The U.S. is facing a new Cuban Missile Crisis. But instead of Russian nuclear warheads parked just 90 miles from Florida, the Kremlin now wants to put them in low-earth orbit, where they could threaten critical American satellites.
That was the warning Thursday from House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rep. Mike Turner, Ohio Republican, who told an audience at the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank in Washington that a Russian nuclear device in low-earth orbit would be disastrous for America.
“The Space Age began when Russia launched Sputnik in 1957,” Mr. Turner said. “The Space Age will end when Russia launches its nuclear anti-satellite weapon into orbit.”
Mr. Turner has found himself at the center of the discussion about potential Russian nuclear weapons in space.
In February, Mr. Turner publicly called on the Biden administration to declassify and disseminate information about what he said was a major new Russian threat. His comments touched off several days of speculation, leading the White House to eventually issue a statement contending that there was no imminent threat to national security despite Moscow’s apparent interest in placing nuclear weapons in orbit.
“Though Russia’s pursuit of this particular capability is troubling, there is no immediate threat to anyone’s safety,” White House spokesperson John Kirby told reporters at the time. “We are not talking about a weapon that can be used to attack human beings or cause physical destruction here on Earth.”
Administration officials and some national security insiders privately were angry with Mr. Turner for taking the matter public. Such sensitive intelligence issues are typically discussed only behind closed doors.
Mr. Turner defended his actions and said that the House intelligence panel worked directly with the White House to notify Congress of the threat.
And the threat, he said Thursday, remains significant.
If detonated, a Russian nuclear weapon in orbit would indiscriminately wipe out all satellites, which are vital for everything from communications to navigation to scientific research. It would take at least a year before they could be replaced and returned to orbit. It could initiate an almost Armageddon-like scenario, with U.S. society unable to count on satellites vital to their daily lives, Mr. Turner said.
“This threat would mean that our economic, international, security, and social systems would come to a grinding halt,” he said. “This would be a catastrophic and devastating attack on Western economic and democratic systems.”
Last month, the Pentagon assessed that Russia launched a satellite into low orbit. Officials said it appeared to be a space weapon capable of attacking other satellites in the same stretch of space.
Mr. Turner called on the White House to release additional information about the Kremlin’s program.
“The advances that mankind has made during the Space Age are at risk, and the (Biden) administration is sleepwalking,” he said.
The White House is reluctant to take any action that could appear to be provocative or escalatory. But Russia is the aggressor and escalation has already occurred, Mr. Turner said.
The U.S. and Russia are both signatories to the 1967 United Nations Outer Space Treaty, which prohibits sending nuclear weapons into space and using outer space for explicit military purposes. The two nations in recent months have also put forward new resolutions at the U.N. related to weapons in space, but neither have passed.
In April, Russia vetoed a resolution put forward by the U.S. aimed at preventing an arms race in space. Moscow proposed its own resolution in May, though it failed to get enough votes to clear the U.N. Security Council.
Despite the growing concern in national security circles, Mr. Turner said the White House still isn’t taking seriously the possibility that the Russians may soon have nuclear anti-satellite weapons in space.
“There is no one who has that responsibility and there’s no one who’s executing that ‘to do’ list,” Mr. Turner said. “This is something they’re aware of. But this is not a priority” for the administration.
“This needs to be a priority,” he added.
• Mike Glenn can be reached at mglenn@washingtontimes.com.
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