Remember when China blew up one of its own satellites with a missile back in January?
Remember the tsk-tsk diplomatic response by the US government?
Of course, diplomastic posturing is never easy when your government is publicly denouncing an activity that it is privately pursuing with some gusto -- as this new acquisition notice by the US Air Force shows (check the "space" reference).
Tsk-tsk, yourself.
on June 19, 2007 10:39 AM | Reply
Laser vulnerability assessments on space, tactical/ground, and missile, systems, subsystems, and components shall be completed to accurately predict the consequences of lasers interaction with these targets.
And why wouldn't that be part of an effort towards hardening our own assets vs. laser vulnerability? It is well known that the Chinese (as well as the Russians) have and continue to explore the use of lasers for ASAT employment. Of course one needn't be polly-annish either and believe that those same capabilities used to develop hardening techniques couldn't be turned around and used offensively, just as it has since time immemorial. Just saying here the intent may not be as cynical as implied in the post...
- SJS