'China's satellite-busting capacity a threat'

New Delhi, Feb 4: China's recent Anti-Satellite Weapon experiment represents a ''potential threat'' to India, a former IAF chief today said.

''It is a potential threat... they can knock down any satellite from the orbit,'' Air Chief Marshal (retd) S Krishnaswamy said, interacting with mediapersons on the sidelines of the International Seminar on 'Aerospace Power in Tomorrow's World.' The former IAF chief said the Chinese had confirmed it, thus becoming the third such nation in the world with this capacity, after the US and Russia.

''We must take note of this,'' he said.

China conducted an anti-satellite (ASAT) test on January 11, reportedly using a medium-range ballistic missile to launch an unknown payload that slammed into the Feng Yun (FY-1C) polar-orbit weather satellite approximately 865 km above the earth.

It only confirmed on January 23 -- 12 days after the test -- that it had tested a satellite-destroying weapon, but insisted its space programme was of no threat to the rest of the world. However the disclosure, which followed intense diplomatic pressure from its neighbours and other countries in the region, failed to quell international concerns the event raised about the country's rising military power and the likelihood of an arms race in space.

UNI