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To be effective, a laser or par–
ticle beam weapon need not disinte–
grate its victim. A laser or particle
beam only needs to destroy or dis–
rupt one or more on-board comput–
er circuits to render a missile or
satellite useless.
Many readers themselves know
that a cracked or broken distributor
on their car renders it inopera–
tive-even though all other parts
might work. Destruction of certain
parts of the electronic circuits of a
spacecraft may blind it--or destroy
its ability to navigate to its ground
target.
Experts envision a
/aser–
equip¡fed
satellite shooting a bolt of
light at a rising missile or at anoth–
er satellite. The laser beam- mov–
ing at the speed of light- hits its
victim, burning a hole in the pro–
tective skin or heating it beyond
workable temperature. This ren–
ders it useless or completely
destroys it.
A
particle beam-equipped
satel–
lite shoots a beam of hydrogen
atoms. This beam, traveling at
60,000 miles a second, penetrates
the metal skin, disrupting com–
pletely or destroying the electronic
brain.
lt
would be as effective as
the laser in destroying its target.
Sorne seers envision a fleet of
100 or so such weapons encircling
the earth. Upon detection of a mis–
sile launch, they actívate. Sorne
claim these defensive weapons
would destroy more than 80 per–
cent of attacking missiles. The
remaining 20 percent would be
attacked by "smart miss iles"
maneuvering into the path of the
incoming warhead, destroying it on
impact, something like the Ameri–
can ASAT already described. Sorne
experts say this layered defense
system would be 95 percent effec–
tive.
Electromagnetic railgun
satel–
lites fire projectiles. These projec–
tiles travel ing at speeds more than
100 kilometers a second easily pen–
etrate the skin of other.satellites or
ballistic missiles.
Continuing research includes
chemical, free-electron lasers and
X-ray laser weapons powered by
nuclear explosions.
42
Fateful Decision
In the détente years of the late
l960s and early 1970s, the Soviet
leadership made a decision. Soviet
leaders decided to legally buy from
the West the computer technology
they needed, for the
~ost
part,
rather than developing it for them–
selves.
Now with détente all but ceased,
and with it the flow of Western
technology, the Soviets find them–
selves in a dilemma. New-genera–
tion weapons rely on high-tech
computers, for which the Soviet
Union must depend upon the
West.
The West takes computers pret–
ty much for granted. lts societies–
and increasingly many non-West–
ern ones- are anchored to the com–
puter. Scientists and engineers tell
us we are at the dawn of the age of
supercomputers with artificial in–
telligence-computers that think
for themselves.
But the Soviets can only look on
and watch the West develop these
machines. Their system is about
eight to 10 years behind. lf nothing
is done, Soviet experts warn, the
East-West gap in technology will
become unbridgeable.
The Soviet lag in computer tech–
nology puts the country at a great
disadvantage with modern weapon
technologies. The West, led by the
United States, could conceivably
develop sorne sort of space defense
shield. The Soviet Union could not.
This changes the whole balance of
power situation.
The Turning Point
Until recently, most space weapon–
ry remained in the imagination of
science fiction.
The year the U.S. space shuttle
became operational, 1982, marked
the beginning of easy access to
space. As previous shuttle flights
demonstrated, the shuttle can
launch, retrieve and make repairs
to orbiting satellites. Soon shuttle
crews will refuel and repair orbit–
ing space systems on a routine
basis.
Military men view the shuttle as
a necessity. They want it to launch,
repair and refuel their military sat–
ellites, and possibly even steal other
nations ' orbiting satellites! The
shuttle already carries into orbit
military cargoes.
The Soviets view the U.S. shut–
tle as a military vehicle. They are
now scrambling to catch up and
develop their own. A small-scale
version is being tested.
The Soviet leadership is very
aware of U .S. technology. They see ·
U .S. advances in space technology
as a great threat to their nation' s
political hegemony. Even if space
defense ultimately proves inade–
quate, the Soviets fear it nonethe–
less. They see U.S. debates, funding
and testing as advance proof that
space weapons could work.
lt seems unbelievable the Soviet
leadership would just sit back and
watch the United States deploy any
of 100 or more satellites composing a
defensive shield capable of destroy–
ing the Soviets' nuclear-tipped mis–
siles. Soviet commentaries warn that
the Soviet Union will take steps that
would render any U .S. antimissile
system ineffective.
Will the United States or will
the Soviet Union begin a hot World
War
111
in space?
Make no mistake. The Cold War
power struggle between the super–
powers will continue. Both are in a
headlong pursuit to outdo one
another. Both will attempt to build
"a little more" than they really
need to defend themselves from
attack.
But one thing is sure: Bible
prophecy reveals no
major
war will
be fought so lely between the
United States and Soviet Union.
This is not to say the United States
and Soviets will not be involved in
sorne brushfire war. But World
War
111
will not be fought between
these superpowers.
Yet world war is coming, trig–
gered from a totally unexpected
series of events involving the
Mideast and a new Europe. You
can read about it in the last few
verses of Daniel 11.
Preparing for the Ultimate War
To what incredible use the blos–
soming space technology can be put
is limited solely by human will.
History teaches that if man seri–
ously sets out to do something, he
will do it unless God intervenes to
stop him!
This was made evident in events
The PLAIN TRUTH