Kremlin satellite-killer test soon—Pentagon

Press, 10 April 1980, Page 9

Kremlin satellite-killer test soon—Pentagon

NZPA-Reuter Washington The Russians may be preparing for their first test flight of a satellite-killer in nearly two years, United States intelligence sources have said.

The Russians sent aloft on] April 3 what United States: intelligence specialists believe is a target satellite. The space vehicle was lofted in a way that suggests that it will probably serve as a target for a satellite interceptor to be fired later, according to the sources. The vehicle was launched from Plesetsk in central, Russia into an orbit ranging! from a high point of 1017] nautical miles from the] Earth’s surface down to ,976 nautical miles altitude. if the intelligence predictions are borne out, this is the first Soviet test of its] satellite-destroying system since May 19, 1978. I In that test, according to intelligence sources at the

time, the hunter satellite] came within kill range of' the target. That test preceded diplo-] matic discussions between] the United States and the Soviet Union based on President Jimmy Carter’s appeal for a mutual ban on antisatellite weapons. Those; talks failed to produce any] agreement. | The United States Defence' Secretary (Mr Harold: Brown) has told Congress] that the Russians have an| anti-satellite system “with: limited capabilities against] • U.S. space systems.” i Both- the United States land the Soviet- Union are I very dependent on satellites in Earth orbit to monitor; missile tests and other key] military developments in each other’s territory. I

The Carter Administration’s 1981 Budget provides for a. 50 per cent increase in research money to develop an anti-satellite weannn

This research would bei funded at a cost of] $124.9 million “while we at-i tempt at the same time to, negotiate with the Soviet Union in this area,” Mr Brown told Congress. The Russians have tested! a variety of techniques for' intercepting and destroying : satellites. The one that l appears-to be the most pfac-1 tical, in the view of Ameri- : can specialists, uses pellets; ] expelled at high speeds like, shrapnel to disintegrate or 'disable a target vehicle and] 'its sensors. ; The Pentagon’s research] chief, Mr William Perry, testified in February that the] primarv United States anti-; satellite effort centred j around the idea of launching what he called a “miniature | vehicle which directly imI pacts” on an enemy satellite, i Such an interceptor would be fired from high-speed, | high-altitude Fl 5 fighter