US aims for space superiority over China and Russia in new defence strategy
- Pentagon identifies the two countries as greatest strategic threats to US, saying they have ‘weaponised space’
- Report released a day after China had to delay its final BeiDou-3 satellite launch because of ‘technical problems’
The United States has unveiled a new defence space strategy, aiming to maintain superiority in military, commercial and other activities where it has been challenged by China and Russia.
In the report, the Pentagon identified China and Russia as the greatest strategic threats to the US, and it said the “actions, intentions and military strategies of potential adversaries” had turned space into a warfighting domain.
“China and Russia each have weaponised space as a means to reduce US and allied military effectiveness and challenge our freedom of operation in space,” the report said. “Rapid increases in commercial and international space activities worldwide add to the complexity of the space environment.”
To address the threats, challenges and opportunities in the current and future security environments, the US Department of Defence would make a number of changes to its space programme over the next decade, according to the report.