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China-Japan-Koreas
China really, really unhappy about sat test. Really.
2008-02-21
China called on the United States Thursday to provide information about its shooting down of a defunct US spy satellite and voiced caution about the potential international impact of the operation.

"China is continuing to closely follow the possible harm caused by the US action to outer space security and relevant countries," foreign ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said when asked for a reaction to the shootdown. "China further requests that the US fulfil its international obligations in earnest and promptly provide to the international community the necessary information and relevant data... so that relevant countries can take precautions."

A US Navy cruiser hit a defunct US spy satellite with a single missile late Wednesday in a successful interception 133 nautical miles in space over the Pacific, the US Defense Department said. US officials had earlier insisted the satellite would be shot down to stop it from tumbling to Earth and potentially posing a risk to humans.

But the operation had raised concerns elsewhere that the United States was trying to test an anti-satellite weapon, amid rising global tensions about the militarisation of space.
As long as we keep a straight face we can keep talking about the hydrazine ...
However the Chinese reaction on Thursday to the incident appeared less confrontational than that on Monday, when Liu said the government was "highly concerned over the developments" and had asked the United States to "ensure that the security of outer space and relevant countries will not be undermined."

Russia's defence ministry said on Sunday that the US plans looked like a veiled weapons test and an "attempt to move the arms race into space".
Posted by:

#22  FREEREPUBLIC/TOPIX > report that the US has already agreed to share its info on the shotdown.
Posted by: JosephMendiola   2008-02-21 23:50  

#21  I have but one word in response to the headline - good...
Posted by: Zhang Fei   2008-02-21 23:34  

#20  big jim had the best idea
Posted by: sinse   2008-02-21 21:06  

#19  phil
A mass accelerator on the moon would do fine for your need and not need to worry about all that friction in the air...
lol
Posted by: 3dc   2008-02-21 21:03  

#18  I'm looking forward to a railgun that gets a projectile into space. Be like firing a machinegun at ballistic missiles.
Posted by: phil_b   2008-02-21 20:19  

#17  How about the middle finger for China. Oh we just did that.
Posted by: JohnQC   2008-02-21 17:13  

#16  China called on the United States Thursday to provide information about its shooting down of a defunct US spy satellite

Pick a finger... any finger... kaidai.
Posted by: Baq Gwai   2008-02-21 16:18  

#15  I've always been partial to the idea that the US suddenly announce to the world that we will not deploy or test quantum disruption weapons, and aggressively push everybody else to sign a treaty agreeing to the same.

Oh, and announce we have a detector that will pick up any attempts at cheating.

That'll really get them spinning the paranoia. :)
Posted by: Laurence of the Rats   2008-02-21 16:12  

#14  Don't forget the USSR's craft with cannons.
Saluts

also:
OPS-2 or (Salyut 3)

OPS-2 (or Almaz 101.2), announced as Salyut 3, was launched on June 25, 1974. The crew of the Soyuz 14 spacecraft spent 15 days aboard the station in July 1974. A second expedition was launched toward OPS-2 in August 1974, but failed to reach the station. The station successfully test-fired an onboard aircraft cannon at a target satellite while the station was unmanned. Salyut-3 was deorbited in January 1975, the day after the cannon test. Aiming the cannon meant pointing the whole spacecraft. It is speculated the cannon would significantly alter the orbit of the platform. As one commentator put it, "It wouldn't do to fire at an attacker only to discover you have deorbited yourself!"
also:
Defence measures

In addition to reconnaissance equipment, the Almaz had an on-board cannon derived from the 23mm Nudelmann aircraft cannon (other sources say it was a Nudelmann NR-30 30mm gun). Salyut 3 conducted a successful test firing on a target satellite remotely with the station unmanned. OPS-4 featured two unguided missiles instead of the aircraft cannon.

The Polyus Spacecraft
According to Yuri Kornilov, Chief Designer of the Salyut Design Bureau, shortly before Polyus' launch, Mikhail Gorbachev visited the Baikonur Cosmodrome and expressly forbid the on-orbit testing of its capabilities. Kornilov claims that Gorbachev was worried that it would be possible for Western governments to view this activity as an attempt to create a weapon in space and that such an attempt would contradict the country's previous statements on the USSR’s peaceful intent. [1]
Parts of the Polyus project hardware were re-used in Kvant-2, Kristall, Spektr and Priroda Mir modules, as well as in ISS Zarya FGB.

Defensive weapons

* Radar and optical sighting system guided ASAT defensive canon.
* Barium cloud generation system, to confuse enemy ASAT satellites.
* Black matte painting for camouflage, probable stealth radar observing properties.
* Communications possible through usage of laser communication link, allowing operation in radio silence.

[edit] Offensive weapons

* Nuclear mines deployed through a special cannon.
Posted by: 3dc   2008-02-21 16:10  

#13  Would it be totally out of line to tell china to "blow" us?
Posted by: bigjim-ky   2008-02-21 15:46  

#12  Personally I think we should announce that we're gonna shoot down a sat with one of our new lasers. Then claim it was a success.

Of course we don't need lasers or an actual satellite but the Chicoms don't need to know that to get really paranoid.
Posted by: rjschwarz   2008-02-21 14:20  

#11  So I take it they were impressed...
Posted by: tu3031   2008-02-21 13:23  

#10  China called on the United States Thursday to provide information about its shooting down of a defunct US spy satellite...

For information, the Pentagon should send China a link to this article at Rantburg, where they'll read OP's comment.

and voiced caution about the potential international impact of the operation.

Too late. The cows already gat themselves out while you were propagandizing about closing the barn door.
Posted by: Ptah   2008-02-21 13:12  

#9  I impressed that we have mobile anti-missle platforms. That means we can protect assets and allies around the world. All the naysayers now STFU.
Posted by: Spot   2008-02-21 13:07  

#8  'Spook, I think that last comment should be its own article.
Posted by: Mike   2008-02-21 12:38  

#7  About a year ago, the PRC shot down one of its own missiles (at about 3x the altitude of today's shootdown).

The satellite shot down was presumably transmitting and I'm guessing the PRC antimissile was using those transmissions in its target exercise.

OldSpook,

Do you think the PRC hissyfit is partly due to the fact that our shootdown exceeded their shootdown by so much technilogically?
Posted by: mhw   2008-02-21 12:35  

#6  What you ahve to remember is that the Chinese have 24 confirmed operational ICBMs (which varies down to as few as 18 at a time due to maint). Yes. Just TWENTY-FOUR. DF-5/CSS-4 is the designation. Single 5 MT warhead, but 4 of them have a MIRV bus with up to 6 RV's each being supposedly 1-2MT. Range 15,000 Km, which means they can hit the western and central US. Liquid fueled. CEP of 600m (singe warhead) to 3 Km (Mirv). Takes them 30-60 minutes to prep them for launch, and rumor is that they do not usually keep the warheads mmated to the missiles, so the launch prep may be even more time consuming.

Failure rate has been estimated (based on test firings) to be 8 percent for the launcher, 5 percent for the warheads (higher for MIRV bus).

So if they popped the entire arsenal, 24 missiles, they are likely to have 2 fail during launch. SO lets pretend that those failures are single warhead launchers, the MIRV ones work. thats a total of 18 + (6*4) = 42 RVs. Out of that they lose 2 malfunction.

Thats a total of 40 RVs. we have the capacity to launch approximately 20 SM3 per ship, and have 3 of those available (remember, launch prep indicatiosn give us up to an hour of alert) Thats 60 launches against 40 warheads. Lest trim it down and say its a 1 per. SM3 have suceeded 15 of 17 targets so far, including early failures. 88 percent of 42 (I assume bad RV will nto be visible until terminal phase, so all 42 need ot be targets) is 36.9 - round down to 36.

That means 4 warheads leak through the initial phase. then Alaska gets involved, 12 missiles, fire 4, 80% = 1 left. Cali gets involved 8 missiles, fire 2. Dead RV.

China is neutralized for now.

(FYI thare are upgrading to the DF-31 and another missile, all of which will be MIRV'd, and have a full global range - still the total number of RVs will be less than 160 - and we carry enough SM3 in 3 Aegis to deliver 1 shot at each).

So yeah, the Chinese are pissed. We just pulled their fangs for a while.





Posted by: OldSpook   2008-02-21 12:27  

#5  whaaaaa...
Posted by: DarthVader   2008-02-21 12:05  

#4  China is continuing to closely follow the possible harm caused by the US action to outer space security and relevant countries

"Especially us here in Beijing. We're following the harm to us really closely."
Posted by: lotp   2008-02-21 12:01  

#3  Russia's defence ministry said on Sunday that the US plans looked like a veiled weapons test and an "attempt to move the arms race into space".

The Chicoms did that.

I dont think they have to worry --- I'm sure President Obama will be more than willing to sign a treaty that we will never, ever, ever, again do anything in space while allowing our enemies the freedom to place nuclear space platforms over our heads.
Posted by: CrazyFool   2008-02-21 11:40  

#2  OK, China, you now know that if you put it up, we can knock it down. That's life. Deal.
Posted by: Mike   2008-02-21 11:28  

#1  I'd say give them info, but make it so that when they graph it on their computers or whatnot it makes the chinese characterature for Ovaltine, or Up Yours, something along those lines.
Posted by: swksvolFF   2008-02-21 11:19  

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