Orbiting Chinese warhead is a space-based nuclear weapon, Air Force report says.
The Chinese military has adopted a strategy for a conflict with the United States that calls for “space coercion” as an element of deterrence, according to a U.S. Air Force think tank report.
The report by the China Aerospace Studies Institute is based on writings by People’s Liberation Army (PLA) officials. It reveals that Chinese military planners consider space weapons easier to use than nuclear weapons and think space weapons could more effectively bully the United States.
The report highlights a coercive Chinese military space strategy calling for “compellence” of the United States in peacetime or war rather than relying on traditional threats of nuclear strikes.
China’s growing arsenal of space warfare capabilities includes ground-based anti-satellite missiles, directed energy arms and robot satellites able to cripple U.S. military operations that rely heavily on space systems.
The arsenal, which includes missiles capable of hitting satellites orbiting at all altitudes, “suggest[s] a broad-based program to develop and communicate the existence of space capabilities intended to deter the United States from becoming involved militarily in a conflict with the People’s Republic of China by threatening U.S. space, nuclear, and conventional capabilities, as well as the U.S. economy,” the Air Force think tank report said.
U.S.-China tensions are growing, particularly with regard to Taiwan’s status.