U.S. Says Small Russian Satellite A Space Weapon:
Maneuvering satellite part of Moscow space warfare buildup
Russia in October conducted tests of a "space apparatus inspector" that was detected by U.S. intelligence maneuvering and taking other unusual actions in space.
"Its behavior on-orbit was inconsistent with anything seen before from on-orbit inspection or space situational awareness capabilities, including other Russian inspection satellite activities," Poblete stated during a session of the U.N. Conference on Disarmament.
"We are concerned with what appears to be very abnormal behavior by a declared ‘space apparatus inspector.'" She did not elaborate on the suspect activities.
U.S. intelligence agencies are uncertain about Moscow's intentions regarding the use of the suspicious satellite. But Poblete said the satellite is "obviously a very troubling development."
Recent comments by the commander of Russian aerospace forces, Col. Gen. Sergei Surovikin also have raised alarms. Surovikin stated that "assimilate[ing] new prototypes of weapons [into] space forces’ military units" is a "main task facing the Aerospace Forces Space Troops."
Disclosure of Russia's attack satellite capabilities comes as the Pentagon announced plans last week to create a new space force as a separate branch of the U.S. military.
https://freebeacon.com/national-security/u-s-says-small-russian-satellite-space-weapon/