US military tests new weapon to prepare for 'space-enabled' attacks on the US - as Russia and China lead the star wars nuke race

The US Space Force conducted the first test of a ground-based warfare system  to protect military forces against 'space-enabled' attacks - as Russia and China aim to put nukes in space.

The device, which looks like a satellite dish, was designed to jam orbiting satellite communication by overloading the airwaves with competing signals. 

Known as the Remote Modular Terminal (RMT), the device is touted as being low-cost and remotely operated, 'keeping Guardians out of harm’s way.'

Space Force announced the test this week, noting it is the first time the system has been fielded at two geographically separated locations and controlled from a third, emphasizing its operational flexibility.

The weapon comes as Russia voted down a United Nations resolution calling on all nations to prevent a dangerous nuclear arms race in outer space and China abstained from voting.

The US Space Force's Space Training and Readiness Command (STARCOM) has begun testing the Remote Modular Terminal (RMT), a satellite jamming device meant to protect troops from satellite-based attacks.

Space Force and Air Force personnel manage RMT equipment during a test of the new system. The devices are made to be deployed in large numbers and operated remotely.

READ MORE: How Russia's brazen plan to put nukes in SPACE could cripple America

If satellites were knocked out, mobile phone data could black out temporarily, as could home internet for people in rural areas. Communication among banks and other businesses around the world would be hampered, effectively disabling the routines of global business.

U.S. Space Force Lt. Col. Gerrit Dalman said: 'This event demonstrates the Service’s new vision for integrated developmental and operational test to provide more relevant capabilities to Guardians faster.

'Specifically, this capability will unlock the scale to provide counterspace electronic warfare capability to all of the new Space Force components globally.'

If an enemy satellite were targeting US troops or facilities on the ground, one or more RMTs would emit signals in a certain range of the electromagnetic spectrum to confuse and distort the signals being sent to or from the satellite.

Simply put, the airwaves would be too clogged with nonsense for enemies' satellites to make anything out.

The end goal is rendering those satellites useless - whether they have actual weapons on them or are just providing surveillance data to enable other types of attacks.

Not much information is available on the RMTs, but in a slide from a Space Force presentation to industry figures in October 2023, the military group described the weapon as 'small transportable systems that can be emplaced in both garrison and austere environments,' meaning the Space Force could deploy them anywhere, whether or not there is somewhere to plug them in.

The device itself looks like a satellite dish, around 10 feet in diameter.

Space Force received its first four units from the manufacturer in September 2023. 

Most recently, STARCOM officials announced that: 'The recent test is the first time the system has been fielded at two geographically separated locations and controlled from a third, emphasizing its operational flexibility.'

The test also included a Cyber Vulnerability Penetration Assessment 'to ensure the remote connections were secure.'

This is one of the few available images of the RMT, taken from a slide in a Space Force presentation to the industry in October 2023.

Russia already has several space-based military assets. These include co-orbital anti-satellite (ASAT) weapons, direct-ascent ASAT missiles, and Starlink communication satellites it is contracting for its war on Ukraine

STARCOM's announcement comes on the heels of multiple signals that US military and political rivals are gearing up to put military equipment into space.

In February, House Intel Chair Rep. Mike Turner of Ohio said members of Congress had been made aware of a 'serious national security threat' but would not go into details.

It later emerged that it was related to Moscow's plan to put a nuclear weapon into space to target and destroy satellites the world depends on.

And back in December, China successfully launched a top secret, unmanned spacecraft one day after a classified US Space Force craft was supposed to go into orbit.

The US mission was grounded due to technical issues, but China's went off without a hitch.

'It's probably no coincidence that they're trying to match us in timing and sequence of this,' General Chance Saltzman, Space Force's Chief of Space Operations, said at the time.

China used one of its well-known Long March 2 rockets to put the secret spacecraft into orbit, but the public still does not have any images of this craft, dubbed the Chinese reusable experimental spacecraft, or CSSHQ.

If - or when - Russia deploys nuclear weapons into orbit around Earth, such a weapon could threaten satellites that enable military and civilian communications for the US and other western allies.

While nuclear bombs are usually thought of as weapons meant to cause large numbers of casualties and mass property destruction, in space the strategy appears to be the creation of an electromagnetic pulse (EMP). 

The US Space Force 'spy' space shuttle X-37B (above)  was due to launch by SpaceX as part of a classified mission in December but was forced to stand down minutes before it was due to take off.

China successfully launched its top secret, unmanned spacecraft — the Asian superpower's answer to the US Space Force's own X-37B unmanned, covert spaceplane — into orbit for the third time this the next day. Its purpose: 'technical support for the peaceful use of space.'

When a nuclear bomb goes off, whether on land or in space, it creates an EMP. 

This burst of electromagnetic energy can disable or destroy electronic equipment - including satellites.

If a Russian orbiting weapon attacked US satellites, it could effectively cripple the US, causing nationwide blackouts and shutting down communications.

Cell phone towers, internet, GPS, banking systems, power grids, first responders and military operations could all be impacted.

In this climate, the Space Force's leadership has stressed how important it is for the service to roll out new weapons - both in space and on the ground.

The Space Force credited the RMT's quick development to a partnership with an unnamed 'small business,' which started working on the devices just 38 days after the military branch had received its proposal.

At the Space Foundation's annual Space Symposium earlier this month, Saltzman said in a speech that it's crucial for the US's newest military branch to work in close partnership with commercial industry.

'The Space Force must harness the benefits of technological innovation and emerging capabilities if we're going to be able to out-compete our competitors, or Space Force will lose, the Joint Force will lose and the U.S. will lose,' he said.

'Throughout our nation's history,' said Saltzman, 'military success has hinged on support from commercial industry.'