by The United States has briefed Congress and its allies in Europe about Russian progress on a new space nuclear weapon designed to threaten America’s extensive satellite network, according to current and former officials briefed on the matter.
A satellite-destroying weapon, if deployed, could destroy civilian communications, space-based surveillance, and military command and control operations by the United States and its allies. At the moment, the United States does not have the capacity to counter such a weapon and defend its satellites, a former official said.
The officials said the new intelligence, which they did not describe in detail, raised serious questions about whether Russia was preparing to abandon the 1967 Outer Space Treaty, which bans all orbital nuclear weapons. But because Russia does not appear close to deploying the weapon, they said, it is not considered an urgent threat.
The intelligence information was made public, in part, in a cryptic announcement Wednesday by Representative Michael R. Turner, Republican of Ohio and chairman of the House Intelligence Committee. He asked the Biden administration to declassify the information without specifically saying what it was about.
ABC News previously reported that the intelligence had to do with Russian space-based anti-satellite nuclear weapons. Current and former officials said the launch of the anti-satellite did not appear imminent, but that there was a limited period of time, which they did not define, to prevent its deployment.
Concerns about placing nuclear weapons in space date back 50 years. The United States experimented with versions of the technology but never implemented them. Russia has been developing its space capabilities for decades.
US military officials have warned that both Russia and China are moving towards greater militarization of space, as the three superpowers work on ways to blind each other.
A report published last year highlighted Russia’s development of weapons to blind other satellites, but noted that Russia had refrained from using the full range of anti-satellite capabilities it had developed.
Deploying a nuclear weapon in space would be a significant advance in Russian technology and a potentially dramatic escalation. The Outer Space Treaty bans nuclear weapons in space, but Russia has pulled out of many Cold War arms control treaties, seeing them as a restriction on its most important source of military power.
Turner’s statement and his decision to share the information with others in Congress caused an uproar in Washington on Wednesday over what the intelligence was.
But the statement angered White House officials, who feared the loss of important sources of information about Russia. While Turner has been a White House ally on aid to Ukraine, his comments Wednesday became the latest flashpoint in strained relations between the Biden administration and congressional Republicans.
The intelligence developed in recent days and, while important, officials said it was not some kind of break-the-glass warning about an imminent threat. But Turner urged his release.
“I request that President Biden declassify all information related to this threat so that Congress, the administration, and our allies can openly discuss the actions necessary to respond to this threat,” Turner said.
His committee took the unorthodox step of voting Monday to make the information available to all members of Congress, a move that alarmed some officials because it is unclear in what context, if any, the intelligence was presented in possession of the panel. In a memo to lawmakers, the House Intelligence Committee said the intelligence was about a “destabilizing foreign military capability.”
Capitol Hill is mired in a bitter political showdown over whether the United States should mobilize resources to counter Russian threats to Ukraine, a cause that most Democrats and some Republicans (including Turner) have argued is essential to protecting security interests. United States national. But a majority of Republican House members, including Speaker Mike Johnson, reject calls for a House vote on the Senate-approved $60.1 billion foreign aid package for Ukraine.
Former President Donald J. Trump has incited Republican opposition, saying over the weekend that he would encourage Russia to “do whatever it wants” to any NATO country that has not spent enough money on its own defense.
Other officials said Turner was exploiting the new intelligence more than would normally have been expected, perhaps to create pressure to prompt the House to accept the request for supplemental funding for Ukraine that the Senate approved this week.
That measure, which provides military aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, faces an uncertain outlook in the House. While many Republicans oppose additional funding, Turner is a strong advocate for greater assistance to Ukraine and recently visited kyiv, the capital.
Shortly after Turner’s announcement, Jake Sullivan, the national security adviser, entered the White House briefing room to discuss the importance of continuing funding Ukraine’s military.
But Sullivan declined to answer a reporter’s question about the substance of Turner’s announcement, saying only that he planned to meet with the president on Thursday.
“We scheduled a briefing for members of the House Gang of Eight tomorrow,” Sullivan said, referring to a group of congressional leaders from both parties. “That’s been in the books. “So I’m a little surprised that Congressman Turner came out publicly today, ahead of a scheduled meeting, so that tomorrow I can sit down with him alongside our intelligence and defense professionals.”
Rep. Jim Himes, a Connecticut Democrat and ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, said the issue was “serious” and that Turner was right to focus on it. But he added that the threat “wasn’t going to ruin Thursday.”
Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., and Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., said in a joint statement that the Senate Intelligence Committee had been following the issue from the beginning and had been discussing a response with the Biden administration. But lawmakers said releasing information about the intelligence could expose collection methods.
At the White House, when Mr. Sullivan was asked if he could tell Americans that there was nothing to worry about, he responded that it was “impossible to answer with a direct ‘yes’.”
“Americans understand that there are a variety of threats and challenges in the world that we deal with every day, and those threats and challenges range from terrorism to state actors,” Mr. Sullivan said. “And we have to deal with them, and we have to deal with them in a way that ultimately ensures the safety of the American people. I am confident that President Biden, with the decisions he is making, will ensure the security of the American people in the future.”
Turner declined to answer questions Wednesday. Jason Crow, Democrat of Colorado, said the new intelligence was one of several “volatile threats” facing the United States.
“This is something that requires our attention,” Crow said. “There’s no question. It’s not an immediate crisis, but it’s certainly something we have to take very seriously.”
Johnson, apparently trying to spread calm after Turner’s announcement, said there was “no need for public alarm.”
“We will work together to address this issue,” he said.
The Outer Space Treaty was one of the first major arms control treaties negotiated between the United States and the Soviet Union, and one of the last to remain in force.
If Russia abandons the space treaty and lets the New START treaty limiting strategic nuclear weapons expire in February 2026, as seems likely, it could trigger a new arms race the likes of which have not been seen since the depths of the Cold War.
“Ending the Space Treaty could open the floodgates for other countries to put nuclear weapons in space as well,” said Steven Andreasen, a nuclear expert at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs in Minneapolis. “Once you have orbital nuclear weapons, you can use them for more than just destroying satellites.”
Erica L. Green, Lucas Broadwater and Glenn Zorzal contributed reporting from Washington.
