Hans.Moravec%CMU-RI-ROVER@sri-unix.UUCP (01/17/84)
a019 2345 16 Jan 84
PM-Anti-Satellite, Bjt,510
Force Ready To Test Satellite Killer
By TIM AHERN
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) - After months of delay, the Air Force is ready to
flight test its new satellite killer - a weapon launched from a
fighter jet which hunts down and explodes objects in space.
The Pentagon says it needs the weapon to keep pace with the Soviets,
but arms control advocates fear it will lead to a new weapons race.
The U.S. anti-satellite weapon will be fired from under a
high-flying F-15 jet and the first two stages of the three-stage
weapon will be ignited, but no warhead will be exploded, according to
officials who declined to be identified.
The test, which may be this week, has been scheduled since last
summer, but was postponed because of operational problems which now
appear to have been solved, the officials said.
In later tests, the weapon's effectiveness will be judged as it is
fired against high-altitude balloons.
The Soviet Union and the United States rely heavily on satellites
for communications and reconnaissance, particularly in systems
designed to warn against nuclear attack.
The U.S. anti-satellite system, designed to be operating by 1987,
has become more controversial in recent months as arms control
advocates argue that it may touch off an expensive new round of
weapons competition by the two superpowers.
Last year, as it approved the Pentagon's budget authorization bill,
Congress banned all tests ''against objects in space'' until the
White House tried to negotiate a ban of such weapons with the Soviet
Union. But the Pentagon has interpreted the language to allow the
first round of flight tests.
Soviet President Yuri Andropov last year called for negotiations to
limit the weapons.
While the United States officially said it would study any serious
Soviet proposal, U.S. officials have cautioned that such a treaty
would be difficult to verify and there are no current negotiations
under way.
The $4 billion U.S. system uses an 18-foot, three-stage rocket slung
beneath an F-15, the top Air Force fighter, that fires it from about
60,000 feet. The rocket then hunts down its target and explodes it.
The Soviets, by contrast, have an anti-satellite weapon which
Pentagon officials say is operational, but which arms control
advocates say is far less effective than the U.S. plan.
The Soviet weapon, launched atop a large booster rocket, goes into
low orbit, maneuvers near its target, and then explodes, destroying
both itself and the target, according to Pentagon officials. About
half of the 20 tests the Soviets have conducted since 1968 have been
successful, according to published figures.
The Soviet system, according to Pentagon officials who declined to
be named, is relatively cumbersome, since the time it takes to prepare
and launch it allows for observation by American satellites.
By contrast, the officials say, the American weapon could be stored
at various sites and attached quickly to any F-15, meaning the U.S.
system is more mobile.
The Soviets generally have lower orbits for their satellites,
meaning more would be within range of the U.S. system. American
military satellites are commonly in higher orbits, making them
relatively safe from the current Soviet system.
ap-ny-01-17 0246EST
***************al@ames-lm.UUCP (01/25/84)
This is our last chance to keep weapons out of space. The Soviet system is relatively easy to monitor, our new one is too small to control. If we want to keep war out of space, we must act now. The Soviet's see themselves as being behind, so they should be amenable to reason. I'm not so sure about Mr. Reagan, but then we have at least some power over our government.