According to Defense One, US Space Command has conducted its first Apollo Insight command-and-staff exercise focused on a scenario involving the use of weapons of mass destruction in space. The outlet said the drills were held behind closed doors in March.
Military personnel from Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom took part. The central scenario simulated a possible Russian use of nuclear weapons to disable Western satellite constellations in orbit.
Defense One reported that the exercise also involved representatives of several US agencies, including NASA, the Department of Energy and the Defense Threat Reduction Agency, as well as more than 60 defense industry companies. US Space Command chief General Stephen Whiting said intelligence assessments on developments in Russia and China were forcing Washington to prepare for extremely adverse scenarios.
The exercise was built around the projected consequences of a nuclear strike in space. That included both the destruction of satellites in the blast area and the emergence of radiation anomalies capable of disabling spacecraft for a prolonged period. According to the US military’s assessment, the main destructive effects in such a scenario would come from a powerful electromagnetic pulse and radiation.
It was also noted that the consequences of such an attack would affect not only military satellites but civilian systems as well, including communications, navigation and data transmission. A US Space Command report said the idea for the exercise grew out of assessments that had previously been discussed at the highest political level in the United States.