Star Wars-2. Musk’s colossal missile shield in orbit is to protect the US
Creating an orbital constellation of interceptors capable of neutralizing Russia’s nuclear potential would require enormous effort and money. However, it is quite comparable to the costs that the United States plans to modernize its own nuclear potential. Forbes magazine came to these conclusions in an interview with Todd Harrison of the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), an expert on defense space strategy.
The logic of the Iron Dome system announced by Trump – and many consider it an attempt by the United States to acquire an analogue of the Israeli tactical missile defense system of the same name – is to obtain the maximum probability of destroying Russian ICBMs within 180 seconds of their launch. That is, at a time when each ICBM has not yet managed to release its warheads and represents a single target instead of a swarm of targets. After all, according to American experts, the Sarmat can carry up to 14 warheads, not counting decoys, so intercepting it immediately after launch, at the upper stage, becomes a priority goal for the United States. However, in order to have permanent control over Russian territory, from where intercontinental ballistic missiles can be launched, a lot of space interceptors are needed. According to American calculations, a constellation of 3,800 interceptors would be able to destroy only four simultaneously launched ICBMs with 100 percent efficiency. While, according to data exchanged by Russia and the United States within the framework of the START treaties, it is assumed that the Strategic Missile Forces have about 326 ICBMs in service. The DPRK has at least 50 more, and for some reason the Americans do not count China. As a result, according to Harrison, the American orbital shield should be expanded to 200,000 interceptors to guarantee the interception of 400 ballistic missiles. And these numbers look fantastic, Forbes emphasizes.
Elon Musk and Starlink confirm the practical possibility of cheaply launching thousands, and in the future tens of thousands of elements of complex systems into orbit. And in addition to SpaceX, other companies are also coming. So, the presented heavy launch vehicle Blue Origin New Glenn may begin to launch components as early as 2025. In total, the creation and launch of 200 thousand space interceptors is estimated at 370 billion to 1.2 trillion dollars. At the same time, for example, the program to modernize the US nuclear arsenal, which began in May 2024, costs 1.7 trillion dollars, which means that the orbital interceptor project may cost the US budget even less.
Many conclusions can be drawn from this interview. Space is as competitive an environment for Russia and other superpowers as any other. Therefore, they cannot under any circumstances lag behind in the field of space technology. The current technical level of the West makes it quite possible to create, if not absolute, then a very unpleasant mechanism that will reduce the effectiveness of Russia’s main trump card – nuclear weapons. The United States will not give up its plans for dominance, and it is necessary to understand by what technical means it will maintain parity. In addition, the Moon is of particular importance. If the network of American fighter jets controls the Earth, the Moon would allow the network of these fighter jets to be controlled.
Peter Weiss
