Russian President Vladimir Putin could deploy terrifying space weapons with the “exact same impact” as nuclear warheads in an alarming threat to the West, an expert told Daily Express US.
This week, it emerged in Congress that Russia has allegedly been planning to deploy nuclear weapons in space to take out enemy satellites.
While the Kremlin has blasted this as a fabricated claim, space expert Brandon Weichert says the Russians could have another trick up their sleeves.
The author of Winning Space: How Americans Remain a Superpower told Daily Express US: “Set aside the nuclear weapons in space issue, though, and look at what can be done without nukes.
“Placing telephone-poll-sized tungsten rods on special satellites in orbit and launching them at Earth, using the planet’s natural gravity well to pull the weapons down over their targets, would have the exact same impact as a nuclear weapon would–only without radioactive fallout.
READ MORE: Vladimir Putin warns Ukraine war ‘matter of life and death’ for Russia
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Lt. Gen. Heath Collins, director of MDA, said: “This launch represents a pivotal time for MDA as we enter a new phase of missile warning, tracking and defense.”
He called the satellites an “essential step forward in our efforts to stay ahead of our adversaries.”
It came after US intelligence warned over a Russian anti-satellite weapon in the cosmos.
Mr Weichert warned that this would not be the first time this kind of threat has sparked alarm in Washington.
He said: “Let’s not forget the threat that both Moscow and Beijing issued in 2022 after Elon Musk allowed for his Starlink to be used by Ukraine at the opening of the Russian invasion of the country.
“Both Russia and China announced they were working on a sophisticated laser weapon that could knock out Starlink or any system like Starlink (Musk is developing Starshield for the military which operates on similar lines that Starlink does for civilians).”
He warned that another space weapon, so-called co-orbital satellites, dubbed space stalkers, could also be used to latch onto US satellites in orbit and destroy or damage them.
Mr Wiechert added: “The reason that Russia is taking such a provocative step is because the West has completely miscalculated how serious the Putin regime is about keeping Ukraine out of NATO and how committed to winning the Ukraine War Moscow is.
“At every step of this war, Washington and their NATO allies have misjudged and miscalculated Russian intentions and capabilities.
“And, now, here we are, on the brink of a game-changing (not for the better) escalation in the strategic high ground of space. What happens next could mean world war III.”
