Russia’s nuclear intentions up in space: Weapons and Warfare

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

HELLO AND WELCOME TO THIS EDITION OF ‘WEAPONS AND WARFARE’, FOR STRAIGHT ARROW NEWS I’M YOUR HOST RYAN ROBERTSON AND WE HAVE A VERY INTERESTING SHOW LINED UP FOR YOU THIS WEEK. IN OUR DEBRIEF WE’RE TALKING RUSSIAN SPACE NUKES–DO THEY HAVE THEM, WOULD THEY USE THEM?

OUR WEAPON OF THE WEEK IS A REMOTE-CONTROLLED EIGHT-WHEELED THING OF BEAUTY. PLUS WE’VE GOT YOUR WEEKLY DOSE OF COMMS CHECK AND I WEIGH IN ON THE PROSPECT OF PROTECTING PEACE, BUT FIRST LET’S GET TO OUR HEADLINES AND SOME STORIES YOU MAY HAVE MISSED. 

ONE BILLION DOLLARS OVER THE NEXT TWO YEARS. THAT’S WHAT THE PENTAGON WANTS TO GET ITS ‘REPLICATOR’ PROGRAM OFF THE GROUND. 

U.S. DEPUTY DEFENSE SECRETARY KATHLEEN HICKS TOLD REPORTERS THE D-O-D EXPECTS TO SPEND A HALF BILLION ANNUALLY TO BUILD AND DEPLOY THOUSANDS OF LOW-COST, SMART-TECH DRONES FOR ANY FUTURE CONFLICTS. ONCE A NEW BUDGET IS PASSED, SOMETHING THAT HASN’T HAPPENED SINCE 2023, THE PENTAGON PLANS TO HAVE THE DRONES OPERATIONAL WITHIN 18 TO 24 MONTHS. 

[Kathleen H. Hicks, Dep. Sec. of Defense]

“One key focus in innovation is overcoming institutional challenges that inhibit our ability to accelerate delivery of critical capabilities to the warfighter at speed and scale. That’s the goal of Replicator, including its first focus area on all-domain attritable autonomous systems and many similar initiatives the department has underway.”

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

SOMETHING TO POINT OUT.. THE REPLICATOR PROGRAM IS SEPARATE FROM THE COLLABORATIVE COMBAT AIRCRAFT PROGRAM THE NAVY AND AIR FORCE ARE WORKING ON. 

THEY’RE FLAG OFFICIAL NOW. SWEDEN AND NATO THAT IS. 

EARLIER THIS MONTH AT A CEREMONY FILLED WITH THE REQUISITE POMP AND CIRCUMSTANCE, SWEDEN’S FLAG JOINED THOSE OF 31 OTHER NATIONS AS THEIR MEMBERSHIP INTO THE NORTH ATLANTIC TREATY ORGANIZATION BECAME OFFICIALLY OFFICIAL. ONE OF THE FIRST QUESTIONS ASKED OF SWEDEN’S PRIME MINISTER WAS ABOUT RUSSIA AND THEIR PREVIOUS THREATS ABOUT TAKING ACTION IF SWEDEN JOINED NATO. 

[Ulf Kristersson, Prime Minister of Sweden]

“Concerning Russia I think we should stay alert. Stay exactly as alert as we are. They are doing all the things you mention. I’m quite sure they will continue doing that. We should not be naive, and we are more aware of all the risks that we are more alert to these things more than we ever have been before.”

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

SWEDEN AND THEIR NEIGHBORS TO THE EAST,  FINLAND,  APPLIED TO JOIN NATO AFTER RUSSIA INVADED UKRAINE IN FEBRUARY 2022. WHILE FINLAND COMPLETED THE PROCESS LAST YEAR, SWEDEN’S MEMBERSHIP WAS HELD UP BY THE HUNGARIAN PARLIAMENT AND VIKTOR ORBAN UNTIL THEY RELENTED LAST MONTH.

FINALLY, NEW AND IMPROVED. AT LEAST THAT’S THE ARMY’S HOPE FOR MORE THAN 3000 PAIRS OF THEIR INTEGRATED VISUAL AUGMENTATION SYSTEMS OR I-VAS.  THE MIXED REALITY GOGGLES ARE GOING TO BE ISSUED TO UNITS LIKE THE 82ND AIRBORNE DIVISION SOMETIME THIS YEAR. EARLIER VERSIONS OF THE HEADSETS, BUILT WITH COMBAT TROOPS IN MIND, HAVE BEEN TESTED AND TWEAKED FOR A FEW YEARS NOW. 

THE PREVIOUS EDITION, TESTED IN 2022, LEFT SOLDIERS FEELING NECK STRAIN AND AFFECTED THEIR ABILITY TO FIRE THEIR WEAPONS ON TARGET.

MADE BY MICROSOFT AND INITIALLY INTENDED TO BE ISSUED IN 2021, EARLIER ITERATIONS DIDN’T MAKE IT TO THE FIELD WITH OPERATORS BECAUSE USERS COMPLAINED OF Disorientation, headaches, and tunnel vision. A PROBLEM MICROSOFT HOPES IT FINALLY HAS A HANDLE ON.

————————————————

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

SO, REMEMBER BACK IN FEBRUARY WHEN OHIO CONGRESSMAN MICHAEL TURNER …LET’S JUST SAY RAISED SOME EYEBROWS, AND PROBABLY A FEW ALARMS, WHEN HE SAID ON NBC’S ‘MEET THE PRESS’ THAT RUSSIA WAS MOVING TO MAKE A SPACE-BASED NUCLEAR WEAPON A REALITY.

FOR THEIR PART THE RUSSIANS SAID THAT WASSN’T THE CASE, INSTEAD CALLING THE STATEMENTS A PLOY TO PRESSURE RUSSIA INTO ARMS NEGOTIATIONS WITH THE WEST. 

WHEREVER THE TRUTH FALLS, THE IDEA ALONE CAUSED MANY IN THE U.S. TO WONDER ALOUD ‘WELL, WHAT IF..?’ WHAT IF RUSSIA HAD SPACE NUKES?

TO EXPLORE THAT QUESTION  WE RECENTLY TALKED TO THREE UNIVERSITY PROFESSORS, ALL OF WHOM HAVE AN EXCELLENT GRASP ON “WHAT IF..?” TO SEE IF ANY OF THIS KEEPS THEM UP AT NIGHT. 

FOR MOST OF US LAYPEOPLE…THE IDEA OF LAUNCHING WEAPONS MEASURED IN KILOTONS FROM THE VASTNESS OF SPACE, OR KNOCKING OUT ENTIRE SATELLITE NETWORKS, SOUNDS LIKE SOMETHING STRAIGHT OUT OF A JAMES BOND MOVIE. BUT REST ASSURED–THE EXPERTS THINK SO TOO 

[Dr. Tyler White] 

“It reminds me of GoldenEye. Right. I think this is something that that other outlets just sort of picked up on where they can, they could use an EMP device or something like that to render the electronics, a lot of these satellites which are fragile, oftentimes very fragile instruments in and of themselves useless.”

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

RUSSIA USING NUCLEAR DEVICES IN SPACE COULD COME IN ONE OF A FEW DIFFERENT WAYS, AND NUCLEAR POWERED SPACE LASERS…AREN’T ONE OF THEM. AT LEAST NOT YET. RUSSIA COULD LAUNCH NUKES AT EARTH BOUND TARGETS FROM A SPACE BASED PLATFORM LIKE A SATELLITE…BUT ICBMs COULD ACHIEVE THE SAME RESULT. RUSSIA COULD DETONATE A NUKE IN THE ATMOSPHERE–KNOCKING OUT ANYTHING ELECTRONIC OVER ENTIRE CONTINENTS…CAUSING MASS PANIC AND POTENTIAL SOCIETAL COLLAPSE…BUT AGAIN, MISSILES COULD DO THE SAME THING.  

WHILE THE EXISTENCE OF SOME OF THIS TECHNOLOGY, AND WHETHER RUSSIA WOULD USE IT…IS CERTAINLY UP FOR DEBATE…THE CONCERNS THESE DEBATES GENERATE ARE VALID. BUT THE EXPERTS SAY WE NEED TO TEMPER ANY EXPECTATIONS OR PROGNOSTICATIONS WITH WHAT WE ALREADY KNOW TO BE TRUE. 

[Jack Beard]

“There’s talk, of course of the Russians violating the Outer Space Treaty. And this is the end of the Outer Space Treaty and all that. That’s, that’s premature, not only have they not actually done this yet, but the Soviet Union designed a large part of the Outer Space Treaty.”

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

AND THAT’S A REASON RUSSIA MIGHT NOT WANT TO TAKE PART IN WHAT REPRESENTATIVE TURNER SAYS THEY COULD BE PLANNING. FOR EVERYTHING THAT’S UNPREDICTABLE ABOUT VLADIMIR PUTIN, HE DOES TEND TO FAVOR WHATEVER HOLDOVERS STILL EXIST FROM THE SOVIET UNION. 

[Elsbeth Magilton]

“My sense is that as a state that is certainly not in Russia’s interest, and that a lot of their behaviors seem to still be interested in maintaining some of those alliances, particularly with China.”

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

ELSBETH MAGILTON, JACK BEARD AND DR. TYLER WHITE’S EXPERTISE COLLIDES AT THE AVENUES OF LAW, NATIONAL SECURITY, AND CYBER SECURITY, MAKING THEM ALL WELL QUALIFIED WHEN IT COMES TO TALKING ABOUT NEW THREATS FROM AMERICA’S OLDEST ADVERSARIES.

FOR MOST SANE PEOPLE–SUBJECTS LIKE A RUSSIAN NUCLEAR THREAT FROM SPACE IS UNSETTLING TO SAY THE LEAST. A FEELING MAGILTON SAYS SHE’S NOT IMMUNE TO. SHE ALSO SAYS PERSPECTIVE IS IMPORTANT.  

[Elsbeth Magilton]

“When you start working in security and in defense, that notion that we were always so secure, my whole life kind of goes away, and you realize how tenuous it always is, and always has been. And somehow that makes you feel a little bit better, because you realize that we’ve always been walking this line, and yes, that’s scary. But I’ve been safe up until now. And so maybe it’s not as bleak as it feels in these moments.”

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

WHILE TURNER’S COMMENTS GRABBED A LOT OF HEADLINES, THERE WAS OTHER NEWS REGARDING RUSSIA AND SPACE. SPECIFICALLY THEIR PLANS TO BUILD A NUCLEAR POWER PLANT WITH THE CHINESE. A PLANT THAT WOULD POWER THEIR  SETTLEMENTS ON THE MOON. SOMETHING JACK BEARD SAYS COULD BE A MUCH BIGGER ISSUE FOR U.S. INTERESTS.

[Jack Beard]

“Well, competition on the moon for scarce resources is, is probably a more formidable threat. Near term. I mean, we’re talking about putting people there and using the space resources. And this I’m not aware of any time in history where humans haven’t gotten to some part of this planet, found scarce resources had companies come and want them. And they don’t get into conflict with other countries about the resources.”

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

FOR TYLER WHITE, THE CONCERNS IN SPACE, AT LEAST IN PART, STEM FROM CONCERNS THAT ARE MORE EARTHBOUND. 

[Dr. Tyler White] 

“I worry about the future of NATO, which I think has been an unbelievably productive and, and incredibly important thing in the history of human humankind, right. I mean, a defensive alliance like this, it’s this lasted this long, because, you know, the challenges posed by China, the challenges posed by Russia, those things become much easier to handle when you are in a reliable relationship with regional partners. And there’s, there’s more uncertainty around the future of those relationships, and most of its coming from the United States.”

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

WHILE THERE ARE NO EASY, OR IMINENT ANSWERS TO MANY, IF NOT ALL, OF THESE CONCERNS, MAGILTON SAYS THE FACT THAT AMERICAN ASTRONAUTS, AND RUSSIAN COSMONAUTS, ARE LIVING AND WORKING TOGETHER RIGHT NOW ON THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION, IS A POSITIVE. 

AND MAYBE THAT’S ENOUGH TO ALLOW YOU TO GET A LITTLE SLEEP TONIGHT.

———————————————-

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

IT MIGHT BE HARD FOR THE VIDEO GAME-PLAYING YOUTH OF 2024 TO BELIEVE THAT THIS WAS ONCE THE HEIGHT OF TANK WARFARE ON A VIDEO SCREEN. TANK 1990, A GAME WITHIN THE GAME OF BATTLE CITY. 

FAST FORWARD NEARLY 35 YEARS, AND CONTROLLING A BATTLE-READY VEHICLE ON A VIDEO SCREEN, IS NO LONGER A GAME. THANKS TO THE FOLKS AT AMERICAN RHEINMETALL VEHICLES, IT’S NOW VERY SERIOUS BUSINESS.

THIS IS THE RHEINMETALL MISSION MASTER SP AUTONOMOUS, UNMANNED GROUND VEHICLE, OR A-UGV FOR SHORT. THE U.S. MARINE CORPS STARTED TAKING DELIVERY OF THESE LAST YEAR.

BUILT TO BE USED IN A WIDE RANGE OF SITUATIONS, WITH A VARIETY OF MODULAR ATTACHMENTS, THE MISSION MASTER SP CAN BE FITTED OUT FOR EVERYTHING FROM A REMOTELY CONTROLLED WEAPON STATION TO ARMED RECONNAISSANCE, FLANK SECURITY AND MORE. 

ONE REASON WHY THE MARINES AND OTHER BRANCHES ARE INTERESTED IN EQUIPMENT LIKE THE MISSION MASTER IS THAT IT’S A FORCE MULTIPLIER. SIMPLY PUT, IT ALLOWS A UNIT TO DO MORE WITH LESS. HYPOTHETICALLY TURNING A 10-PERSON JOB INTO A FIVE-PERSON JOB. AND THAT MAKES IT A VALUABLE ASSET WHEN EVERY BRANCH OF SERVICE IS FACING RECRUITING ISSUES. 

THE MARINE CORPS RECENTLY PUT THE A-UGV TO THE TEST DURING A LIVE-FIRE DEMONSTRATION AT FORT CLINTON, OHIO. ADD TO THAT THE TALISMAN SABRE EXERCISE IN QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA, LAST SUMMER AND THE APOLLO SHIELD EXERCISE AT TWENTYNINE PALMS, CALIFORNIA, LAST FALL AND IT BECOMES PRETTY CLEAR THE MARINES SEE THE MISSION MASTER SP AS A GOOD WAY TO NOT ONLY HELP THEIR PEOPLE IN THE FIGHT,  BUT PROTECT THEM AS WELL. 

MAJOR STEVEN ATKINSON OF THE MARINE CORPS’  WARFIGHTING LABORATORY SAYS WHAT SEPARATES THE MISSION MASTER FROM OTHER AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES IS THE ABILITY TO ENGAGE TARGETS ON THE GROUND AND IN THE AIR.

IN DECEMBER, AMERICAN RHEINMETALL VEHICLES RECEIVED AN ORDER FOR SIX ADDITIONAL MISSION MASTER SP’S WHICH WILL END UP WITH THE 3RD BATTALION, 4TH MARINES, WHO WILL BE THE FIRST TO CONDUCT PRE-DEPLOYMENT PREPARATIONS AND DEPLOY WITH RHEINMETALL’S A-UGVs.

————————————————-

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

Alright folks, it’s time once again for Comms Check, one of our favorite segments of the show. It’s kind of our opportunity to peruse our social media feeds, go through our email inbox. And you know, kind of see the comments or the questions that you have out there in the audience and gives us an opportunity to address those. So let’s go ahead and get started.

Our first comms check of the week comes to us on a story that we had done about some US Green Berets being permanently stationed in Kinmen County, which is part of an island grouping that Taiwan controls. And Kinmen is just about six miles away from China. So U.S. troops being stationed very close to China. So the question or the comment that we got was from LP, I’m not exactly sure of the name, but LP Gs 3x. J. says, let’s call him Leo. Leo says, As a retired Marine, I had to smile at how much footage was Marines for a Greenbrae video?

Well, first of all, Leo, I want to thank you for your service. And secondly, this kind of, you know, you’re not you’re not wrong about anything here, Leo, this just gives us an opportunity to kind of peel the peel the curtain back, fill the onion back and expose kind of the inner workings to the audience. So this video, and you know, we’ll play the video over me talking. So you’ll be able to see the video that I’m talking about is actually of Taiwan’s forces, these are the forces that some American special forces have been helping to train.

But also included in the story. Leo are some other, you know, news nuggets from different military exercises that the U.S. Marine Corps actually is taking part in, like Cobra Gold, as well as some force on force drills in Japan that the Marines were participating in. Now, all of that said, Leo, the story about the Green Berets.

Now, you know, some people call these guys ghosts, they’re not supposed to be known, their identities are not supposed to be known. So it’s not like any visuals, or any pictures of these people training exists for public consumption, for journalists, like myself to be able to put on our videos and play it back for you. So that’s, that’s kind of that story.

Also, because of the nature of a lot of this, of the stories that we tell, we are at the at the mercy of what is publicly available. You know, it’s not like we can go over to Kinmen island here and put a camera in front of some of these guys faces or gals faces and say, hey, you know, we’re gonna shoot some video of you doing your thing. That’s not exactly how it works. So when we do put together these stories, please trust Leo, that I do my utmost best and and the whole team, really, we all do our best to make sure that the visuals that we show match with the scripts that we’re talking about.

However, there are times and occasions like this story, where you’re talking about people where there is no video footage of what you’re talking about, directly. So we have to kind of go with with what is available. This story was talking about Taiwan’s troops being trained, thus the video of troops from Taiwan during training, so hopefully that helps answer some of the concerns or some of the questions you might have had about how we as journalists go about putting together some of the visuals. But again, LP want to thank you for your service.

The next story we have the next comms check comes to us on a story that we had done here at at weapons and warfare about the Mind Gym. And really, it’s I ended that that episode with, with my rap about NATO, and really how NATO was was unique among all military cooperations, which we got this.

This message from Holt Crowder: “It sounds like you do not think NATO members should be held to paying to be a part of NATO. That would be welfare on a country level.”

So what what Holt is referring to is in that rap I had mentioned, former President Trump had kind of called out some NATO countries for not paying their fair share. My point was, that’s kind of an odd statement anyway, because we as as the United States don’t get to decide how much other countries want to devote to their own national defense too.

Your point holds. I’m not saying that NATO is should it be held, you know, held accountable or be kicked out for not paying. I’m saying that’s what NATO says NATO says that countries aren’t really held accountable or kicked out for not paying all countries are encouraged to donate are to devote 2% of their gross domestic product to national defense. That’s kind of the baseline. But not all countries do that. Nor are all countries required to do that to be a part of NATO. They are required to put some funds toward national defense. But each country is allowed to make up their own minds on that.

So all I’m all I’m arguing for Holtz is not necessarily that NATO changes its rules to acquiesce to American politics. All I’m saying is American politics needs to realize that there are rules in place for NATO. And we don’t get to dictate to other countries how they follow those rules. So hopefully that helps answer some of your questions there Holt.

As for you out there in the audience, if you have a comment or a question that you would like us to address here on the show, you can comment below in the comment section or you can email us at weapons and warfare, all spelled out at sa n.com. But in the meantime, that’s comms check.

————————————————-

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

ALRIGHT FOLKS, IT’S TIME FOR THE WRAP…AND I THOUGHT SINCE WE TALKED TO THREE COLLEGE PROFESSORS THIS WEEK…NOW MIGHT BE A GOOD TIME FOR A LITTLE LESSON IN LATIN–

THE OLD ROMAN ADAGE “SI VIS PACEM, PARA BELLUM” MEANS IF YOU WANT PEACE, PREPARE FOR WAR. 

NOW, IDEALLY, WE WOULD LIVE IN A WORLD WHERE THERE IS NO WAR, NO STRIFE, NO FAMINE, NO NEED FOR ANY ONE NATION TO PICK UP ARMS AGAINST ANOTHER. 

THAT’S THE IDEAL, BUT DOES THAT SOUND LIKE ANYTHING REAL? UNFORTUNATELY, NO. THE LAST 80 YEARS OR SO WERE RELATIVELY PEACEFUL IN HISTORICAL TERMS…BUT THEY WERE HARDLY WITHOUT CONFLICT. 

AND IF THE LAST FEW YEARS ARE ANY INDICATION OF THE DECADE AHEAD–THEN FOLKS–WINTER IS HERE. WAR IS UPON US. HOWEVER YOU WANT TO SAY IT–IF YOU VALUE YOUR WAY OF LIFE–THEN THERE WILL BE PEOPLE WHO-BY NECESSITY–WILL NEED TO FIGHT FOR IT. 

PEOPLE IN UKRAINE AND ISRAEL WERE TRYING TO LIVE PEACEFUL LIVES, UNTIL OUTSIDE FORCES INTERVENED. TO GET BACK TO PEACE, BOTH ISRAEL AND UKRAINE NEEDED TO TAKE UP ARMS. FAILING TO DO SO WOULD MEAN THE END OF THEIR PEOPLE. 

NOW, I DON’T THINK THE U.S. MAINLAND HAS MUCH TO FEAR IN THE WAY OF ENEMY FORCES INVADING OUR TERRITORY NOT LIKE ISRAEL AND UKRAINE AND MOST OF THE REST OF THE WORLD HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT. OUR GEOGRAPHY GRANTS US MORE SAFETY AND SECURITY THAN PERHAPS WE DESERVE. BUT, I ALSO KNOW WE DON’T LIVE IN A VACUUM–AND WHAT HAPPENS OUTSIDE OUR BORDERS IMPACTS THE DECISIONS WE MAKE INSIDE OUR BORDERS. 

WHICH IS WHY WHEN WE LOOK AROUND THE WORLD–AND WONDER ALOUD WHAT IS HAPPENING? WE ALSO NEED TO ASK OURSELVES, WHAT ARE WE WILLING TO DO TO FIX IT. WAR IS A PART OF THE EQUATION NOW, AND REALLY ALWAYS HAS BEEN.

WE CAN ACCEPT THAT FACT, AND START TO DEAL WITH OUR CURRENT SITUATION, OR WE CAN IGNORE IT, INSTEAD HOPING FOR THE IDEAL, WHILE GETTING RUN OVER BY THE REAL. 

AND THAT’S GOING TO DO IT FOR US THIS WEEK HERE AT WEAPONS AND WARFARE. AS A REMINDER, IF YOU’D LIKE TO SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS WITH US, PLEASE DO SO BY POSTING THEM IN THE SECTION BELOW…OR EMAILING US AT WEAPONS AND WARFARE AT SAN.COM. 

FOR SENIOR PRODUCER BRETT BAKER, VIDEO EDITOR BRIAN SPENCER, AND GRAPHICS DESIGNER DAKOTA PITEO, I’M RYAN ROBERTSON WITH STRAIGHT ARROW NEWS, SIGNING OFF.