PACOM Chief: China Remains Evasive On ASAT

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PACOM Chief: China Remains Evasive On ASAT
Aviation Week's DTI | Amy Butler | January 31, 2008

After a 10-day visit to China, the commanding officer of U.S. forces in the Pacific region says he knows nothing more about Beijing's intentions behind a stunning kinetic antisatellite (ASAT) demonstration that took place just over one year ago.

Also elusive, according to Adm. Timothy Keating, is an understanding of who in the Chinese chain of command approved the Jan. 11, 2006 launch of a ballistic missile carrying a kinetic kill vehicle. It collided with China's aging FY-1C weather satellite, creating more than 2,000 items of debris now in low-Earth orbit. It also jump-started a public discussion in Washington, DC, about how much of a threat direct-ascent ASAT technologies pose to U.S. assets in space.

Keating says that in his meetings with senior Chinese military officers they consistently made note of a precedent set by the United States, which conducted a direct-ascent ASAT demonstration in 1985 using a missile launched from an F-15.

Keating made his comments during a Jan. 28 Defense Writers' Group breakfast in Washington. Keating says he's "not overly concerned" about the potential threat to U.S. satellites posed by China. But, he says, "It is not an insignificant issue."

Overall, Keating says the meetings were more collegial than past encounters he's had with the Chinese military leadership. In particular, on the subject of Taiwan, Keating described the discussion as "less a sermon" and "less of a confrontation" than his visit last May.


Rest of article at: http://www.military.com/features/0,15240,161158,00.html