Modi Hails India's Arrival as Space Power After it Shoots Down Satellite in Test:
India shot down one of its own satellites in low-Earth orbit with a ground-to-space missile on Wednesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, hailing his country's first test of such weaponry as a breakthrough establishing it as a military space power.
India would only be the fourth country to have used such an anti-satellite weapon after the United States, Russia and China, said Modi, who heads into general elections next month.
"Our scientists shot down a live satellite 300 kilometers away in space, in low-Earth orbit," Modi said in a television broadcast.
"India has made an unprecedented achievement today," he added, speaking in Hindi. "India registered its name as a space power."
Elections are coming up, and more than one politician is trying to make their name as the Space General of the future.
[Updated 2019-03-28 to properly quote source article.--martyb]
(Score: 2) by MostCynical on Thursday March 28 2019, @12:22AM (1 child)
this is not a defensive weapon
It is easier to build an offensive weapon, though -satellites fly unremarkably predictable paths - no need to heat them up so the missiles can find them..
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strategic_Defense_Initiative [wikipedia.org]
"I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
(Score: 2) by Immerman on Thursday March 28 2019, @03:44AM
No? Knocking out your attackers GPS, spy, communications, and orbital weapon satellites all seem like very effective defensive strategies to me. Sure, they probably have backup systems, but they are less effective (that's why they're only the backups), and the troops probably aren't as familiar with them, both of which reduce the effectiveness of the attacks against you.
Good for offense too of course. But that's true of almost all "defensive" weapons.