2024-07-24 19:53:51
Beijing: Chinese submarines could soon be armed with pairs of satellite-killing lasers. Chinese scientists have proposed developing submarines equipped with lasers that can shoot down satellites from underwater, in a game-changing development in anti-satellite (ASAT) warfare. People’s Liberation Army (PLA) scientists led by Professor Wang Dan of the Chinese Naval Submarine Academy have suggested that submarines could be armed with megawatt-class, solid-state laser weapons capable of hitting targets such as SpaceX’s Starlink network of satellites while they are underwater, the South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported.
The report said this approach addresses the challenge of concealing ASAT operations, which rely on surface-to-air missiles and can easily betray the location of the launch site. It said the proposed laser attack submarines would use a retractable opto-electronic mast to fire at the satellite and would be able to dive to depth, increasing the element of operational security.
These submarines will be able to do many tasks
Laser-equipped submarines could perform a variety of tasks, including attacking anti-submarine aircraft, escorting merchant ships and attacking land-based targets, the report said. Nuclear attack submarines (SSNs) may be best suited to install laser weapons, with their nuclear reactors providing sufficient power for the energy-intensive weapon while giving submarines a stealth advantage.
Experts believe that submarine-mounted lasers could attack coastal targets such as submarine piers or communication masts. However, the target must be of sufficiently high value to justify the risk of placing the submarine so close to a hostile coast. Tyler Rogoway said in a July 2020 article for The War Zone that mast-mounted submarine weapon systems such as lasers may only be useful as a last line of defense for those submarines.