US: Russia developing anti-satellite weapon

WASHINGTON: Russia is developing a space-based anti-satellite weapon that is “troubling” for the United States but poses no immediate threat to people on Earth, the White House said Thursday.

The announcement came a day after a wave of speculation was sparked by US lawmakers making a cryptic warning of an unspecified but serious national security threat to the country.

Moscow denied the “malicious” and “unfounded” claims, describing them as a White House ploy to try to pass a multi-billion-dollar Ukrainian war aid package that stalled in Congress.

“I can confirm that it is related to an anti-satellite capability that Russia is developing,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters in a briefing at the White House.

“This is not an active capability that’s been deployed. And though Russia’s pursuit of this particular capability is troubling, there is no immediate threat to anyone’s safety,” he said.

Kirby confirmed that the Russian weapon was “space-based” but would not comment on reports in US media that it was either nuclearcapable or nuclear-powered.

The weapon could pose a lethal risk to astronauts in low orbit, along with potentially disrupting vital military and civilian satellites, he added.

US President Joe Biden had been kept informed and had ordered officials to reach out to Moscow over the weapon, although it had not responded yet.

Concern had gripped Washington since Republican House Intelligence Committee chairman Mike Turner issued a public statement on Wednesday referring to a “serious national security threat” and called on Biden to “declassify all information relating to this threat.”

Democrat Biden and the Republican-led House are at an impasse over a White House request for $60 billion in military aid to help Ukraine’s defense against the Russian invasion entering its third year.

The West has accused Russia of reckless nuclear rhetoric after President Vladimir Putin said he was prepared to use a nuclear weapon if he felt an existential threat. The Outer Space Treaty, to which both Russia and the United States are parties, bans the deployment of nuclear weapons in space.