Russia Tested a Nudol, an Antisatellite Missile

On April 15th, the Russians issued a NOTAM notice[1] stated on April 15th, a rocket would be ascending from their Plesetsk test site. People speculated this might be a Nudol ASAT missile[2]. Low and behold, Russia did launch a Nudol[3] and the US Space Command tracked[4] the missile. The previous test was in November 2019.

The Nudol ASAT is a mobile antisatellite weapon, meaning it is not tied to a missile silo. Instead, it uses a TEL[5]. This makes killing a Nudol launcher harder than if it were a fixed silo. The Chinese system[6] is also mobile and uses a TEL. The exact capabilities of the Russian system are not known, but the predecessor weapon the Nudol appears to be derived from carried a nuclear weapon. The Nudol is claimed not to be and certainly none of the tests so far have had any nuclear detonations in orbit. the Nudol is supposed to be a kinetic energy impactor like the US ABM missiles. The russians claim many things about the missile, like it can kill hypersonic missiles coming in and whatnot, but take with a grain of salt the size of the WIPP site.

The US did condemn the test[7]. It is most definitely a case of arms control hypocrisy by the Russians again. They condemn anything we do, but then go off and do it themselves. Or even far more extreme stuff than we do. Their preference is to constrain the US by treaty and then do whatever they want: their latest gambit is their attempt to pitch an arms treaty on hypersonic weapons[8]. You can bet they aren't going to stop developing them, whatever the treaty says: it appears their Iskander IRBM was in violation of the INF from the get go, for example.

Stuff like this is why the Space Force was created. Hopefully, it will be better run than space has been for the last 20 years by the military. it's been something people of all sides have been grousing about since the Clinton administration[9].

1. twitter.com...
2. www.globalsecurity.org...
3. www.reuters.com...
4. russianforces.org...
5. en.wikipedia.org...
6. www.abovetopsecret.com...
7. breakingdefense.com...
8. www.reuters.com...
9. fas.org...

originally posted by: anzha
Stuff like this is why the Space Force was created.

a reply to: anzha

Great find thanks for bringing this to our attention, OG ATS co tent right there.

a reply to: anzha

Their preference is to constrain the US by treaty and then do whatever they want:

It's worked for decades. Why stop?

A Summary of Russia’s Counterspace Capabilities

www.parabolicarc.com...