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China could attack Starlink-like satellites with submarine laser weapons: Navy study

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The biggest challenge in anti-satellite missions is not hitting the satellite, but hiding the attack, the scientists said.

“Currently, the main means of combating satellites is based on Surface-to-air missilesbut this approach presents certain problems, particularly with regard to obfuscation,” Wang and her colleagues wrote.

Missile launches are often accompanied by long plumes of smoke. Conducting the attack from a position on the surface can easily result in your own position being exposed and destroyed by enemy firepower. This is “too risky,” the team wrote.

Satellites are also getting smaller.

“With the satellites that were Starlink “For example, under the 2012 program, they are numerous, densely packed and small, making the satellite network extremely resilient. Even if a significant number of satellites are destroyed, there are redundancies to replace them. Therefore, using missiles to attack such satellites is highly inefficient,” Wang’s team said.

“Submarine-launched laser weapons can solve these problems.”

The document contains detailed step-by-step instructions for attacking Starlink-like satellites at sea.

“First, one or more submarines equipped with Laser weapons are deployed to the sea area where the operation is to be conducted. They enter the target sea area according to the instructions of the command and wait for the satellites to come within their attack range. The time to raise the laser weapon is determined based on the previously recorded satellite overflight time,” they wrote.

“When the satellite comes within attack range, the laser weapon is raised. Due to the limitations of the submarine’s tracking devices, other forces are required to provide the submarine with satellite position guidance so that it can attack the satellite. After the attack is complete, the submarine can submerge and wait for the next mission or return to home port.”

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Although China is working with Tesla boss Elon Musk When it comes to electric vehicles, he sees his company SpaceX as a threat.

According to official figures released this month, China has more than 900 satellites in orbit. The US has seven times as many, most of which are part of Starlink.

In 2021, two Starlink satellites approached the Chinese space station in a dangerous manner, prompting the astronauts to initiate emergency evacuation procedures. The incident convinced Beijing that the US could use these cheap satellites to attack China’s expensive space resources.
The Starlink satellites are mainly used for communications, but the success of the SpaceX rocket Starship Test flight Last month, he suggested to some Chinese military experts that future Starlink satellites could carry additional payloads for military activities such as reconnaissance and electronic jamming.
The Starshield program, launched jointly by the Pentagon and SpaceX to monitor Chinese hypersonic weapons, has deepened this concern.

Developing laser weapons presents many technological challenges, from energy storage to heat and optics. But since Starlink began being used in the war in Ukraine, China has accelerated its research – and made numerous advances.

These advances include power systems that support sophisticated, high-density launches, powerful yet compact solid-state lasers, a fiber optic cable that can transmit over 10,000 watts of power with high quality, and a technology to synthesize a laser beam using hundreds of such fiber optics.

SpaceX has more than 6,000 satellites in its Starlink network. Photo: SpaceX/Flickr/TNS
Lasers can also create air bubbles on the surface of a submarine to reduce air resistance or generate silent shock waves to propel submarines forward, according to some current studies by Chinese scientists.

Wang’s team said that submarines equipped with laser weapons could perform many other tasks besides satellite defense, including attacking anti-submarine aircraft, escorting merchant ships or strategic missile submarines, operating off the coast of enemy countries for missile defense, or attacking land-based targets such as radar installations and oil storage facilities.

They estimate that a modest 150-kilowatt laser weapon on a submarine can damage the photoelectric detection equipment of an anti-submarine aircraft in a fifth of a second, with an effective range of more than 20 km. Sustained fire could also penetrate the aircraft’s hull.

China’s strategic missile submarines remain on standby in the oceans, whether in peacetime or wartime, and are ready to launch a second strike Nuclear missionsHowever, they are vulnerable to air threats, so they must be escorted by submarines equipped with laser weapons, Wang’s team said.

“When carrying out a nuclear counterattack mission, the escorting submarine can first use the laser weapon to jam or destroy satellites in the sea area, thereby complicating the enemy’s space-based surveillance system and thus concealing missile launches,” they wrote.

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Sea transport in China is increasing more and more.

“If our country’s sea routes are cut off, this will lead to difficulties in obtaining large quantities of war-critical goods, especially Supply of oil” Wang’s team said.

Traditionally, the task of escorting merchant ships is mainly assigned to surface warships. However, these warships do not have sufficient self-sufficiency and can be easily detected and attacked.

Submarines, on the other hand, are camouflaged and extremely self-sufficient and can navigate continuously underwater for long periods of time.

In addition, if equipped with laser weapons, the submarines could shoot down air targets attacking merchant ships. They could also use their anti-ship missiles and torpedoes to attack enemy surface warships and submarines, the researchers said.

“Dealer Shipping routes are relatively stable, allowing submarines to develop appropriate navigation plans ahead of the escort and not have to communicate with the escorted ships,” they said.

China can also station these submarines in enemy ports.

“Through information previously obtained from other forces or through their own tracking equipment, they can locate enemy oil storage facilities and then use submarine-based laser weapons to attack the targets, damaging the relevant facilities or even starting fires. This weakens the enemy’s ability to extract oil from the sea and can shorten the duration of the war to some extent,” Wang’s team said.

“If the enemy is an island, most of its civilian supplies are obtained by sea. By attacking and blockading ports near the coast with our submarines, we can prevent the supply of corresponding civilian supplies, thus disrupting the domestic economy, production and daily life.”

“This will reduce public support for the war and provoke internal conflict,” they added.

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