RESPONSES TO QUESTIONS REGARDING ASAT FROM SENATOR WARNER

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90B01370R000500730011-5
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 12
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: October 7, 2008
• Sequence Number: 11
• Publication Date: May 31, 1984
• Content Type: MEMO

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ACTS 314/84
31 May 1984
Chief, Arms Control Intelligence Staff
SUBJECT: Responses to Questions Re rdin.g ASAT
from Senator Warner
1. The attached is in response to your request that written questions
directed to NIO/SP and me from Senator Warner of the Senate. Arms Service
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2. We have coordinated the substance of these responses with the
Intelligence Community. Please note that the attached Soviet statements about
that underway
cleared through appropriate DO officials and we have 25X1
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3. Should you have questions about this or other topics, please call and
let me know. 25X1
Attachment
ACTS 297/84-a
cc: DO Reports Control.
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ACIS 314 /84 .
31 May 1984
SUBJECT: Responses to Questions R rding ASAT
from Senator Warner
DDI/ACISI (31May84)
Distribution:
Original - ACIS/Chrono
1 OLL
1 - DO Reports Control
1 - NIO/SP
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C/SFD/SOVA
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UU LM33xrito
TASS 11 May 84
Aleksey Leonov, Deputy Chief of the Yuriy Gagarin Cosmonauts'
Training Center, said the Soviet cosmonauts are alarmed by the
fact that scientific and economic aspects of the American space
shuttle programme are being moved to the background, according to
press reports. There Is increasingly more evidence that this
programme is being used by the Pentagon whose aims are far from
the interests of world science, from the tasked of peaceful uses
of space technology.
TASS 11 Apr 84
The ability of re-usable spacecraft to retrieve satellites from
their orbits instantly commanded the attention of the US
military. Pentagon strategists which have already reserved over
one-third of all shuttle missions are genuinely interested in
bringing spy satellites and other equipment back to earth for
repairs and a repeated launch.
KRASYANYA ZVEZDA, 10 Apr 84
According to the NASA spokesmen, the planned experiments serve
only "scientific purposes." It is, however, well known that the
Pentagon is making extensive use of space shuttles for its own
purposes. The military department has "booked" more than one-
third of all space shuttle flights until 1994 in order to replace
spy satellites in orbit, launch other military-purpose projects,
and also condut tests on laser weapons components.
Yu. Sadov 28 Feb 84 PRAVDA article: "One Against All. US Plans
for The Militarization of Space"
It should be noted here that the space shuttle program is also
being switched to military purposes. Priority in shuttle
launches is given to the Department of Defense, which is planning
to put into orbit satellites for military purposes, orbital
command centers, and new types of space weapons. A center from
which military shuttles will be launched is being set up at
Vandenburg AFB (California).
Radio Moscow, 12 Dec 83
[Text] Following the conclusion of the latest flight by the
American space shuttle, US propaganda agencies have raised a
great fuss worldwide about the shuttle's great success. In
"Vantage Point" today, Boris Belitskiy speaks of the more sober
view that Soviet space scientists take of the shuttle.
Dr. Sergiy Grishin also has grave doubts about the environmental
impact of the shuttle, since its solid-fuel boosters are highly
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polluting. They could cause toxic contamination of clouds,
trigger alid rains, produce unpredictable changes in weather
patters, and even affect the Earth's ozone layer, which protects
the human race from the deadly ultra-violet radiation of the
sun. Soviet experts take the view that many of these shuttle
faults are the result of pressure from the Pentagon, to get the
shuttle off the ground as soon as possible, whatever may be its
ecological side effects and other shortcomings. This is
confirmed by the program of the shuttle missions to date.
Flight four, for example, was so secret that nothing at all was
revealed about the problems it encountered, although it's known
that these were quite formidable. All this is part of the Star
Wars fever that appears to have gripped Washington, and in which
the shuttle is the centerpiece of the administration's
militaristic ambitions on space, which are a threat to the very
future of mankind.
TASS, 2 Dec 83
Despite the attempts by the American mass media to to stress the
purely scientific character of the present flight, it is no
secret that the whole of the Shuttle space program is primarily
of military significance. The Pentagon has already reserved more
than one-third of all planned flights by shuttle spacecraft and
by 1985 the Department of Defense expects to obtain a launch
complex of its own for the launching of these craft at the
Vandenberg Air Base in California.
KRASNAYA ZVEZDA, 2 Dec 83 S. Oznobishkher article: "The
Pentagon: Space Ambitions"
Meanwhile, the militarization of space in the the United States,
embracing more and more new spheres, is following the line of
either reducing civilian programs or "militarizing" them. Here,
we could cite the reusable shuttle spacecraft, which are
effectivly being transformed into Pentagon military transports;
the most diverse satellite systems--the "eyes and ears" of the
military department--and a great many other things.
PRAVDA, 22 Aug 83: Draft Treaty on Banning the Use of Force in
Space and from Space with Respect to Earth
Not to Test or use for military, including antisatellite
purposes, any manned space craft.
INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS July 83
For Peaceful Uses of outer Space Professor A. Piradov
In this day and age advances in science and technology can
be used not only to benefit man but also to harm him through the
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development of new generations of mass destruction weapons,
particularly missiles designed to be used in and from outer
space. The greatest danger is posed by missiles capable of
carrying nuclear weapons and other mass destruction weapons. In
addition, meteorological, navigation, communications, and other
types of satellites can be used for military purposes, for
example, to perform command and control functions, to conduct
ground surveillance, to collect intelligence, and to target
intercontinental ballistic missiles. For example, the Shuttle
programme includes, among other tasks, testing of military and
intelligence system, "inspection" of orbiting Soviet space probes
and even caputre of satellites.
The US press made it clear that the Pentagon is the main
beneficiary of the Shuttle programme. The US top brass are
planning to equip these space vehicles with laser weapons. It
has also been reported that other users of the Shuttle include
the Central Intelligence Agency. In July 1982 the.US President
issued a directive on the national space policy as a programme of
action for the next decade. Under the directive the USA would
take whatever action in space it deems "necessary" for its
"national security," namely, it would develop and deploy ground
support systems, ensure the effectiveness and continuing
operation of outer space systems in crisis and conflict
situations, develop and deploy operational antisatellite systems,
etc.
KRASNAYA ZVEZDA, 25 Jun 83 "On the Path of Militarizing Space"
The aim of this experiment was to work out operations for
recovering from orbit apparatuses in need of servicing or
repair. However, the United States does not conceal that the
Pentagon hopes to replace its spy satellites in similar
fashion. Thus, the Challenger mission was another step on the
path of implementing the Reagan administration's far-reaching
plans to militarize space. More than one-third of all the
planned space shuttle missions have already been "reserved" by
the Pentagon.
Yu. V. Andropov, PRAVDA Interview, 27 Mar 83
In the United States, as is known, a weapons system is being
developed at an increasing pace in the interests of conducting
military operations in and from space. Plans to create and
deploy missile and laser weapons in space are being realized
including with the use of the reusable space shuttle.
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1981 Soviet Draft Treaty to ban deployment of any weapons in
Outer Spate
The member states undertake not to put into orbit around the
earth objects with weapons of any kind, not to install such
weapons on celestial bodies and not to deploy such weapons in
outer space in any other way, including also on piloted space
vessels of multiple use both of the existing type and also of
other types which may appear in member states in the future.
Radio Moscow Military observer Aleksey Vasilyev commentary 17 Apr 81
Former Air Force Secretary Mark said the Pentagon had taken part
in the development of the shuttle at all the key stages. Deputy
chief of staff of the US Air Force, General O'Mally, made
possible by the shuttle's launch are one of the priorities of the
Pentagon. The New York TIMES says bluntly that the space shuttle
would [sentence as received] play an important part in gaining
strategic superiority over America's opponents.
The proposed utilization of the shuttle for military purposes
also violates another international agreement. Suffice it to
recall the treaty on the principles of space research and
utilization of 1967. According to this treaty space studies
should benefit all of mankind and promote peace and international
security. The pronouncements on military supremacy and new arms
systems based on orbital craft clearly contradict the letter and
spirit of this treaty.
TASS 12 Apr 81
In 1979 the US Air Force command submitted a report to the then
President Carter about a still broader use of the programme. The
New York TIMES writes that when the Carter Administration agreed
to increase appropriations for the shuttle project, it was guided
exclusively by the interests of the Department of Defense, and
not by the interests of scientists or the NASA. Were it not for
the Pentagon, the programme would have been folded several years
ago.
It was owning to the Pentagon's efforts that the appropriations
for the project have been considerably increased. Over the ten
years its cost has doubled and exceeded 10,000 million dollars.
As was stated by former US secretary of the air force, H. Mark,
the Department of Defense took an active part in the programme at
all its stages. The US military associate with the programme
their far-reaching plans of projecting the arms race into outer
space. One of the major tasks during the first flights of the
spacecraft, as is pointed out by the ASSOCIATED PRESS agency,
will be to test a laser weapons guidance system. It is supposed
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that the weapons will be capable of hitting "enemy satellites and
missiles.=
The Pentagon also counts on using shuttle spacecraft for regular
injections of spy satellites and other heavy military equipment
into outer space. The ABC reported that it was exactly on the
Defense Department's insistence that the spacecraft's carrying
capacity has been increased up to 30 tons.
Radio Moscow 13 Apr 81 - Viktor Yenikeyev commentary
In America, too, articles and statements are now appearing on the
possibilities of using the flight of shuttle-type space vehicles
for peaceful purposes. However, such articles and statements are
clearly a minority against a background of speculation about the
spaceship's potential military possibilities. People in the
Pentagon are gleefully rubbing their hands. after all, more than
two-thirds of the shuttle flights are to be made in the
Pentagon's interests. The ship's 30-ton carrying capacity will
enable it to put round the earth orbit spy satellites of a new
generation, military laser statons, and other military
hardware. The Pentagon regards the shuttle as a spacecraft
intended for shooting down the enemy's artificial satellites or
seizing and bringing them to the vehicle's 18 meter hatch. In
other words, the Pentagon sees the shuttle in the role of an
omnipotent and (?insatible) space pirate. Talks on the issue are
being followed up by actions.
According to US Air Force Secretary Verne Orr there are plans for
setting up a special center at Peterson base, Colorado, to direct
future military operations in space. The top men in the Pentagon
and the administration's representatives make no secret of their
intentions to use the shuttle space program for achieving
domination in space and military strategic advantages over the
Soviet Union. So in the chase for a military superiority--which
is really a delusion--the men in Washington intend to turn the
space around our globe into an arena of confrontation between our
two countries. In this context the shuttle program can be
regarded as a new round in the arms race, this time in space.
TASS 15 Apr 81
The fact that mostly a military importance is being attached to
the shuttle program was confirmed by the former US Secretary of
Defense Harold Brown. Speaking on American television he
stressed that Columbia and similar ships could be used already
now for reconnaissance, for organizing systems of
communication. The former head of the Pentagon noted that the
nature of the use of ships within the framework of the shuttle
program would be determined by those who pay the launching
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costs. In the opinion of the American press this means that the
Pentagon; whose "space budget" already exceeds all allocations
for the needs of NASA, intends to put this program very much
under its control. TIME magazine reports that by the end of the
1980s there are plans for at least 113 flights by reusable ships
with purely military aims.
International Observer Roundtable program Radio Moscow 31 May 81,
PRAVDA observer Gennadiy Vladimirovich Vasileyv:
[Ariyvich] Gennadiy Vladimirovich, you mentioned very
interesting figures. They are indeed very indicative. If you
will allow me, there is another small figure which characterizes
the US attitude toward the arms race. Discussing the bill for
the record military budget recently, the US Senate allocated an
additional $50 million for laser weapons to be deployed in
space. Apparently, this is still only an initial figure for the
start-up of this program. Reusable spacecraft will be employed
to test these weapons.
KOMMUNIST article, Marshal Ogarkov, July 81 "For Our Soviet
Motherland: Guarding Peaceful Labor"
In the first place it is planned to speed up the further buildup
of strategic offensive forces. There are the new Trident missile
submarines, the MX ICBMs, the mutlipurpose space shuttle sytem,
strategic bombers, and air-, sea-, and ground-launched strategic
cruise missiles.
International Affairs, November 1981, V. Basmonov, "For a
Weapons-Free Space"
Aware of the grave concern these schemes are generating
among the peaceloving peoples, the USSR came out at the current
36th Session of the UN General Assembly with a Proposal on the
Conclusion of a Treaty on the Prohibition of the Stationing of
Weapons of Any Kind in Outer Space. The USSR proposed a treaty
under which parties to it would pledge not to put objects with
any type of weapons into orbit round the Earth, not to emplace
such weapons on celestial bodies or otherwise, including
sophisticated manned shuttle spaceships of the existing type and
of other types that may appear in the future.
In its military plans for outer space, the Pentagon is
pinning its main hopes on the space Shuttle which made its first
flight in April 1981. With it, the US Air Froce can considerably
raise the effectiveness of reconnaissance, and diversify the
means of combat action's for striking targets in outer space, in
the air and on land. According to Chicago Tribune, the President
is expected to declare the development and improvement of the
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UlLLP iriCu
Shuttle programme, including, probably, the creation of manned
orbital s-tations as a priority task.
The US military space programme provides for the stage-by-
stage militarization of outer space, to be effected through the
deployment of various new weapons. Work is apace, for example,
on laser weapons which will be installed on the Shuttle
spacecraft, their main task being to destroy the satellites and
antisatellites of a potential enemy and also intercontinental
missiles right after their take-off. Starting in 1978, the USA
has carried out a series of tests the laser "cannon" designed to
destroy rockets and shells in mid-air and also tanks and unmanned
planes. However, using lasers on the Earth, states a report of
the Defense Department to the White House, is less effective than
in outer space which provides ideal conditions for this type of
weapon. It ensures high accuracy in fighting not only missiles
and satellites but aircraft radar installations as well. The
Pentagon plans to test the laser "cannon" in outer space in April
1982, during the fourth flight of the Shuttle. It is believed
that laser installations will be permanently stationed in outer
space by the end of the 1980s.
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