Russia has lost contact with four military satellites following a fire at a mission control centre. The satellites are designed to provide early warning of a ballistic missile attack. Analysts blame a lack of funding for the incident and warn that more Russian military disasters are likely.
鈥淲e have full control over all other military space structures,鈥� Anatoly Perminov, chief of Russia鈥檚 armed forces鈥� space division, told Russian television. Perminov says he is optimistic that contact with the satellites will be regained from another control centre.
A short circuit at 2220 GMT on Wednesday is thought to have caused the fire near Serpukhov, about 100 kilometres south of Moscow. It reportedly blazed for 12 hours and left widespread damage.
Advertisement
鈥淚t seems to be very serious. Apparently a lot of very expensive equipment has been destroyed and it will be hard for the Russian military to replace it,鈥� Pavel Felgenhauer, a military analyst, told the BBC.
Ageing infrastructure
The loss of communication with essential military satellites 鈥渟hould not be happening,鈥� Bhupendra Jasani, a space analyst at the Department of War Studies at Kings College, London, told 快猫短视频. 鈥淥r if it does, they ought to have back-up systems. The Americans certainly do. But the Russians are short of money.鈥�
Russia is desperately trying to maintain its space programme, Jasani adds. But a lack of funds means it is unable to replace ageing infrastructure and equipment.
The recent series of Russian military catastrophes is set to continue, say experts. President Vladimir Putin was prompted to pledge an increase in military spending after the catastrophic sinking of the Kursk nuclear submarine last year.
But an electrical fault in a key mission control centre should have been avoided, says Jasani.
False alarm
鈥淭he Russian military is degrading,鈥� he says. 鈥淭hey are not buying new equipment and their old equipment is becoming outdated. A lack of proper maintenance is also a great problem.鈥�
Failure to replace old satellites could potentially lead to a false alert about an incoming missile, triggering a Russian response. But Russian officials insist that this will not happen.
Loss of communication with four early warning satellites during the Cold War would have been a disaster for the country, says Jasani. 鈥淭hey would have been totally blind. But at present, barring problems in Chechenya, Russia does not have difficulties elsewhere.鈥�
Star wars
The fire comes days after US defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld announced plans to create a four-star air force general with responsibility for space forces. Rumsfeld denied that the move was a step towards space-based weapons.
But weapons designed to take out satellites from the ground, sea or air, are on the agenda, says Jasani.
The US argues that during a conflict, it might need to destroy satellites that could provide sensitive battleground pictures to the enemy. 鈥淢ore and more countries are operating observation satellites,鈥� says Jasani. 鈥淪addam Hussein even tried to buy satellite imagery of the battlefield during the Gulf War. Had he been able to get it, he would have been more dangerous.鈥�
No other nations have weapons that could destroy satellites, Jasani adds. But if the US does deploy them, China is likely to consider following suit, he says.
Related stories:
The US nuclear missile defence system will not work, say analysts (02/05/2001)