SOVIETS CEASED ANTISATELLITE TESTING 11 MONTHS AGO

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP88-01315R000400390047-8
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 16, 2016
• Document Release Date: December 3, 2004
• Sequence Number: 47
• Publication Date: April 21, 1979
• Content Type: NSPR

Approved For Release 2005/01/12 : CIA-RDP88-01315R000400i97-
Article appeared
on page A-1,19
THE WASHINGTON POST 6 t7_
21 April 1979
Ceased Ailtisateilite T~thig :. '
Hopes of Slowwin . Sp . e? aci .Ar' e Raise I
I
By George C.1Vilson
Von Post Staff writer
The Soviet Union has refrained
from testing its.antisatellite.weaponiy
for almost tt year? raising., the Carter
administration's -hopes that the mili-
tary space race can be slowed through
negotiations scheduled to resume in
Vienna on Monday..
Some Pentagon and Central Intelli-I
ge ce Agency specialists contend
Were cannot ne symmetry until the
Unitett States actua ;y tli lit tests its
newest antisatellite weapon even if
-everyone agrees. U. S. technology isl
superior to the Soviet Union's..
A .eounterargument.. is that this. is
the. time to nip the antisatellite ef-
fort by both sides, otherwise it will
keep escalating to more and more le-
thal space weapons,, as has been the
:case with missiles.
President Ford had, approved the
development, flight' testing and de-
ployment of the. "flying tomato can.'
President Carter, sources said, at first
-decided-to stop short of flight testing
but then relented last spring and told
the Pentagon to plan on at. least test-
ing its new antisatellite weapon.
The Soviet antisatellite program'
has involved launching a target satel-
lite lite in space and then sending up a
"hunter-killer" satellite. Once the
hunter-killer gets near the target, the
former explodes-apparently relying
on e:xulosive force or shrapnel for the
kill. .
However, so far the Soviets have
tested killer satellites that are too low
to.. hit ' anything but low-flying U. S,
spy satellities and old-model naviga-
tion satellites.
-Specialists credit the Soviet' killer
satellites with an altitude of about 120.
.miles-far below the 23,000-mllee zone
where military communication ? and
warning satellites hang in- space. ; -.
=? Still, the threat of having the low
flying U.S. U.S.'spy satelblinded.-ina
period.'of tension is ,a worrisome one,
;especially since it is becoming increas-
'Ingly difficult to keep track of Soviet
military' activities in the-' old-ways
The loss of CIA monitoring aear-in;
Iran is the latest of such reduced caa
pability from ground stations..
r :Brown has warned repeatedly-that
the United' States will not.: sit -. back-
and allow the Soviets to take - a- co -
Pmanding lead in space-warfare weap-;
onry. He believes the'United States?
could win such a race.
"If we're willing 'to spend ` the
money," Brown told The Post. "we've
'got the technology to win. But the.
point" of both sides engaging in such
a race "is much less clear to me."
Asked about the prospects of negoti-
=sting a one-year freeze on antisatel
lite activities, Brown replied:
"That may be feasible because nei- -
-,ther side has tested during the last
year."
The latest Soviet antisatellite- flight
involved sending Cosmos 1009 against
Cosmos 967, the target satellite, on
May 19, 1978. In 1977, the Soviets were
much more active-launching three
target satellites and four hunter?kill-.
ers.._. - - .
The United States actually got
-ahead of. the Soviets in. the .1960s by
deploying an antisatellite, missile-war-~
head combination on Kwajalein Atoll.
in the, Western Pacific,. It also pur-
sued on paper a. secret Air Force pro-
gram called SAINT (for satellite inn
spection)-.. . .
:he- cannot'-accept A'ppM'p lease 2005/01/12 : CIA-RDP88-01315R000400390047-8 ' .
space weapons by allowing the Soviet .
Union -to take, a commanding'lead- i
that?field over the United .States:: :
Defense Secretary- Harold Brown
told The Washington.. Post -' that it
"may be feasible to damp down" the
antisatellite developments that
threaten to push war into outer. space.
"Everybody would be better off,".
Brown added. The Soviet moratorium
.on antisatellite tests--in-effect since
last May 19.--may mean the) Kremlin
has come to that same conclusion.
Administration officials freely ac-
knowle-lg-d yesterday that they do not.
know why the Soviets suspended their
hunter-killer exercises with satellites
in space but-are-hoping for the best.
One administration idea Is to try to
negotiate a one-year ban on antisatel-
lite testing, although many other op-
tions will be explored in this. third
.round of space warfare talks.
. "I don't know if you could stop it,"
Brown said of the- antisatellite efforts
of the two superpowers, "but you can
damp it down. That's what we're try-
ing to do. .
"As usual," the defense secretary
continued, "you wind up?in a conflict
between wanting to damp it down and
being afraid that the other side will
go ahead."
Pentagon space-- weapon. specialists
said negotiators . are faced with .-a
"bird-in-the-band . versus bird-in-the-
bush" situation.
Th ; time the Soviets have the bird,
in hand because they have. tested--in
.14 different exercises--satellites de-.
signed to intercept and destroy otherz
satellites in space. t}-- ;.' `?; 4
In contrast,: the. United Z.:States is
still working on- what . the -Pentagons`
considvrx a farsuperior satellite killer
-one that homes in on the heat of the
enemy satellite and files right into it.-
But this "flying tomato can" being de-
veloped by the Vought Corp. is not. ex-
pected.to be flight tested before 1980;,:
President Carter, in a "secret ? deci-:
'sion paper. circulated last year, said