French Expert Sees Imminent Space Warfare

AFP ^ | Feb 1, 2004

[Lazamataz]

STOCKHOLM, Jan 29 (AFP) - The 20th century added a new dimension to warfare with the nuclear bomb, and the 21st could well be remembered for bringing the arms race into space, a French weapons expert said Thursday.

"Up until now, space has been militarized in the sense that military operations have made a lot of use of satellites ... either for communications, for navigation, for eavesdropping or for surveillance," Therese Delpech, the director for strategic affairs at the Atomic Energy Commission in Paris, told AFP in Stockholm.

"What is completely new," she added, "is what I call the weaponization of space, which is much more serious, and concerns the possibility in the (near) future of having weapons in space, or developing weapons that can destroy satellites in space. This would add another dimension to warfare."

This could be just a decade away, according to Delpech, in Stockholm for the first meeting of a new Swedish-funded international commission on weapons of mass destruction, which is headed by former UN chief weapons inspector Hans Blix.

The independent commission, made up of 15 weapons experts from 15 countries, will over the next two years attempt to find ways of limiting the spread of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons, as well as on ways of disarming countries that already have such weapons.

While several commissioners emphasized the importance of addressing the continuing threat of nuclear proliferation, Delpech urged that greater attention be paid to a whole new generation of threats.

"I truly believe that the 20th century was the age of physics, while the 21st century will be the age of information technology and life sciences. And that holds the potential for horrifying military applications," she said, adding that developments in biological weapons gave of particular concern.

"There are much greater possibilities of dissimulating biological activities than nuclear activities. That's a real problem. ... The military applications are absolutely devastating," she said.

[Lazamataz]

In a related news story: FRANCE DESIGNS 100 MILE WIDE SURRENDER FlAG THAT CAN BE SEEN FROM SPACE.

[Jaysun]

French Expert Sees Imminent Space Warfare

"French Expert" is an oxymoron.

[Lazamataz]

I posted a perfectly good article on FR and all I got was this lousy t-shirt.

[Lazamataz]

Thanks for replying. No one else did. :o(

[MaryFromMichigan]

[verity]

French Expert" is a n oxy moron.

[Dutch Boy]

I see France is still trying to be relavent. Unfortunately they will be remembered for taking Iraqi oil bribes in order to act in bad faith against an ally. The same ally who saved them from Germany twice in two world wars.

[Tijeras_Slim]

In space, no one can hear you surrender.

[facedown]

The independent commission, made up of 15 weapons experts from 15 countries,...

Eritrea, New Guinea, Bosnia, Belize, Iceland, Georgia, Micronesia, Monaco, Namibia, San Marcos, Bermuda, Latvia, Uzbekistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

I'm thoroughly impressed.

[Lazamataz]

Perfect.

I did say 'depraved' desires, right?

[MaryFromMichigan]

I did say 'depraved' desires, right?

I know. That why you wanted a pretty young chick.

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

Which raises two ineluctable questions:

1.) Á qui peut un surrender?
2.) De qui mettent en boîte un obtiennent des dessous de table ?

[RAT_Poison]

All the more reason to sell arms to the Chinese. /sarcasm

[Lazamataz]

I don't speak Islamic.

[Lazamataz]

Nice legs on that chick, BTW.

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

1.) To whom may one surrender?
2.) From whom may one obtain bribes?

[KarlInOhio]

Although he is French, anti-satellite weapons should be a concern. If the Chinese were to decide to take Taiwan, would they knock out many of our GPS satellites as a first step to keep us out of the way? How quickly could we reposition the others to provide worldwide coverage? How quickly could we launch replacements? Will we be able to go back to "primitive" methods of weapons guidance such as laser guided bomb and radar mapping for the Tomahawk, or have we decided that GPS solves everything? I hope the miltary is taking this threat seriously.

[Centurion2000]

French Weapons Expert : He actually fired it once before dropping it and running.

[Cvengr]

"concerns the possibility in the (near) future of having weapons in space, "

weapons in space vice the mind?...They've been there and discussed and strategized only since the 50s,..

Hans Blix has already displayed his incompetence as a weapons inspector. IMHO, The only thing more foolish than him to continue in that farce is the establishment of an organization to hire him for that purpose.

[ßuddaßudd]

I am pretty sure the Frenchies will watch this warfare from the sidelines, again.

Go Carolina!