The US has deployed weapons in space, the US military has confirmed, in an extraordinary public announcement that analysts warn will accelerate a high-risk arms race with Russia and China in Earth’s orbit. The US secretary of the air force, Troy Meink, said Washington had active “on-orbit” weapons, meaning they had been deployed and were circling the globe. “Today, we continue to ensure we remain ready to meet the challenges of evolving threats wherever they exist,” Meink said on Monday at the annual Air, Space, Cyber conference. “This is why…
Tag: Weapons technology
The US now has access to more than half Australia’s military bases – could it drag the country unwillingly into war?
Exclusive: US-controlled weapons corporations and forces have control or access to more than 100 facilities across the continent, which some analysts describe as a ‘colonisation’ of Australia’s military. Find a map of them here US military interests control or have access to more than 100 defence facilities on Australian soil, in what some analysts describe as a “saturation” – even a “colonisation” – of the Australian continent. New data compiled by the Nautilus Institute and published by Guardian Australia maps the extent of US militarisation. The US military controls 17…
China steps up control of rare-earth exports citing ‘national security’ concerns
China has increased restrictions on exports of rare earths and related technologies as Beijing tightened its grip on the products that are critical for use in smartphones and fighter jets. China’s commerce ministry announced the restrictions on Thursday, arguing damage had been caused to its “national security” from exports of the technologies – both directly or indirectly – to foreign military. The restrictions require government permission for the export of technology used to mine, process or recycle rare-earth minerals or make magnets from it, which could have dual use. The…
Billion-dollar coffins? New technology could make oceans transparent and Aukus submarines vulnerable
Military history is littered with the corpses of apex predators. The Gatling gun, the battleship, the tank. All once possessed unassailable power – then were undermined, in some cases wiped out, by the march of new technology. “Speed and stealth and firepower,” the head of the Australian Submarine Agency, Jonathan Mead, told the Guardian two years ago of Australia’s forthcoming fleet of nuclear submarines. “The apex predator of the oceans.” But for how much longer? In the first quarter of the 21st century, nuclear submarines have proven a formidable force:…
Weaponised ‘robot wolves’ make cameo at China military parade – video
Weaponised ‘robot wolves’ made a cameo at China’s military parade, perched on armoured vehicles as part of the country’s showcase of military might. The event, marking 80 years since Japan’s defeat at the end of the second world war, was largely shunned by western leaders, with Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-un – pariahs in the west due to the Ukraine war and North Korea’s nuclear ambitions – the guests of honour The Guardian
Nuclear triad and ‘robot wolves’: parade shows off array of Chinese weapons
It was hardly a subtle attempt to project power. China showed off air-, sea- and land-launched nuclear weapons in its parade on Wednesday, a triad intended to demonstrate that Beijing’s long-term aspiration is to match US military might. Also on display were large underwater torpedo-like drones, intended to threaten western warships, as well as anti-drone lasers and four-legged “robot wolves”, all designed to be noticed, regardless of their actual military effectiveness. Though China last fought a war in 1979 – a month-long conflict with Vietnam – it has been pursuing…
Australia’s plan to confront the changing face of warfare – podcast
The defence strategic review has found that the Australian defence force is ‘not fully fit for purpose’ and recommended projecting military power further from its shores. Foreign affairs and defence correspondent Daniel Hurst talks to Jane Lee about the future of the ADF How to listen to podcasts: everything you need to know The Guardian
China carries out anti-missile tests amid opposition to US systems in South Korea
China carried out a test of “ground-based midcourse anti-missile intercept technology” that “achieved its expected purpose”, the defence ministry in Beijing has said, describing it as defensive and not aimed at any country. Beijing has tested missile interceptors before; the most recent previous public announcement of a test was in February 2021, and before that in 2018. State media has said China has conducted anti-missile system tests since at least 2010. China has been ramping up research into all sorts of missiles, from those that can destroy satellites in space…
Future Fund forced to divest $5m from sanctioned Chinese weapons company
The Future Fund has been forced to divest about $5m in taxpayers’ money from a Chinese state-controlled weapons manufacturer sanctioned for selling arms to the genocidal Myanmar military. Last year, the Guardian revealed that Australia’s sovereign wealth fund had invested $4.9m in five subsidiaries of the Chinese arms conglomerate Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC). AVIC had sold the Myanmar military K-8 light combat aircraft, 16 JF-17M combat aircraft, 40 short-range PL-5E missiles and 24 longer-range PL-12 missiles. The Future Fund divested from AVIC in November, a month after the…
China launched second missile during July hypersonic test, reports say
China’s launch of a nuclear-capable missile carrying a hypersonic glide vehicle also included the unprecedented launch of a separate missile from that vehicle, according to multiple reports. The test showed China’s development of its strategic, nuclear-capable weapons as more advanced than any had thought, surprising Pentagon officials, the Financial Times and Wall Street Journal reported. The test, thought to have taken place in July, made global headlines when it emerged last month that the vehicle had flown into space and completed a partial orbit of the Earth. Now, the test…