in August 2020, Russian President Vladimir Putin advocated the disarmament of space during his speech at the UN General Assembly.
“Later, Russia took the initiative to sign an international treaty on a ban on the placement of weapons in space, and on any weapon in general to strike objects in outer space. But then Russia was not heard in the United States in the first place. They refused to sign this agreement. Besides. Earlier, in 2014, Russia and China had drafted an agreement to prevent the deployment of weapons in space. The US then refused to sign it either,” recalls Volkov.
In light of previous refusals, he believes the current memorandum looks “very strange”. “It’s as if the United States has actually tested the satellite fighter, others are now trying to ban it,” he said.
Source: Gazeta
