White House confirms Russia developing "anti-satellite capability", calls it "troubling"
White House has confirmed that Russia is developing a capability to target satellites in space and called Moscow's pursuit of this particular capability «troubling.»
White House National Security Communications Advisor John Kirby said the US is closely monitoring this Russian activity and will continue to take it seriously amid reports of Moscow reportedly developing a space-based nuclear weapon designed to disable or destroy satellites.
While addressing a press briefing on Thursday (local time), John Kirby said, «While I am limited by how much I can share about the specific nature of the threat, I can confirm that it is related to an anti-satellite capability that Russia is developing. I want to be clear about a couple of things right off the bat.»
According to the intelligence presented to Congress, the US military «cannot counter such a weapon and defend its satellites,» according to a report in the New York Times.
«First, this is not an active capability that's been deployed. And though Russia's pursuit of this particular capability is troubling, there is no immediate threat to anyone's safety. We are not talking about a weapon that can be used to attack human beings or cause physical destruction here on Earth. That said, we've been closely monitoring this Russian activity and we will continue to take it very seriously,» added Kirby.
He noted that US President Joe Biden has been regularly informed by his national security team. Kirby said Biden has directed a series of initial actions, including additional
