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China radar at South Pole could sabotage U.S. spy satellites
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Special to World Tribune.com
EAST-ASIA-INTEL.COM
Thursday, February 2, 2006
Beijing announced plans last week to build a high-frequency radar on the South Pole. Analysts say the radar could be used to disrupt U.S. intelligence satellites.
The radar will be built at China’s Zhongshan Station, where Beijing has set up of a space environment lab.
National security analysts say the South Pole site, because of its remoteness, could be used by China to develop anti-satellite lasers capable of blinding or disrupting U.S. reconnaissance satellites, most of which pass over the pole.
The station will consist of 20 antenna units, including 16 units for the main antenna and four for the auxiliary antenna. Each antenna is 20 meters high. The high-frequency radar can detect ionospheric convection within a range of 3,000 kilometers.
Chinese officials told Xinhua the station would be used to measure the polar space environment.
China’s space program, unlike the U.S. space program, is directly related to Chinese military operations.
A Pentagon report on the Chinese military last year said China was “working on, and plans to field, ASAT systems.”
Copyright © 2006 East West
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