In the modern era, not only elements of the civilian infrastructure of the most developed countries are associated with satellite orbital constellations, but also a significant part of the military infrastructure. Moreover, during possible conflicts, many satellites can be used in the interests of the military, since they often have a dual purpose. Communication satellites, global positioning satellites, meteorological service are dual-use satellites. It is no coincidence that over time, some countries decided to pay attention to the development of anti-satellite weapons systems. Since the disabling of the orbital groupings of a potential enemy can cause great damage to the military potential of today's states.
An anti-satellite weapon is a complex of weapons designed to defeat and disable spacecraft used for reconnaissance and navigation purposes. Structurally, according to the method of placement, such weapons are divided into 2 main types: 1) interceptor satellites; 2) ballistic missiles launched from aircraft, ships or ground launchers.
Currently, there are no state borders in space, the entire territory, which is at a certain level from the earth's surface, is used by all countries jointly. Those of them who were able to reach a certain technical level. Interaction between the world space powers is carried out on the basis of international agreements reached. It is only supported by organizational methods. At the same time, space objects themselves do not have the ability to passive or active protection and therefore are quite vulnerable in defense terms.
For this reason, the existing orbital groupings are quite vulnerable to external factors and, for the enemy, appear to be the object of a potential application of force. At the same time, the disabling of satellite constellations can significantly weaken the military potential of the owner state. The use of weapons systems in outer space is stipulated only in a special international agreement. The states that signed this treaty pledged not to launch mine satellites and armed interceptor ships into outer space. But, like many international treaties, the agreement banning the presence of weapons in outer space rests only on the goodwill of the countries that signed the agreement. In this case, at any time, the contract can be denounced by one of the parties.
GLONASS satellite
This is precisely the situation that could be observed in the recent past, when the United States in December 2001 decided to withdraw from the treaty on the limitation of missile defense systems. The procedure for withdrawing from this treaty was very simple; US President George W. Bush simply notified Russia that from June 12, 2002, the ABM Treaty would end its existence. At the same time, this decision of the states at the UN General Assembly was supported only by Israel, Paraguay and Micronesia. If you look at the problem from this angle, then withdrawing from the agreement on the non-use of outer space for military purposes can be a matter of just a couple of hours.
Both the United States and the USSR, despite the existence of an agreement, did not stop work on the creation of anti-satellite weapons and no one knows 100% how many orbital mines and torpedoes, as well as interceptor missiles, remained in the arsenals of these countries. Moreover, if in the past it was believed that only one launch vehicle with a striking object was needed to intercept and destroy a satellite, today missile projects with multiple warheads look quite viable. At one time, the USSR, in response to the American Star Wars program, which provided for the launch of orbital platforms into space that could destroy ICBMs during their flight in the space segment of their trajectory, threatened to launch an almost unlimited number of passive submunitions into near-earth space. Simply put, nails that, sweeping through their orbits, would turn any high-tech equipment into a sieve. Another thing is that it is very difficult to use such a weapon in practice. Since in the case of a more or less massive use of this kind of damaging elements, a chain reaction can occur, when the debris of already affected satellites begins to hit other still functioning satellites.
In this situation, the most protected satellites are located in high geostationary orbits, several thousand kilometers away from the Earth's surface. To reach such heights, space "nails" would need to be given such energy and speed that they would become almost golden. Also, in a number of countries, work was underway to create air launch systems, when it was planned to launch interceptor missiles from a carrier aircraft (in the USSR, it was planned to use the MiG-31 for these purposes). Launching a rocket at a significant altitude made it possible to achieve the energy savings required by the interceptor rocket.
At present, experts believe that in the event of a full-fledged large-scale conflict between space states, the mutual destruction of satellite constellations will be only a matter of time. At the same time, satellites will be destroyed much faster than either side will launch new satellites into space. It will be possible to restore the destroyed orbital constellation of satellites only after the end of the war, if the state still retains the necessary financial and economic capacities and infrastructure. If we take into account the fact that interceptor missiles and "buckets of nails" will not particularly understand what this or that satellite is for, then there will be no available satellite television and long-distance and international communications after such a conflict for a long time.
An important aspect is the fact that the cost of interceptor missiles is cheaper than launching specialized satellites. It is believed that even medium-range missiles can be used for interception purposes. According to experts, this is exactly what they did in the PRC, creating their own interceptor missile. Provided that the missile is accurately guided to the target, such a missile can carry a minimum payload, which makes this type of weapon cheaper. According to American information, anti-satellite missiles SM-3Block2B are capable of hitting satellites at altitudes up to 250 km, and cost the American taxpayer $ 20-24 million apiece. At the same time, more powerful GBI interceptor missiles, which are planned to be deployed in Poland, cost more - about $ 70 million.
MiG-31 as elements of anti-satellite weapons
Since 1978, in the USSR, the Vympel design bureau began work on the creation of an anti-satellite missile equipped with an OBCH and capable of being used from the MiG-31 interceptor fighter. The rocket was launched to a predetermined height using an aircraft, after which it was launched and the warhead was detonated directly near the satellite. In 1986, the MiG Design Bureau began work on the revision of 2 MiG-31 interceptor fighters for new weapons. The upgraded aircraft received the designation MiG-31D. It was supposed to carry one large specialized missile, and its weapons control system was completely redesigned for its use. Both aircraft were single-seat and did not carry a radar (instead of them, 200-kg weight models were installed).
MiG-31D
The MiG-31D had influxes like the MiG-31M, and was also equipped with large triangular planes located at the ends of the aircraft wing, which were called "flippers" and were similar to those on the MiG-25P prototype. These "fins" were designed to give the fighter additional stability in flight when suspended on the outer ventral pylon of a large anti-satellite missile. The fighters received tail numbers 071 and 072. Work on these two aircraft was completed in 1987, and in the same year the aircraft with tail number 072 began flight tests at the Design Bureau in Zhukovsky. The fighter test program continued for a number of years and was suspended only in the early 1990s due to the unclear situation with the appearance of the necessary missile.
For the first time, photographs of the new fighter-interceptor with an anti-satellite missile under the fuselage were published in August 1992 in the magazine "Aviation Week and Space Technology". However, the tests of this system were never completed. Work on the creation of an anti-satellite missile was carried out by the Vympel Design Bureau, which specializes in the development of missiles. It was assumed that the MiG-31D would launch an anti-satellite missile at an altitude of about 17,000 meters and a flight speed of 3,000 km / h.
State of the art
Currently, the US Army is armed with a ship-based missile defense system called Aegis. This complex includes the RIM-161 Standard Missile 3 (SIM-3) rocket, which has the ability to destroy satellites, which was demonstrated in practice on February 21, 2008, when the rocket was able to successfully destroy the American military satellite USA-193, which went off-design low orbit.
Ship-based missile defense called Aegis
On January 11, 2007, China tested its own anti-satellite weapons. The Chinese meteorological satellite FY-1C of the Fengyun series, which was located in polar orbit, at an altitude of 865 kilometers was shot down by a direct hit from an anti-satellite missile, which was launched from a mobile launcher at the Xichang cosmodrome and was able to intercept the meteorological satellite on a head-on course. As a result of the defeat of the satellite, a cloud of debris arose. Later, ground tracking systems detected at least 2,300 pieces of space debris, the size of which ranged from 1 cm or more.
There is currently no official release of space interceptor missiles in Russia. The Soviet program aimed at combating enemy satellite groupings was called "Satellite Destroyer" and was deployed in the 70s and 80s of the last century. During the tests of this program, interceptor satellites were launched into Earth's orbit, which independently maneuvered, approached with the aim of attack, after which they carried out the detonation of the warhead. Since 1979, this system has begun combat duty, however, tests within the framework of this program were stopped due to the adoption of a moratorium on space pollution, the current state and prospects of this program are not reported. In addition, in the USSR, work was underway to destroy enemy satellites using ground-based laser systems and missiles deployed on interceptor fighters (such as the MiG-31).
