Home > Bibliography > View CitationView Citation
Deblois, Bruce M., Jeremy C. Marwell et al. "Space Weapons: Crossing the U.S. Rubicon." International Security. Vol. 29, No. 2 (Fall 2004): 50-84. [ 3 quotes ]
Evidence Related to this Citation
Space-Based Laser Weapons Insufficient to Counter Threat of Laser Anti-Satellite Weapons
Physically destroying a ground-based laser site before damage could be done to a U.S. satellite would be nearly impossible, even with space weapons. At the speed of light—300,000 kilometers per second (km/s)—a laser's propagation from Earth to space is essentially instantaneous, although it would take minutes or seconds to aim the laser in addition to whatever "burn time" was necessary for destructive effect once the laser had focused on its target. ( More ... )
Deblois, Bruce M., Jeremy C. Marwell et al. "Space Weapons: Crossing the U.S. Rubicon." International Security. Vol. 29, No. 2 (Fall 2004): 50-84. [ 3 quotes ]
[ page 58 ]
Shielding is a Better Solution to Threat of Laser Blinding than Space Weapons
If deployed promptly, a thin metal shield (a parasol) could provide substantial protection against a megawatt- class laser. The point is that space weapons are not an effective response to this threat, while strictly defensive measures and terrestrial weapons and retaliation may be. ( More ... )
Deblois, Bruce M., Jeremy C. Marwell et al. "Space Weapons: Crossing the U.S. Rubicon." International Security. Vol. 29, No. 2 (Fall 2004): 50-84. [ 3 quotes ]
[ page 59 ]
U.S. Military Plans to Deploy Space Weapons in the Next 10 Years
In the next decade, planned U.S. military activities in outer space will cross several important thresholds. By 2008 the U.S. Missile Defense Agency intends to deploy a test bed of space-based kinetic-energy kill vehicles (KKVs) to destroy high-speed collision test targets that mimic nuclear-armed reentry vehicles in the midcourse of their arc through space. In early 2006 a Missile Defense Agency satellite experiment, NFIRE, is planned to attempt to intercept a rocket in or near boost phase. Beyond missile defense, these U.S. space-deployed weapons will have broad implications for the entire space sector. Because a KKV designed to intercept missiles could also function as an antisatellite weapon (ASAT) and as a means to deny other countries' access to space, U.S. adversaries might feel compelled to develop means to counter these and other U.S. space weapons with their own systems based in space or on the ground. ( More ... )
Deblois, Bruce M., Jeremy C. Marwell et al. "Space Weapons: Crossing the U.S. Rubicon." International Security. Vol. 29, No. 2 (Fall 2004): 50-84. [ 3 quotes ]
[ page 45 ]