Russia and China Are Working Toward Space-Based Weapons, US Intelligence Director Warns

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – The director of the US Defense Intelligence Agency stated this week that Russia and China have become willing to set aside their historic mutual suspicion in order to develop space-based weapons that could undermine the United States’ ability to defend itself, Voice of America (VOA) reports.

Addressing the annual Aspen Security Forum on Wednesday, Lieutenant General Jeff Kruse, director of the DIA, said Russia and China are interested in gaining a substantial military edge over the United States.

“I would highlight … the increasing amount in intent to use counterspace capabilities,” Kruse said. “Both Russia and China view the use of space early on, even ahead of conflict, as important capabilities to deter or to compel behaviors. We just need to be ready.”

“We have been tracking for almost a decade Russia’s intent to design the ability to put a nuclear weapon in space,” Kruse continued. “They have progressed down to a point where we think they’re getting close. [They] don’t intend to slow down, and until there are repercussions, will not slow down.”

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov recently dismissed as “fake news” reports that the US worries Russia is trying to put nuclear weapons in space, VOA reports.

China has also denied such belligerence. “China always advocates the peaceful use of outer space, opposes weaponizing space or an arms race in space, and works actively toward the vision of building a community with a shared future for mankind in space,” spokesperson Liu Pengyu told VOA in an email.

“The US has been weaving a narrative about the so-called threat posed by China in outer space in an attempt to justify its own military buildup to seek space hegemony,” Pengyu added.

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