Only The US Has Been Critical of India’s ASAT Test, Why ?
By
Colonel Awadhesh Kumar, Special Forces
According to a rough estimate there are nearly 2000 satellites currently orbiting the Earth at various altitudes. Out of these nearly 850 belong to the US. What is of concern to the rest of the World that nearly 300 of the US satellites are used only for military purposes which includes monitoring, communication, navigation, missile launch warning, and command and control for anti satellite warfare. The US satellites were crucial during the Gulf War and remain crucial for ongoing and other future regional or global wars. The US has increasingly become over dependent on them.
There is no other country as on date, as reliant on satellites as the US. Hence, Washington regards Space as its sole property and has always been trying to make itself fully capable of protecting its space assets from enemy attacks. The US President Donald Trump’s has now given the go ahead to create a Space Force. Therefore, the US has been strongly opposing other countries carrying out ASAT tests, in spite of itself sparing no effort in testing and developing such weapons. Americans feel that Only when US satellites are left in space can the world be a safe place.
Now suddenly they feel very nervous. What has taken the USA and Russia around 60 years has now been demonstrated by India in one go. On March 27, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared that India had succeeded in its first anti-satellite (ASAT) missile test and shot down a low-Earth-orbit satellite at an altitude of 300 kilometers. With this, India has become the fourth country after the US, Russia and China to possess ASAT capability.
Media and experts across the world have given mixed views on India’s ASAT test. However, except for the US, most reactions tended to be muted. Rest of the World has been admiring India or reluctantly accepting its progress in both the Nuclear and Space field. However the US has criticized the successful test, saying it might spark a new arms race. This seems to be a ridiculous statement.
The Arms race will start with whom? India and Pakistan ? Till when will the Americans keep equating India with Pakistan ? They need to grow out of this thinking or it will one day boomerang badly on them only. Next the race cannot be between India and USA, because both are friends and strategic partners for world peace.The US has always been carrying out ASAT tests for the last 60 years and is now planning to even form a Space Force. So It is the US that is bent on creating a new arms race with other Space Powers.
According to CNN, NASA believes that India’s ASAT test created at least 400 pieces of orbital debris out of which 60 fragments were large enough to be tracked, posing a risk to International Space Station (ISS) astronauts. This is total bunkum and refuted by ISRO / DRDO with Scientific data. Also after creating more than 20000 pieces of debris USA can only shed crocodile tears and has no right to pontificate on the issue.
The US has carried out ASAT tests since the 1960s. Although with continued exploration and improvement, the US has reduced the number of fragments produced in space after a target is blown up, it was not so in the beginning. India too will achieve the level but after just a few more tests or may be none, as already enough data may have been generated. Though a minimum of one test may still be required at higher orbits.
India has always followed the policy – combining independent research with procurement from as many different countries as feasible to fill the immediate requirement, when it comes to weapons. Although the US and India are partners as largest democracies and have even signed some military agreements, India neither a US camp follower nor its henchman. Washington, which always follows unilateralism, has always been uncomfortable with such a policy.
Though India is close to a crucial general election, the ASAT could not be postponed just because of it. The test was prudent, so was Modi’s speech regarding the test. The Workd had to be told and was told in the most prudent manner.
Even the Chinese have said that the so-called space war is essentially an ASAT war. Global military powers are sparing no effort to carry out ASAT tests and develop related weapons. After demonstrating India’s ASAT ability now we will be creating an integrated tri service Space Force under HQ IDS and thereafter develop infrastructure, bases, monitoring stations, deploy satellites and related weapons. Though US and Russia have a head start and China is fast catching up, India too has joined the league with a hop step and pole vault jump. Probably not liked by US or even others. They got to just lump it.
