Is a new Star Wars era about to begin?

MY STORY NOT USED TODAY IN THE TIMES: A new era of space-based “Star Wars” weapons to counter increasing threats from Russia and China has been heralded by the Pentagon. The US currently has no space weapons. But in a document outlining a new strategy for the next ten years, the Pentagon warns that the US must be “capable of winning wars that extend into space”. Although the Pentagon document, just released, provides no detail of what offensive weapons might be deployed in space, both laser and particle beam systems are currently being researched. One programme already funded is to test a weapon in orbit in 2023 that can fire neutral particle beams, similar to heat rays in science fiction, that would be capable of burning through the outer casing of a ballistic missile and destroying the guidance system. A particle beam weapon was first tested in space in 1989 as part of President Reagan’s strategic defence initiative “Stars Wars” project to build a defensive shield in space to protect the US from a Soviet ballistic missile attack. The test was successful but the Star Wars programme was largely abandoned as being unaffordable. The new strategy document is the first time the Pentagon has specifically referred to the need to plan for a war in space. “DoD [department of defence] has to confront the new reality that adversaries have more advanced weapons designed to target US military satellites and deny the United States a key military advantage,” the Pentagon document says. The US relies on its network of military and intelligence satellites for warfighting far more than either Russia or China. Two of the priorities over the next decade will be “to deter and defeat adversary hostile use of space”, and to deliver advanced capabilities for “operations” in space. “Outer space has emerged as a key arena of potential conflict in an era of great power competition,” Stephen Kitay, deputy assistant secretary of defence for space policy, said at a Pentagon media briefing. “China and Russia have weaponised space and turned it into a warfighting domain,” he said. The document says China and Russia pose the “greatest strategic threat” by developing and testing “counter-space” capabilities such as anti-satellite weapons. The new Pentagon strategy follows the establishment last year of a US space command and a space force. General John “Jay” Raymond was appointed the first chief of space operations and commander of US Space Command.