The US military officials have been debating whether or not to publicly disclose the new space weapon as the western Military space leader gathered this week in Colorado. However, the process is paused for now as the US military withdraws from Afghanistan.
Senior Military officials, including the vice-chairman of the joint chiefs of staff and Gen, John Hyten, previously had been discussing for a year now, whether they should reveal the new space weapon to the public by exhibiting its capabilities, the reports say. The new space weapon, which has been kept obscure, was created as a “Special Access Program” only reserved for top classified information.
In 2020, the former president’s administration planned to introduce the new weapon in the Annual Space Conference of 2020, a reputable event for the country’s defense community. The plan was to demonstrate the technology as the authentication of the Space Command and Space Force, which is in charge of outer space military operations. However, the plan was canceled due to the virus outbreak.
According to some sources, the military is considering revealing the weapon in the 2021’s space Symposium, which is expected to be held this week in Colorado. But unfortunately, the recent US and Afghan activities have put a pause to this year’s event as well.
However, a public showcase would likely occur this year. Reportedly, Hyten is the biggest supporter of the test drive and will be retired this year in November.
Why is the US military desperately waiting to display this new space weapon? During the past fifteen years, several countries, prominently Russia and China, have been demonstrating Anti-satellite capabilities. These advanced operational capabilities could be exploited against the US to disrupt US space systems, revealed Brian Weeden, Secure World Foundation’s director, Victoria Simon, and the co-editor of the Global Counter Space Capabilities.
As per Biran Weeden, maybe just a handful of people would know the complete picture of such a weapon which Hitchen affirms is considered a Special Access Program. It is the highest level of confidentiality the US military uses.
The US military’s primary goal is to fend off attacks on their satellites. A public demonstration of Space Weapons would indicate that the military is strong enough to destroy any foreign bodies attempting to destroy their satellites. The foreign actors will know that if they dare to initiate, the counterattack would be futile.
Weeden stated, “This would be a way for the Department of Defense to say, “Actually, our satellites are not that vulnerable,’ “. “We have ways to defeat attacks.”
