Just months after the United States voted down several measures at the United Nations aimed at preventing the weaponization of space, a Pentagon official urged the US to maintain supremacy of the final frontier.
“US national security space systems are facing a serious growing threat,” claimed Navy Adm. Cecil D. Haney, the commander of US Strategic Command.
An official in charge of overseeing Defense Department space initiatives, Haney also said that “multiple countries have developed and are frequently using military jamming capabilities designed to interfere with satellite communications and global positioning systems.”
Haney specifically pointed the finger at China and Russia, according to a Pentagon press release.
“Both countries have acknowledged they are developing — or have developed — counter-space capabilities,” Haney claimed, adding the two nations have “demonstrated the ability to perform complex maneuvers in space” and possess “advanced directed energy capabilities” that can disrupt US satellite activities.
“We must apply all instruments of power and elements of deterrence,” Haney warned.
Last October, a United Nations disarmament committee approved a series of draft resolutions aimed at discouraging the weaponization of space – measures that were voted down by the US.
A proposal put forward by Russia and China was approved by a vote of 126 to 4 with the United States, Israel, Ukraine, and Georgia as the only nations opposed. . It urged nations to uphold a commitment “not to be the first to place weapons in outer space.” There were 46 countries that abstained from voting on the measure.
Another draft called upon member states “to contribute actively to the peaceful use of outer space and to the prevention of an outer space arms race.” The text was approved unanimously with only two abstentions: the United States and Israel.
Last June, Frank Rose, a deputy assistant secretary at the State Department addressed American opposition to the proposal during a conference in Geneva.
“The United States believes that arms control proposals and concepts should only be considered by the international community if they are equitable, effectively verifiable, and enhance the security of all,” Rose said.
He said the draft contains “significant flaws” and is missing an “effective verification regime to monitor compliance.”
Congress has made little effort toward preventing space-weaponization. The latest legislation introduced to those ends was the “Space Preservations Act of 2001” introduced by former Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio).
That bill contained language “permanently prohibiting the basing of weapons in space by the United States. It would have required the President to take action to adopt and implement a world treaty banning space-based weapons.”
It attracted zero co-sponsors.
