After the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict in February 2022, NATO’s vast network of satellites has provided a wide range of support, from communication, command and control to targeting and surveillance, helping forces Ukraine has significant advantages in combat.

Although Russian lawmakers have repeatedly warned that Western space assets that are contributing to Ukraine’s efforts will become legitimate targets of the Russian military, Moscow has not taken such steps to prevent it. avoid escalation of hostilities. In addition, Russia is also actively developing many anti-satellite weapons programs, which are considered to be the most modern in the world.

MiG-31D . aircraft

MiG-31D . aircraft

Three years after the MiG-31 Foxhound heavy interceptor entered service with the Soviet Air Defense Forces in 1981, the Soviet Union began to develop a new variant of this aircraft with a very different role. However, work on the development of the anti-satellite MiG-31D variant stalled after the breakup of the Soviet Union and only gained attention again in the late 2010s.

Apart from an image published in 2018 showing the MiG-31 carrying an unidentified anti-satellite missile, little is known about the development program of the anti-satellite MiG-31 variant.

The MiG-31 is appreciated for its good speed and durability, and is the fastest fighter in service in the world today. The MiG-31 is specially designed to be able to operate in space and carry large payloads. These capabilities also make the MiG-31 an optimal aircraft for carrying anti-satellite weapons. The missile developed specifically for the MiG-31 is called the Kontakt.

Russia currently equips more than 100 MiG-31s ​​as interceptors and nearly 30 as attack fighters MiG-31K and MiG-31I. The successor of the MiG-31 is currently under development under the PAK DP program, which is expected to significantly improve the space warfare capabilities of this class.

Il-76 aircraft.

Il-76 aircraft with Peresvet laser

The Peresvet laser is one of six Russian strategic weapons systems announced in March 2018 along with a range of submarine and hypersonic missile systems capable of carrying nuclear weapons.

The system began testing for the first time in December 2018 and has been deployed in conjunction with mobile ICBMs. Experts later discovered that putting a laser weapon system on board Il-76 transport aircraft would be more effective for anti-satellite missions.

The development of the Il-76 mounted laser weapon system dates back to the Soviet Union and began in 1981, although the program was stopped after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, it was restarted by the Russian government in the early 1990s. 2010.

President of the Tsiolkovsky Space Academy Alexander Kovalyov St. Petersburg, called the airborne anti-satellite system in an article published in early April 2023 a “threat to enemy satellites”.

These extensive tests of advanced development of the laser system were carried out on two A-60 research aircraft – a modernized Il-76 and specially designed for such tests.

System S-500.

Missile system S-500 and S-550

Put into service from September 2021, the S-500 mobile air defense system is capable of destroying targets within a range of 600 km, the system is tasked with fighting enemy aircraft, intercepting ballistic missiles. intercontinental orbiters, spacecraft, low-orbit satellites and other strategic targets.

Plans to put the S-500 and S-550 into service were delayed by more than four years. This is speculated to be because Russian engineers wanted to add some features to the missile so that they can counter new threats from space and hypersonic weapons.

S-500 and S-550 are highly trusted by the Russian Ministry of Defense in the task of neutralizing NATO’s satellite network, the S-500 is expected to be produced in large numbers due to the need for deployment in many areas. important to the country. The S-550 is a mobile ground-based launcher, so its operating costs are much lower than that of air assets like the MiG-31D.

Missile system A-235

Missile system A-235

Started in development in the late 1980s, the A-235 was the first mobile land-based missile system capable of intercepting long-range intercontinental attacks. The system is capable of multi-layered defense with three different types of missiles.

The longest of these is the 51T6 missile that can hit targets 1,500 km away at an altitude of 800 km and can threaten high altitude aircraft and space satellites, including those in orbit. higher that systems like the S-500 cannot reach.

Development was halted in the 1990s following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, work on the A-235 resumed in 2011 with test flights continuing in 2014. As the top tier of the network Russia’s air defense system, it is still unclear how widely deployed the A-235 will be due to its high cost.

Porubshchik Il-22PP aircraft.

Porubshchik Il-22PP . aircraft

The Porubshchik Il-22PP electronic warfare aircraft was built with an anti-satellite mission. The Il-22PP was developed to disrupt radars, anti-aircraft and cruise missile guidance systems as well as share tactical data networks, but according to some reports, it can also disrupt devices. electronics on enemy satellites.

The use of these relatively low-cost weapons provides an asymmetrical means of stopping the operation of expensive enemy weapons, while also reflecting Russia’s interest in electric warfare. death to compensate for a series of conventional weapons disadvantages compared with the West.

The Russian military is expected to start putting some of the first spaceplanes into service in the 2030s, and elements from the electronic warfare kit developed for the Porubshchik Il-22PP may also be available. widely deployed in the Russian Air Force.

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