02/06/2018 / By Jayson Veley
Imagine if America’s satellites were all destroyed or knocked out of orbit – what would that mean for our everyday lives? Put simply: Chaos. In a matter of hours, virtually every part of society would come to a halt, from the Internet and our phone lines, to our transportation system, to the agricultural industry, and much more. Life as we know it would freeze in place, and as terrifying as that is to think about, it could become a reality sometime in the near future.
As reported recently by the Washington Free Beacon, China and Russia are both in the process of developing weapons that may soon be capable of damaging or destroying all of the United States satellites currently in low-earth orbit. The warning officially comes in the form of a report issued by the Joint Staff intelligence directorate, which concludes that “China and Russia will be capable of severely disrupting or destroying U.S. satellites in low-earth orbit” sometime within the next several years.
The report comes after a similar but less specific warning was issued back in May of last year by the Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats. “We assess that Russia and China perceive a need to offset any U.S. military advantage derived from military, civil, or commercial space systems and are increasingly considering attacks against satellite systems as part of their future warfare doctrine,” Coats explained, adding that both China and Russia will continue to look for ways to develop anti-satellite weapons “as a means to reduce U.S. military effectiveness.”
This should serve as a stark reminder to not just the American people but also the politicians that reside in Washington D.C. that Russia and China are both nations that we should take very seriously. We may not be at war with either of them, but if we turn our backs, then they can and probably will take advantage of us.
Of course, China and Russia aren’t the only counties that pose a threat to the United States. While a weapon that can take down America’s satellites is bad, an EMP strike on United States soil would be just as destructive. Many people within the national intelligence community fear that North Korea may one day launch one of these attacks in an attempt to disable our country’s electrical grid, which would effectively bring our society to its knees. Similar to the effects of a missile capable of destroying our satellites, an EMP blast would have a serious impact on every American institution, from the transportation industry to the banking industry, to Silicon Valley, and so on and so forth.
Last October, the Washington Examiner reported on a dire warning from Congress: That a North Korean EMP attack would kill off 90 percent of Americans within just one year. Specifically, the warning came during a House hearing, where experts explained that an explosion of a high-altitude nuclear bomb “could be to shut down the U.S. electric power grid for an indefinite period, leading to the death within a year of up to 90 percent of all Americans.” (Related: U.S. officials are increasingly taking the North Korean EMP threat seriously, knowing millions of Americans could die.)
Additionally, two members of the former congressional EMP commission warned that the threat currently posed to the United States has never been higher than it is now, in part because of the back-and-forth hostile rhetoric between President Trump and the leader of the North Korean regime, Kim Jong-Un. (Related: Are you prepared for an EMP attack? Nationwide chaos may be just one missile away.)
Whether it’s a direct attack on America’s satellites or a massive EMP attack, the people of the United States must start preparing now and be ready for the worst.
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Tagged Under: China, cyber war, EMP, military tech, national defense, national security, Russia, satellites, Space, Star Wars, War
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