Igor Patrick
The head of US Space Command has warned that China’s expanding arsenal of anti-satellite weapons is forcing Washington to accelerate defences in orbit, calling the threat “real” and immediate, amid growing scrutiny of President Donald Trump’s proposed missile shield.
General Stephen Whiting told a public forum in Chicago on Thursday that the ambitious defence system known as the Golden Dome was a response to how China had spent the past three decades preparing to target American space infrastructure.
“They have built capabilities to hold at risk our space systems,” he said. “Golden Dome is part of making sure we’re ready.”
Whiting said Beijing’s strategy included deploying weapons in orbit, developing jamming systems and fielding kinetic anti-satellite missiles – all with the explicit aim of blinding and disrupting US military operations during a crisis.
“China has ambitions to be the world’s greatest space power,” he said. “And they are backing that up with action.”
Unveiled this week with an initial US$25 billion investment, the Golden Dome is a sweeping plan to build a layered missile defence architecture to protect the US from long-range and hypersonic threats.
Modelled in part on Israel’s Iron Dome but with a vastly larger scope, the system is set to integrate both ground and space-based technologies, including a planned network of orbiting interceptors and sensors.
Announced via executive order in January and formally introduced by Trump on Tuesday, the project is expected to cost at least US$175 billion. But costs could spiral beyond US$800 billion over the next two decades, according to the US Congressional Budget Office.
Trump has said the goal is for the initiative to be operational by the end of his term in January 2029.
No comments:
Post a Comment