China looking at 'space force'

2003-10-20 16:35

Beijing - China is researching lasers and missiles that could attack satellites as part of a planned "deterrent" space force, said officials quoted by state media on Monday.

The success of Shenzhou V, China's first manned space mission, means, "Chinese people have already obtained the key to commanding the heights of space," a People's Liberation Army (PLA) official involved in the Shenzhou V project told the weekly China Business Post.

"This indicates that China's 'space force' has taken its embryonic form," an unidentified expert at China's National Defence University was quoted as saying in an article posted on the newspaper's website.

"China's army, too, has already introduced the concept of 'space force strength'," a second PLA official said in apparent reference to a similar US military concept.

"A Chinese military research report proposed building a separate 'force to fight in space'," the official was quoted as saying.

"Laser arms that can attack satellites in outer space are being researched," the report quoted another unidentified expert as saying.

Dongfeng-31 and -41 and Julang-2 medium and long-range strategic missiles were already in use, it said without explaining how these were related to the planned space force.

"Beat the enemy"

But the development of a space force would be only for "peaceful purposes", to act as a deterrent, the expert said.

"The aim of China's space technology is not to threaten others but to maintain a certain deterrent force so as to 'beat the enemy without a battle'," the expert said, quoting from Chinese philosopher Sun Tzu's classic "The Art of War".

Western experts say China is developing a dual-use satellite launch vehicle, known as the KT-1, that is derived from the Dongfeng- 31 and is capable of "blinding" or destroying satellites in orbit.

"Any high-technology projects in China automatically have some form of military input," British space consultant Phillip Clark said last week.

Space analyst Mark Wade of Encyclopaedia Astronautica said the Shenzhou V orbital module is carrying military-use high-resolution imaging cameras.

Previous Shenzhou orbital modules, which can remain in orbit for up to eight months after separation from re-entry capsules, carried electronic intelligence payloads as well as cameras, Wade said.

In an apparent admission that China is likely to make more inroads into the United States' supremacy in space, in January 2001 the US military held a "space war" game set in 2017, in which "country Red" (China) was described as a "near-peer competitor".

But Chinese officials insist China is committed to using space technology only for commercial, scientific and other "peaceful purposes".

- SAPA