Russia develops new space-based nuclear weapon and raises concern in the United States

The United States has briefed Congress and its allies in Europe on Russia’s progress a new space nuclear weapon designed to threaten the vast U.S. satellite network, according to current and former officials briefed on the matter.

If such a weapon was used kill satellitesI could destroy civilian communicationssurveillance from space e command military operations and control by the United States and its allies. At the moment, the United States it has no ability to counter such a weapon and defend its satellites, a former official said.

The officials said the new intelligence, which they did not describe in detail, raised serious doubts that Russia was preparing to abandon the 1967 Outer Space TreatyThat bans all orbital nuclear weapons. But because Russia does not appear close to deploying the weapon, they said, it is not considered an urgent threat.

The intelligence was made public, in part, in a cryptic announcement Wednesday by Rep. Michael R. Turner, R-Ohio, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee. He asked the Biden administration declassify information without saying specifically what it was.

ABC News previously reported that the intelligence had to do with Russia’s space-based anti-satellite nuclear weapons. Current and former officials affirmed the anti-satellite launch It didn’t seem imminent.but that there was a limited period of time, undefined by them, to prevent its deployment.

A concern from 50 years ago

Concerns about placing nuclear weapons in space They date back 50 years. The United States has experimented with versions of the technology but they never implemented them. Russia has been developing its space capabilities for decades.

US military officials warned this Both Russia and China are moving towards greater militarization of spacewhile the three superpowers work on ways to blind others.

A report published last year highlighted Russia’s development of weapons to blind other satellites, but noted that Russia had refrained from using the full range of anti-satellite capabilities it had developed.

Deploying a nuclear weapon in space would represent a significant advance in Russian technology a potentially dramatic escalation. The Outer Space Treaty bans nuclear weapons in space, but Russia came out of many Cold War arms control treaties, considering them a restriction on its most important source of military power.

Riot in Washington

Turner’s statement and his decision to share the information with others in Congress caused a stir in Washington Wednesday on what intelligence was.

But the statement angered White House officials, who feared the loss of important sources of information about Russia. While Turner has been a White House ally on aid to Ukraine, his comments on Wednesday have become the latest flashpoint in strained relations between the Biden administration and congressional Republicans.

The intelligence has developed in recent days, and while important, officials said it wasn’t some sort of break-glass warning about an imminent threat. But Turner urged his release.

“I demand that President Biden declassify all information related to this threat so that Congress, the administration and our allies they can openly discuss necessary actions to respond to this threat,” Turner said.

His committee took the unorthodox step Monday of voting to make the information available to all members of Congress, a move that alarmed some officials because it is unclear in what context, if there were any, the information the commission had was presented. In a memo to lawmakers, the House Intelligence Committee said the intelligence involved a “destabilizing foreign military capability.”

The Capitol is engulfed a bitter political confrontation on the question of whether the United States should mobilize resources to counter Russian threats to Ukraine, a cause that most Democrats and some Republicans (including Turner) have deemed essential to protecting U.S. national security interests.

But a majority of Republican members of the House, including Speaker Mike Johnson, are rejecting calls for a House vote on the Senate-approved $60.1 billion foreign aid package for Ukraine.

Former President Donald Trump egged on Republican opposition, saying so over the weekend it would encourage Russia to “do whatever it wants” with any NATO country that it didn’t spend enough money on its own defense.

Other officials said Turner was taking advantage of the new information more than would normally be expected, perhaps to create pressure to induce the House to do so accept the request for additional financing for Ukraine which the Senate approved this week.

That measure, which provides military aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, faces an uncertain prospect in the House. While many Republicans oppose additional funding, Turner is a strong advocate for increased assistance to Ukraine and I recently visited Kiev, the capital.

Shortly after Turner’s announcement, Jake Sullivan, the national security advisor, entered the White House press room to discuss the importance of continuing to fund the Ukrainian military.

But Sullivan declined to answer a reporter’s question about the contents of Turner’s announcement, saying only that he planned to meet with Turner on Thursday.

“We have scheduled a briefing for members of the House Gang of Eight tomorrow,” Sullivan said, referring to a group of congressional leaders from both parties. «It’s written in the books. “So I’m a little surprised that Congressman Turner came out publicly, ahead of a scheduled meeting, so that I could sit down with him tomorrow along with our intelligence and defense professionals.”

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