Russian nuclear weapons in space are another Putin bluff to blackmail the "collective West"
Quote from Timothy Fitzpatrick on February 24, 2024, 11:38Russian nuclear weapons in space are another Putin bluff to blackmail the "collective West"
In the last decade of February, the Western press reported that Russia could deploy nuclear weapons or their potential carriers in outer space. According to Bloomberg, the U.S. government has already warned its allies, including the North Atlantic Alliance, about such a threat.
Russia is ready to violate any international treaties on the space sphere
It should be noted that the potential deployment of nuclear weapons components by Russians in space orbit will lead to a violation of the 1967 Outer Space Treaty signed by the United States, Great Britain and the Soviet Union. Currently, about 100 countries are parties to the Treaty, and another 26 have signed it but have not completed its ratification.
However, today, after all the criminal violations of international law by Russia, the main of which is the invasion of Ukraine, it is not to be hoped that the Kremlin will adhere to such treaties. Therefore, it was no coincidence that the reaction of Western specialists was some concern.
Russia is completing the development of a space transport and energy module with a nuclear installation
Therefore, it is necessary to understand in more detail what is behind such threats from Russia. First of all, it is necessary to pay attention to the political component of the behavior of the Russian Federation in the international arena, because everything that the Kremlin plans and does has a political and often foreign policy basis.
At the moment, most likely, we are talking about a space transport and energy module (TEM) with a nuclear power plant, which has been developed in Russia since 2009, and now can potentially be ready for testing. Therefore, as some experts note, this spacecraft can be used to disrupt the orbit of satellites or even generate an electromagnetic pulse using its own nuclear power plant to attack space objects.
In addition, this may be the first example of the use of a nuclear power plant in space, which, due to the complexity of conditions and high manufacturability, can lead to any accidents and "emergency situations". Therefore, first of all, attention should be paid to the information of other Western sources: "According to current estimates, Russia does not plan to detonate any orbital weapons.
However, there is a risk of an accident, and a nuclear explosion can potentially touch about a third of satellites and damage communication systems on Earth.
Nuclear components in space as a tool of blackmail from Russia
Taking into account the great resonance in the Western media, it is likely to state that the Kremlin artificially warms and incites interest in such a sensitive and extremely dangerous topic as nuclear weapons (or nuclear components) in space. It should also be noted that one of the main objects of influence of such rhetoric of Russians was Elon Musk, the owner of the space company SpaceX, which operates several thousand telecommunication satellites in space, which may be the target of attacks from Russia.
In fact, the attack on the satellites of Elon Musk's private company will not formally be considered an attack on the state satellites of NATO countries, which will lead to political and legal conflicts and uncertainty about how to respond to it. Therefore, it seems very that even hints of nuclear danger in space can have a serious impact on the behavior of Western political and social elites, becoming a successful tool of Russian blackmail.
It is possible that the escalation of even the potential probability of nuclear components being launched into space may have a serious impact on the state of affairs on the "ground", and more specifically in Ukraine. Simply put, by scaring nuclear space, Russia can seek from the West to reduce aid to Ukraine or force negotiations on its own terms.
Putin wants to draw the West into the space arms race, distracting him from Ukraine
In addition, it is necessary to mention the history of the Cold War, namely its episode such as "Star Wars" - a competition of space weapons of the 80s of the XX century - which got its name from the famous science fiction film of the same name by George Lucas.
We are talking about a large-scale and ambitious American military and scientific-technical program "Strategic Defense Initiative", which involved the creation of a system of protection against nuclear missiles in space orbit, as well as other advanced technologies. The scale and multi-billion-dollar cost of the project in the United States forced the Soviet government to also accelerate research in this area.
Many researchers believe that the Soviet Union, by allocating huge financial, technological and other resources to reduce the backlog in the military-space sphere, only aggravated its socio-economic problems. In fact, the closed Soviet economy could not withstand such a load, pulling a number of other problems that together affected the inevitable process of disintegration of the Soviet Union.
Consequently, it can be assumed that Vladimir Putin, who is still painfully experiencing the collapse of the Soviet Union (as he has repeatedly mentioned in his speeches), is trying to make a "mirror" move in his political game. It is bluff and blackmail, now in the space sphere, that should, according to the Kremlin, force the West to distract and disperse efforts, resources and budget primarily from assistance to Ukraine. Therefore, it is time for the leaders of the "collective West" to finally decide on further actions - either to force the Kremlin to stop the war in Ukraine, or to finally allocate to Ukraine all the necessary range of weapons to Ukraine so that our country can defeat the aggressor's army.
Russian nuclear weapons in space are another Putin bluff to blackmail the "collective West"
In the last decade of February, the Western press reported that Russia could deploy nuclear weapons or their potential carriers in outer space. According to Bloomberg, the U.S. government has already warned its allies, including the North Atlantic Alliance, about such a threat.
Russia is ready to violate any international treaties on the space sphere
It should be noted that the potential deployment of nuclear weapons components by Russians in space orbit will lead to a violation of the 1967 Outer Space Treaty signed by the United States, Great Britain and the Soviet Union. Currently, about 100 countries are parties to the Treaty, and another 26 have signed it but have not completed its ratification.
However, today, after all the criminal violations of international law by Russia, the main of which is the invasion of Ukraine, it is not to be hoped that the Kremlin will adhere to such treaties. Therefore, it was no coincidence that the reaction of Western specialists was some concern.
Russia is completing the development of a space transport and energy module with a nuclear installation
Therefore, it is necessary to understand in more detail what is behind such threats from Russia. First of all, it is necessary to pay attention to the political component of the behavior of the Russian Federation in the international arena, because everything that the Kremlin plans and does has a political and often foreign policy basis.
At the moment, most likely, we are talking about a space transport and energy module (TEM) with a nuclear power plant, which has been developed in Russia since 2009, and now can potentially be ready for testing. Therefore, as some experts note, this spacecraft can be used to disrupt the orbit of satellites or even generate an electromagnetic pulse using its own nuclear power plant to attack space objects.
In addition, this may be the first example of the use of a nuclear power plant in space, which, due to the complexity of conditions and high manufacturability, can lead to any accidents and "emergency situations". Therefore, first of all, attention should be paid to the information of other Western sources: "According to current estimates, Russia does not plan to detonate any orbital weapons.
However, there is a risk of an accident, and a nuclear explosion can potentially touch about a third of satellites and damage communication systems on Earth.
Nuclear components in space as a tool of blackmail from Russia
Taking into account the great resonance in the Western media, it is likely to state that the Kremlin artificially warms and incites interest in such a sensitive and extremely dangerous topic as nuclear weapons (or nuclear components) in space. It should also be noted that one of the main objects of influence of such rhetoric of Russians was Elon Musk, the owner of the space company SpaceX, which operates several thousand telecommunication satellites in space, which may be the target of attacks from Russia.
In fact, the attack on the satellites of Elon Musk's private company will not formally be considered an attack on the state satellites of NATO countries, which will lead to political and legal conflicts and uncertainty about how to respond to it. Therefore, it seems very that even hints of nuclear danger in space can have a serious impact on the behavior of Western political and social elites, becoming a successful tool of Russian blackmail.
It is possible that the escalation of even the potential probability of nuclear components being launched into space may have a serious impact on the state of affairs on the "ground", and more specifically in Ukraine. Simply put, by scaring nuclear space, Russia can seek from the West to reduce aid to Ukraine or force negotiations on its own terms.
Putin wants to draw the West into the space arms race, distracting him from Ukraine
In addition, it is necessary to mention the history of the Cold War, namely its episode such as "Star Wars" - a competition of space weapons of the 80s of the XX century - which got its name from the famous science fiction film of the same name by George Lucas.
We are talking about a large-scale and ambitious American military and scientific-technical program "Strategic Defense Initiative", which involved the creation of a system of protection against nuclear missiles in space orbit, as well as other advanced technologies. The scale and multi-billion-dollar cost of the project in the United States forced the Soviet government to also accelerate research in this area.
Many researchers believe that the Soviet Union, by allocating huge financial, technological and other resources to reduce the backlog in the military-space sphere, only aggravated its socio-economic problems. In fact, the closed Soviet economy could not withstand such a load, pulling a number of other problems that together affected the inevitable process of disintegration of the Soviet Union.
Consequently, it can be assumed that Vladimir Putin, who is still painfully experiencing the collapse of the Soviet Union (as he has repeatedly mentioned in his speeches), is trying to make a "mirror" move in his political game. It is bluff and blackmail, now in the space sphere, that should, according to the Kremlin, force the West to distract and disperse efforts, resources and budget primarily from assistance to Ukraine. Therefore, it is time for the leaders of the "collective West" to finally decide on further actions - either to force the Kremlin to stop the war in Ukraine, or to finally allocate to Ukraine all the necessary range of weapons to Ukraine so that our country can defeat the aggressor's army.