Chinese scientists claim it is possible to destroy satellites – including SpaceX’s Starlink system – using submarine-mounted lasers.
American experts question the possibility of mounting an energy-hungry energy weapon on a sub. But China and other potential US adversaries are looking for ways to destroy or degrade the satellite-based communications and targeting that has given the US military an edge, and researchers at the Chinese Navy’s Submarine Academy are convinced that submarines are the answer.
“A submarine with a megawatt-class, solid-state laser weapon installed in its midsection could remain submerged while raising a retractable ‘optoelectronic pole’ to fire at satellites, before submerging again depth,” according to Hong Kong. South China Morning Mailciting the study, which was published in the Chinese defense journal Command Control & Simulation.
Chinese researchers contrasted this approach with the current one anti-satellite weaponwhich use ground-launched missiles to launch what is essentially a killer satellite which destroys its prey with a warhead or explosive projectile. The US government recently warned that Russia is also developing an anti-satellite with a nuclear warhead. A laser, in contrast, offers the potential to fire at many space targets, but also comes with many complexities of submarine operations.
These technologies, which began in the 1950s, were conceived for an era when satellites were large, expensive and few in number. They remain a threat to sophisticated spy and communications satellites, but the advent of cheap and expendable swarms of communications satellites, such as the commercial Starlink network, has greatly complicated countersatellite efforts.
“Taking the satellites launched by the Starlink program as an example, they are numerous, densely packed and small in size, making the satellite network extremely resilient,” the study noted. “Even if a significant number of satellites are destroyed, there are surpluses to replace them. Therefore, using missiles to attack such satellites is very inefficient.”
Satellite swarms are becoming an essential part of warfare. They have enabled Ukraine, for example, to provide connectivity for its forces when existing internet and satellite communications equipment was destroyed. Thus, there is a need to destroy or disable many small satellites in low Earth orbit.
Chinese researchers envision the solution as flotillas of mass-produced laser submarines that could be sent to oceans around the world. They would wait for tracking data from other non-submarine platforms to determine when a target satellite is overhead.
“When the satellite enters the attackable range, the laser weapon is raised. Due to the limitations of the submarine’s detection equipment, other forces are forced to provide satellite guidance of the submarine’s position in order to attack the satellite. After the attack is completed, the submarine can dive and wait for the next mission or return to home port.”
In addition to destroying satellites, these submarines can also blow up aircraft or ground targets such as radars and oil refineries. Chinese researchers estimated that “a modest 150-kilowatt laser weapon on a submarine can damage photoelectric detection equipment on an anti-submarine aircraft in one-fifth of a second, with an effective range of more than 20 kilometers. [12 miles]”Continuous gunfire can also penetrate the fuselage,” Post said.
Laser submarines can also protect China ballistic missile submarines from discovery. “The escort submarine can first use the laser weapon to interfere with or destroy satellites high in the sea area, making it difficult for the enemy’s space-based surveillance system to operate, thereby achieving concealment of missile launches.”
In 2019, the US Navy issued a research request for electrical connectors that would allow submarines to transmit power – through the submarine’s hull – to an external assembly LASER. US submarines needed a towed power source to achieve this, the Navy said at the time.
However, the idea of a sub-mounted anti-satellite laser leaves American experts cold. “The submarine has to be designed from the ground up to generate many, many megawatts of electricity to power a laser that fires at an object 200-300 miles up, and that delivers about 10 kilowatts on target,” Chris Carlson, a former Defense Intelligence Agency naval analyst told Business Insider. “That would require an incredibly large volume.”
Submarines would also have problems with laser targeting. “A submarine at periscope depth is nothing more than a stable firing platform,” Carlson said. “Just a small step, roll, or bend will throw the beam off target.” In addition, targeting data must be transmitted to the sub so that it can obtain a firing position when the satellite is up.
“Communications with a submerged submarine are difficult,” Carlson said. “And once the sub is alerted, it would have to raise a mast with a data link to the tracking sensor before a special tracking laser on the sub itself could pick up the target and point the laser weapon in the right direction.”
“There are a lot of ways this could go wrong,” Carlson said.
Michael Peck is a defense writer whose work has appeared in Forbes, Defense News, Foreign Policy magazine, and other publications. He has a master’s degree in political science from Rutgers Univ. Follow him I tweet AND LinkedIn.