Therefore, Russia wants to place nuclear weapons in space

The US believes that Russia wants to send nuclear weapons into space, something that the country itself denies.
Hans Liwång, docent in defense systems at the Norwegian Defense Academy believes that this development has been underway since the Cold War.
– They have called this the real war of the stars, he says in Efter fem.

It was during Wednesday that the information spread in both the Swedish and international press. This after Mike Turner, chairman of the US House of Representatives Intelligence Committee, issued a warning to the US Congress about a “serious national security threat” to the US. Something ABC News then confirmed is that Russia wants to place nuclear weapons in space.

However, Russia itself states that the information is not correct and believes that it is “another trick from the White House”. Hans Liwång believes that the truth lies somewhere in between.

– I think that there is a certain amount of domestic political play from the US, but I also think that there is a truth behind this kind of development in Russia. A next step in the anti-satellite war, he says.

“Forbidden to militarize space”

Being able to knock out each other’s satellites is a development seen from Russia, China and North Korea, says the docent. The antidote from the US side has been to have many satellites so that it does not matter so much if you knock out a satellite.

– Nuclear weapons could be the next step. That you can use it to knock out many satellites, says Hans Liwång.

However, sending nuclear weapons into space is prohibited. Russia and other countries have in fact signed an international agreement that they may not militarize space.

– But otherwise it’s a question of who makes laws over space, it’s not obvious what the law there looks like, says Hans Liwång.

“The Real Star Wars”

Sending nuclear weapons into space would have different kinds of consequences. If one were to succeed in knocking out many satellites, it would affect countries like the United States – a country that is very dependent on space technology. Another consequence is that electromagnetic pulses could knock out electronics in our atmosphere.

However, the associate professor wants to emphasize that the possible use of nuclear weapons in space will not happen now, but lies in the future, even if the development has been going on for a longer time.

– They have called this the real star war and it has actually been going on since the end of the Cold War. This is a continuation of the development we have seen, says Hans Liwång.