UK military given intelligence on Chinese space weapons
Secret imagery of satellites has been passed on by the US Space Force, as it seeks allies amid growing fears over a potential space war with Beijing.
Although US officials declined to say which nations the images focused on, they reiterated that the greatest space threats to the West were from China and Russia.
The US Space Force's geosynchronous space situational awareness programme (GSSAP) began in 2019 and involves the use of satellites to take close-up pictures of other satellites and weapons in space.
Col Ramsey Horn, Commander of Space Delta 9, which is tasked with defeating orbital threats, said on a visit to the UK: 'The PRC [People's Republic of China] is our top concern right now.'
He also revealed that Air Marshal Johnny Stringer, the UK strategic command attache based in Washington, had recently been invited to Colorado to see GSSAP in action.
Col Horn added: ' China has developed lasers that are capable of dazzling as well as destructive capabilities.'
He said the country had high-power microwave systems that could disable a satellite, and that while there had not been any direct engagement, the US was prepared to fight China.
'We have to be ready for that fight that nobody wants to have,' he added.
Last year, US defence sources warned that China was developing anti-satellite weapons as part of a 'breathtaking' military expansion.
Gen Stephen Whiting, the head of the US Space Command, said Beijing had 'tripled the number of intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance satellites on orbit' in just six years.
Experts have also claimed that Beijing has been misusing anti-satellite weapons.
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