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Friday, November 07, 2008

Russia has lots of satellite-killing options available

The Soviet government was set to adopt the Polyot-Kosmos anti-satellite -- ASAT -- weapons system after Kosmos-252 successfully destroyed the first spacecraft in orbit on Nov. 1, 1968, and after successful subsequent launches.

However, in 1972 the Soviet Union and the United States signed the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty -- SALT-I -- and the Anti-Ballistic Missile -- ABM -- Treaty, which also covered ASAT systems.

Depending on the pace of bilateral talks, the ASAT test program was either mothballed or resumed. The ASAT system was eventually adopted and subsequently upgraded.

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1 comment:

  1. Anonymous8/11/08 04:30

    I suspect Russia has even more options available after their poor showing when invading Georgia. Most of their systems were old and had few of the weapons touted during their MayDay parades. Russian aircraft shot down had not been updated since 1986 and their TU-22 could not defend against its own countries missles. Russia has always had a willingness to talk loud but carry a small stick.

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