The specter of Russian nuclear weapons in space has rattled politicians in Washington.

“Serious threat to national security”

The head of the US House Intelligence Committee, Mike Turner, called on the Biden administration to declassify information about what he called a “serious threat to national security”, which, as they later began to assure in Washington, was associated with alleged Russian plans to deploy nuclear weapons in space.

In his statement, Turner, a Republican from Ohio, did not provide any details about the alleged security threat, The Guardian emphasizes.

Speaking to reporters at the White House later Wednesday, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan expressed surprise at Congressman Turner’s announcement that he was scheduled to meet with the Gang of Eight (Congressional leaders with special security clearance for classified briefings) on Thursday. But Sullivan did not provide any details about the planned meeting.

ABC News and the New York Times, citing unnamed sources, reported that the security threat Turner spoke about was related to Russia’s potential deployment of nuclear anti-satellite weapons in space. The New York Times reported that US allies were also briefed on the intelligence, which was not considered to pose an immediate threat because the alleged Russian capabilities were still being developed.

“Russia is conducting several experiments with maneuvering satellites that may be designed to sabotage other satellites,” says Hans Christensen, director of the Federation of American Scientists’ Nuclear Information Project. He noted that any such deployment of nuclear weapons in space would violate the 1967 Outer Space Treaty, to which Moscow is a party.

“The problem is not so much the increased threat of nuclear weapons per se, but that it would increase the threat to other countries’ nuclear command and control space assets. That would be extremely destabilizing,” The Guardian quotes him as saying.

Pavel Podvig, an expert on Russian nuclear forces, comments: “I am very skeptical (to put it mildly). Unfortunately, these days it is impossible to categorically rule out anything. But I still don’t think it’s plausible.”

Christensen suggested that Russia’s threat to place nuclear weapons in space, thereby destroying another nuclear non-proliferation treaty, could be the latest in a long line of moves by Moscow to increase pressure on the United States and its allies to end their military support for Ukraine.

Daryl Kimball, head of the Arms Control Association, said nuclear anti-satellite weapons make little practical sense.

“You don’t need nuclear weapons to blow up a satellite in orbit. All objects in space are so fragile that you can do something much simpler than a nuclear explosion,” Kimball said. “Plus, it’s completely illegal.”

House Speaker Mike Johnson said there was no reason to panic over the alleged unnamed threat. He said he was not authorized to discuss classified information but told reporters: “We just want to reassure everyone that we have good hands at the helm. We are working on it and there is no cause for alarm.”