SOVIET SPENT YEARS READYING SPACE DEFENSE

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000100580002-9
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: December 14, 2011
• Sequence Number: 2
• Publication Date: October 1, 1985
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

STAT
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/12/14: CIA-RDP9O-00965ROO0100580002-9
UN PAGE --~
WASHINGTON TIMES
1 October 1985
Soviets spent years readying
space defense
By Yossef Bodansky
SPECIAL TO THE W%SHINGTON r" S
The mounting campaign rhetoric
against the U.S. "militarization of space"
by its Strategic Defense Initiative ("star
wars") - and the Soviet proposal for a
"star peace" project - obscures one
important fact.
The Soviet Union has prepared for two
decades to "militarize" space.
Since the 1960s, the Soviet Union has
had "troops of air defense:' with active
sub-commands, for the conduct of mili-
tary operations in space. The Soviet gov-
ernment declared a policy to provide its
citizens with defense against all threats,
including nuclear war.
Comprehension of this commitment to
strategic defense - and analysis of the
Soviet system of diversified weapons sys-
tem - requires first a comprehension of
Soviet doctrine.
The Soviets consider the U.S.
launching of a "pre-emptive first
strike:'with the use of its entire strategic
nucleararsenal, to be their most formida-
ble challenge. Repulsing a surprise
attack became a priorityOnly two
months ago. Marshal Nikolai Ogarkov-
,chief of the Soviet "unified permanent
wartimecombat command:' said that
"Soviet military doctrinerequires not
merely defending ourselves, confron-
tingthe aggressor with passive means
and methods,but also the ability to inflict
upon him crushingretaliatory strikes and
to destroy him in any situation."
The anti-rocket command extends the
Soviet air-defense capabilities to
countering the nuclear threat. As long
ago as 1967, the Soviets explained that
this command was "designated for
detecting, intercepting, and destroying
enemy ballistic rockets in the trajectory
of their flight and creating jamming for
them."
The prime mission of the rocket com-
mand is to obtain data to warn of an
impending strike, manage the informa-
tion, and repulse the attack.
Once the Soviets detect an impending
strike, the rocket command takes over
the required weapon systems and launch
installations.
The anti-space defense command con-
ducts combat operations, in space by
destroying enemy missiles, including
those for reconnaissance, in their flight
orbits. I
In the 1980s however, th second com-
on the destruction of
mand
the us. cs5ace-bawd satellite systems
un or intelligence and reconnaissance
zatherina. as well as communication sat-
ellites. The sudden and effective
ction these satellites would not
only expose the United States to a Soviet
first strike, but would considerably
nce tne .a tytore retec-
ny
In 1982, the Soviets in m-
plex system not so different in pr0ciple
from the U.S. Strategic Defense Initia-
tive. The Soviets explained that in order
"to struggle against missiles which have
already been launched" it would have to
detect, discriminate, intercept, and
destroy enemy rockets - precisely what
President Reagan intends "star wars" to
do.
The Soviets have been testing anti-
satellite (ASAT) weapon systems over
these part two decades with varying suc-
cess. The Soviets already have most or all
of the components required for a suc-
cessful anti-satellite weapon system.
They have apparently been developing
two such systems simultaneously.
The first, a near-term project, is a
large missile. Its booster is based on the
technology of the Soviet BL-10, a new
supersonic air-launched cruise missile.
The Soviets rely heavily on proven and
available technologies, although this
means that their versions of the missiles
will be larger and more cumbersome
than American counterparts. Simulta-
neously, the Soviets are developing a
smaller missile that would fit under a
fighter-interceptor, most likely the Su-27
Flanker, the MiG-2S Foxbat or the
MEG-31 Foxhound.
The Soviet Union already has the
required technology for the ASAT
booster and its radar. Their primary chal-
lenge is the development of the miniatur-
ized missile's guidance-homing system..
With the success of the U.S. testing of its
ASAT, the Soviets are expected to inten-
sify their effort to acquire the U.S. tech-
nology required to complete their own.
In recent years, the Soviets have been
testing an unmanned version of a reus-
able space plane that resembles a mini-
Shuttle. A manned version of this
mini-Shuttle will serve as the much-
discussed satellite interceptor, which will
use impact-missiles to destroy enemy
satellites. The use of a manned system
will greatly simplify for the Soviets the
problem of target acquisition and hom-
ing, enhancing operational flexibility.
U.S. Air Force Gen. George Keegan
warned some time ago that the Soviets
have for over 20 years concentrated on
the development of what they consider to
be the ultimate wapon. both offensive
and defensive, the ground-based directed
energy laser weapon. The Soviets
already have two military installations in
Central Asia that include ground-based
lasers. The current system, which has
been tested and proven, can already be
used tb either blind enemy satellites or
even to destroy them.
The available technology, along with
technology now being perfected. goes far
toward a near-term goal of using such
installations. along with space-based
guidance and reflector satellites, as a
major ballistic missile defense system.
Once a sufficiently powerful particle
beam is developed, a similar space-based
guidance and reflector system can be
used for directing a ground-launched
beam to objectives on enemy land.
Theoretical studies have led the Sovi-
ets to consider the particle beam a viable
technology, but there is no clear indica-
tion that they are close to the deployment
of such an offensive weapon system.
In June 1982, the Soviets held a major
exercise that provided the West with con-
crete proof of Soviet integrated
offensive-defensive nuclear capabilities.
The operation was held to test the Sovi-
ets' ability to succeed in what they
believe to be a credible war scenario: A
simultaneous nuclear first strike against
the United States, using inter-continental
ballistic missiles (ICBMs) and against
Western Europe, using intermediate-
range ballistic missiles (IRBMs).
The first strike against the United
States would be followed by the
destruction of the U.S. satellites, espe-
cially those required for target locating
and a counterstrike.
COftinued
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 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/12/14: CIA-RDP9O-00965ROO0100580002-9
2.
On June 6, the Soviets launched their
Kosmos-1375 satellite. Then, on June 18,
all within seven hours, the Soviets
launched two SS-I1 intercontinental bal-
listic missiles, an SS-20 inter-regional
ballistic missile, the Kosmos-1379 satel-
lite, an SS-N-8ASS-N-18 from a Delta sub-
marine, and two ABM-3 anti-ballistic
missile weapons against the ICBM RVs.
Kosmos-1379 intercepted and
"destroyed" Kosmos-1375.
When the SSBNs were launched in the
second strike, the new-generation ABMs
successfully intercepted the missiles
representing a U.S. retaliatory strike.
The entire exercise was controlled
through a single, fully-integrated com-
mand system involving command ele-
ments in the Soviet Union and in space -
unequivocal proof that the Soviets con-
sider "star wars" operations to be a vital
component of their nuclear strategy.
Marshal Ogarkov recently discussed
the ramifications of the surplus nuclear
potential of both sides. He said that the
stockpiling of nuclear weapons might
lead to a doctrinal deadlock, under which
the opposing sides in a nuclear war would
engage in a lengthy effort toward mutual
attrition.
But this, he said, would not change the
outcome - the inevitable victory of the
"peace-loving forces" of the Soviet Union
- but would increase considerably the
losses on both sides.
To break this deadlock, he wants to
develop credible ballistic-missile
defenses and anti-satellite defense sys-
tems while also building a novel offensive
system, such as one based on particle
beams.
Marshal Ogarkov has defined the cur-
rent weapons development as "a pro-
found revolution ... in military affairs;'
and emphasized that its prime signifi-
cance is "the development of thermonu-
clear weapons, rapid advances in
electronics, development of weapons
based on new physical principles."
Since 1982, the Soviets have demon-
strated a staunch commitment to devel-
oping the ability to fight and win a war
both on earth and in space. This is the
project they call "Star Peace".
Yossef Bodansky is the senior Soviet
analyst for Mid-Atlantic Research Asso-
ciates. This article is abstracted from a
briefing paper prepared by MARA.
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/12/14: CIA-RDP9O-00965ROO0100580002-9