US weapons in space to trigger political, technical reaction — Russian expert

TASS

BEIJING, September 18. /TASS/. An open admission by the US that it has deployed weapons in orbit will prompt a response at both the political and technical levels, Russian Academy of Sciences Center for International Security Research Fellow Dmitry Stefanovich told TASS on the sidelines of the 13th Beijing Xiangshan Forum on international security.

"I am confident that the reaction here will be both political and technical," the expert said.

Stefanovich noted that space surveillance assets had been in orbit for a long time. "Now, we're probably talking about systems capable of having a more active impact on other countries' satellites," he said.

He recalled that Russia and China had proposed a draft treaty to prevent the deployment of weapons in space, and that Russia, along with a number of other states, had been among the first to issue statements pledging against the deployment of such weapons.

On September 14, US Air Force Secretary Troy Meink publicly announced that the country had space control assets deployed in orbit, referring to them as "weapons." "The United States has deployed weapons in space and will use them to defend American forces," he said.

Fonte: TASS