Lasers in space next step in defence?

Press, 8 March 1982, Page 18

Lasers in space next step in defence?

By

Adrian Berry

in the “Daily Telegraph,” London.

This decade is likely to present greater dangers to mankind than any since the end of the 1939-45 war. If the Soviet Union succeeds in placing an operational laser battle station in orbit while the Americans fail to do the same, the West will be at the mercy of its enemies, most of its strategic weapons rendered useless. The reason is simple. A laser beam fired in the vacuum of space can, or will soon be able to, punch fist-sized holes in metal objects at a range of hundreds of miles. This means that American intercontinental ballistic missiles, which make some of their journey through space, could all be destroyed before they reach their targets. Nor will Western missiles that travel to their targets without leaving the earth’s atmosphere, such as the Cruise and the Lance, be necessarily safe from enemy battle stations in orbit. While the energy of laser beams can dissipate in air, especially on cloudy days, this is not true of weapons which shoot beams of charged particles. Polaris submarines will soon be at risk from spy satellites. For many years they have been safe in the secret depths of the oceans, able to inflict more damage on the Soviet Union in the space of four minutes than Hitler did in four years. This is unlikely to be true for much longer. The Russians have a large and growing fleet of space-borne anti-submarine, satellites, with a developing ability to detect the infra-red “scar” which a submarine leaves on the surface, enabling them to track its movements. In short, with space warfare,

strategic weapons are entering a new realm of technology. Thanks to four inactive years during the Carter Administration, the Russians have gained substantial advantage in their efforts to acquire the ability to destroy Western strategic forces totally and without warning. Unless America acts with determination, we may be faced in this decade with the choice between surrender or destruction. Not being privy to the councils of the Pentagon, we cannot be sure whether the Americans are reacting to this crisis with sufficient speed and vigour. It is only possible to be certain of one thing: that the space shuttle, a quarter of whose flights will be military in purpose, will add enormously to American ability to place weapons in orbit. And weapons there are needed above all else. Only if this new Soviet threat is successfully countered can there be hope of continuing the mutual balance of terror, which has prevented war between the super-Powers for more than 30 years, and which is trembling dangerously. The old balance, consisting of thousands of missiles in their silos, will give way to dependence on electromagnetic weapons which move to their targets, not at a cumbrous 17,000 m.p.h., but at the speed of light, 670 million miles per hour. This, like previous great advances in military technology, is likely to lead in turn to new social developments. Let us try to predict what they will be. The first consideration is that the existence of opposing laser battle stations in orbit, each holding the strategic forces of their client States in

pawn, wil] not be the end of the cold war in space. Battle stations can themselves be attacked, and those weapons which threaten them will in turn be vulnerable to assault. The race will be on to construct the “ultimate” space weapon, a battle station so powerful and with such impregnable defences that all objects in low earth orbit will be at its mercy. One of the two safe places to instal such a weapon will be beneath the surface of the moon. On the moon? At first sight, the idea must seem crazy, but it is being seriously considered as a long-term contingency plan by specialist groups at the Redstone Arsenal, in Huntsville, Alabama, and at Strategic Air Command, in Omaha, Nebraska. Consider the advantages of a manned lunar laser battle station. The only remaining technical obstacle is the creation of a laser with sufficient power and narrowness of beam to destroy space vehicles at a range of 238,000 miles. But once installed, it would be almost impossible to find, since it could be hidden anywhere among the moon’s craters and canyons. It could not be destroyed by an opposing ■ laser, since the enemy would not know where to fire. Nor could it be immobilised by a nuclear missile, since the approaching warhead would itself be vulnerable to the laser. Building the station would require considerable preparations which could be observed by telescope. Would this reveal its intended location? Perhaps not. We speak now of a period of 20 to 50 years hence, when civilian activity is likely to be taking place on the moon on a

large scale. In this situation, military construction can be concealed. Peaceful technology is likely to follow the military lead into space, as it has in so many fields. As in the empires of old, the merchant will walk in the tracks of the army. The lunar battle station will have one disadvantage. It will only be effective in deterring aggression for about half the day. Anyone can verify, by playing with a small globe, that there are several missile flight-paths between Russia and key Western targets which for some parts of the day will not be in line of sight of the moon. A super-Power desiring ab-

solute command over the earth would therefore need at least two more battle stations in deep space, so that all parts of low earth orbit could be covered round the clock. Where would they be placed? The ideal locations would be in two out of the four Lagrangian orbits. The French Comte de Lagrange made in 1788 one of the few remarkable mathematical discoveries about the Universe that took place between Newton and Einstein. Around two orbiting celestial bodies — in this case the earth and moon — there are four points at which a third body could form an equilateral triangle with the other two, and remain there

forever in stable orbit. The behaviour of objects in these locations would be influenced equally by the gravity of two worlds, providing stable advantage points for battle stations.

The pattern of war, and of preparations for war, may be extended ever more deeply into space in the distant future — with all man’s activities — until the earth itself ceases to be the target and the prize.

Whether we can survive to inhabit that distant future depends on decisions being made now; on recognising that earthbound weapons will soon no longer deter aggression, and on deciding swiftly what to do about this fact.