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crops and rangeland can watch mil–
ilary inslallations.
If navigalion spacecraft aid ships
in pinpoinling their positions lo
within a hundred yards, they also
can guide a navy's nuclear armcd
submarines.
If
space stations and
plat forms can be used for industrial
purposes, t hey can also be used for
warfare.
Military Uses· Not New
The media present the proposed
Strategic Defense l niliative as a
future event about to begin. But
the mi litarization of space tech–
nology
already
is a reality.
In 1959 the first launching of
mili tary satell ites for reconnais–
sance began. T here followed navi–
gation, commun ication, weat her
and early warning satellites.
Today, orbiting satelli tes survey
the oceans. They track ships and
watch port installations, monitor–
ing loading and unloading of car–
go.
Electronic salellites, called Fer–
rets, listen in on telephone conver–
sat ions, mi lilary communicalions
and signals from missi le tests.
Early warning spacecraft hover–
ing in fi xed orbit 22,300 miles
above the earth detect inlerconli–
nental missiles by the heal of their
exhausts wilhin seconds of igni–
tion. These give twice lhe warning
time- from 15 minutes to a1most
30 mi n u tes- of an impending
attack.
T he majar mi1itary powers re1y
upon space information so much
that they can no 1onger wage war
effectively without the aid of sat–
ellite surveillance.
During the Mideast Oc tober
war in 1973, satellites orbited
above the battlefield . Russian sat–
e ll ite pho tographs finally con–
vinced the Egyptians tha t the
Js raelis had the upper hand , and
causcd the Egyptians to call for a
cease fi re.
The 1982 Falkland Jslands war
saw expanded use of salellites for
milit a ry intelligence. Planners
now believe that it was a Russia n
sa tellit e t ha t bea med to the
Argentines the exposed position of
HMS
Sheffield.
The Argentines further refi ned
the
Sheffield's
position and sent
the Etendard jets on their way.
4
T he whole process took about four
hours. The final result was the
sinkjng of the
Sheffield.
The Bri tish took advantage of
satellite reconnaissance too.
lt
is
widely believed that the arder to
sink the Argentine cruiser
Be/gra–
no
was beamed to the British
nuclear submarine H MS
Conquer–
or
by way of an American military
satellite.
Today the entire planet is under
sorne form of constant surveillance.
Sorne experts claim tbat, if you
were now sitting outside you r
home, powerfu l spaceborne cam–
eras could see this very magazine
you are hold ing. Spacecraft aloft
watch ai r fie lds, launching pads,
t roop and tank movements. Com–
munications are intercepted and
interpreted .
These spy satellites are so effec–
t ive that the "open skies" program
first proposed by President Dwight
D.
Eisenhower on J uly 21, 1955,
has become an inevitable reality.
He suggested t hat the U ni ted
States and Soviet Union open each
other's country to unlimited aerial
inspection by the other.
Whi le M
r.
Eisenhower 's propos–
al was t u rned down by Moscow,
what he suggested has nevertbeless
come to pass. The superpowers
routinely inspect each other's terri–
tory via satellites.
Figures vary, but sorne claim 95
percent of all Soviet and 86 per–
cent of U.S. satell ite launchings
are for military purposes.
Reliance on space-based infor–
mation is considered an absolute
necessity. As one scientist said,
"Whoever controls space, controls
the world."
Because space systems are so
essential to the superpowers, tbey
must be protected. U.S. Air Force
Undersecretary Edward Adridge
has said: " Our space systems have
become essential to ou r operational
forces. " And: "We are going to
have to defend them." 1f either
superpower were to launch an
attack, experts foresee the opening
shots would be in space.
Space Weapons Systems
As with the airplane in World War
1, space research has moved from
the reconnaissance phase to the
weapons phase. Science seems
ready to confer upon us weapons
so powe rfu l , so adva nced, so
incredible that they seem impossi–
ble.
Consider the space weapons sys–
tems under development, sorne of
which a lready exist, others of
wh ich may be far fe tc h ed b u t
reflect current thinking.
First of all , is the category of
antisate ll ite weapons (ASAT ).
These weapons attack reconnais–
sance satellites. Their purpose is to
blind an enemy's eyes-in-the-sky
so operat ions on earth won' t
be
detected. Observers feel their use
could signa! the fi rst shots fired in
a majar war.
T he Soviets' version of the " ki ll–
er satelli te," once pul in to orbit, is
designed to hunt down its target.
When within range, the satelli te
detonates, causing a sh rapnel blast
like an exploding grenade, destroy–
ing its victim.
T he United States ASAT, still
being tes ted , is qui te different
from the Soviet system. It involves
an air- launcbed missile. A two–
stage, 18 - foot- long r oc ket is
strapped to the belly of a modified
F- 15 fightcr plane. After the F- 15
launches the rocket from a h igh
alt itude zoom-climb, the compu t–
e r-guided, heat-sensi ng m issi le
homes in on the target and coll ides
with it- kamikaze style--destroy–
ing the prey.
The Soviets have effectively
shown that ki ller satelli tes have a
range of about 1,000 mi les above
the earth. Tests indicate t he
Soviets could destroy low-alt it ude
reconnaissance, Fer ret and naviga–
tion satellites. With larger boosters
they could conceivably reach the
geosynchronous- 22,000-mi le–
orbit. The U.S. test fligh ts are
concen trated against low enemy
orbits- 300 miles- above t he
ear th's surface. But ASAT weap–
ons are only the fi rs t step into a
larger and more deadly world.
Since the days of Buck Rogers
comics, many have heard about
death ray beams. These weapons
soon may be a reality.
Death rays, or more properly
direct energy weapons, use laser or
particle beams to destroy satelli tes
or other targels. Both superpowers
are researc hing such weapons.
(Continued on page 42)
The
PLAIN TRUTH