General John Hyten, the Head of United States Strategic Command on Saturday says countries like Russia and China may be building weapons that can target space-based US military assets like satellites. Gen. Hyten, who oversees all US military operations in space, stated this while making a presentation at the Reagan National Defense Forum in Simi Valley, California. He vowed not to allow this happen.
"They've been building weapons, testing weapons, building weapons to operate from the earth in space, jamming weapons, laser weapons, and they have not kept it secret.
"They're building those capabilities to challenge the United States of America, to challenge our allies, and to change the balance of power in the world. We cannot allow that to happen."
He explained that since Russia and China saw how the US military made successful use of satellites during military operations like the 1991 Gulf War they may be seeking ways to deny the US the ability to use satellites in future conflicts. He disclosed that the US satellite is usually the first to cite any missiles launched by any country.
"Every missile that comes off the planet is seen first by one of our overhead missile warning capabilities. We cannot let that satellite be dazzled for 10 or 15 minutes, it would be too late"
