Chapter 1129 Chain Reaction
This laser beam was detected by many monitoring stations around the world.
NASA, also known as the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, is one of the administrative scientific research institutions in the United States, responsible for formulating and implementing the US space program and conducting aviation science and space science research.
Since the crash of the Columbia space shuttle, the US aerospace field has been overshadowed.
There has been a lot of controversy about whether to continue to develop the aerospace field.
According to some people, the aerospace field consumes too much money. For example, this year the annual budget of the space agency has reached 15.3 billion US dollars, but the output is very small. In particular, the space shuttles manufactured are expensive, but they have not played their due role.
So some people call for reducing NASA's budget or even disbanding NASA.
Many people believe that with the current aerospace technology in the United States, even if it does not develop for 50 years, no country can catch up.
In the future, satellite launches can be handed over to private aerospace companies!
This time, the observation of a laser beam destroying a satellite made NASA head O'Keefe very excited.
Laser weapons!
The United States is not unfamiliar with laser weapons, but is very familiar with them.
The United States was the first country in the world to conduct research on laser weapons. It once led the world's laser weapon research with the Soviet Union. The United States is also one of the first countries in the world to put laser weapons into use.
In 1990, the US government invested $9 billion in the research of laser weapons.
Laser weapons have always been highly cost-effective and have excellent performance, and are highly favored. Countries are investing heavily in research.
In terms of air defense weapons, the current main body is missiles, and laser weapons are much cheaper than them. For example, a "Patriot" missile costs $600,000 to $700,000, a short-range "Stinger" missile costs tens of thousands of dollars, and a laser launch only costs thousands of dollars. And according to predictions, with the development of technology, the cost of a laser launch can be reduced to hundreds of dollars.
The United States has always wanted to develop a laser air defense weapon that can be used in actual combat, targeting aircraft, missiles, and satellites!
It's just that the cost of strategic laser weapons research has always been high, the technical difficulty is great, and it is currently difficult to really put them into the battlefield. In the final analysis, it is still in the experimental stage.
But now, this beam of laser on the other side of the Pacific has proved that the path of strategic laser weapons is feasible.
Moreover, with this case, NASA's existence is beyond doubt, and it can even apply for more research funding, because in the field of laser weapons, there are space-based laser weapons!
Not only NASA, but also companies such as Wooldridge and Raytheon that are researching laser weapons are extremely excited. What they see is not a beam of laser, nor does it see this beam of laser destroy a satellite, but countless dollars are thrown at them.
The research cost of laser weapons has always been high, and the technical difficulty is high. These companies used to get a lot of research funding from the United States every year, and now the emergence and application of laser weapons will inevitably make the United States invest more funds in laser weapon research.
Of course, if you want the congressmen to give money happily, you have to make them feel threatened, a huge threat.
Therefore, driven by these stakeholders, major American media reported the application of laser weapons against satellites, and then made a lot of noise, as if the United States' missiles, satellites, and aircraft might all be destroyed at once and lose their effectiveness.
Various experts are calling for the United States to invest more funds in the research of laser weapons and speed up the development of laser weapons to ensure the national defense security of the United States.
Not only the United States, but also various monitoring stations in Russia paid attention to that beam of light and observed that the beam of light destroyed a satellite.
In the field of laser weapons, the Soviet Union has been ahead of the world since the Soviet era. As early as 1975, the Soviet Union applied laser weapons.
Russia inherited the Soviet Union's laser weapons and related technologies, and is also a world leader in this regard.
But this time, the laser beam still attracted Russia's great attention.
This laser beam can destroy a satellite, so it can destroy any satellite in space.
This means that when the war breaks out, they have the ability to destroy every satellite of the hostile forces in space, thereby occupying an absolute advantage in satellite communications, satellite reconnaissance and other aspects.
Moreover, this laser beam can destroy satellites in space, so it can also destroy missiles and aircraft. Even if space-based laser weapons are deployed in space, missiles launched around the world can be intercepted at the launch stage.
The Soviet Union has deployed space-based weapons, but now it has been so long that it is close to retirement.
Laser weapon experts quickly concluded that the opponent's laser weapons are more advanced than theirs, which undoubtedly made Russia realize that it needs to increase investment and improvement in laser weapons.
Since the rise in oil and natural gas prices, Russia's energy income has increased significantly, and its economy has developed rapidly, which gives it a lot of confidence.
Russia's energy is mainly oil and natural gas resources. Russia has 44 billion tons of oil reserves and 48 trillion cubic meters of natural gas reserves. In addition, its coal reserves are also considerable, with proven reserves of 105 billion tons. In addition, Central Asia, which is within Russia's sphere of influence, has proven oil reserves of 4.4 billion tons and proven natural gas reserves of 22 trillion cubic meters!
Last year alone, Russia exported 209.8 million tons of oil, most of which were exported to Europe and China, with an export value of more than $43 billion; natural gas exports exceeded 400 billion cubic meters, with an export value of $65 billion. The export value of oil and natural gas alone reached $108 billion.
In terms of arms exports, Russia's arms exports reached $15 billion in 2002.
Coupled with exports from all aspects, Russia's export revenue soared in 2002.
And this year, with the outbreak of the Iraq War, export revenue will only increase and not decrease!
As for the oil and gas exports of the five Central Asian countries, although the income will not fluctuate so much because of the long-term supply agreement signed, it is still very considerable.
China is developing very fast, and the demand for oil, natural gas and mineral resources is growing very scary, like a bottomless pit of gold-eating beasts.
In 2002, China surpassed the United States and became the world's largest oil importer. If we add the oil supplied to Japan, South Korea, and Southeast Asia, the oil import volume is extremely amazing, reaching 640 million tons, surpassing the United States' 550 million tons.
And this growth momentum is still maintained. It is expected that China's oil imports will continue to maintain a relatively high growth trend in the next ten years.
Russia has to start adjusting its strategy, taking this opportunity to transform, integrate internal resources, maintain its status as a world-class country, and aim to become a pole in the future multipolar world.
With a huge conventional arsenal and nuclear arsenal, how to strengthen air defense has become the focus of Russia's thinking.
Russia urgently needs to upgrade the S300 air defense missile defense system to the S400 air defense missile system, strengthen its own air defense capabilities, and develop the next generation of air defense missile systems and laser weapons. (End of this chapter)