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Russia May Be Preparing Nuclear Weapons to Destroy Western Satellites, RUSI Warns
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Russia could pursue space-based nuclear weapons capable of targeting Western military satellites, as its existing anti-satellite missile arsenal may be insufficient to disable large numbers of spacecraft during a potential war with NATO.
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According to Defense Express on October 20, citing a report by the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), Russia reportedly retains Soviet-era 79M6 Kontakt anti-satellite missiles designed for the specialized MiG-31D aircraft and may have the industrial capacity to produce significant numbers of A-235 Nudol interceptors.
The report suggests that Russia’s production capacity for Nudol missiles could exceed the 55 SM-3 interceptors the United States plans to manufacture by 2031.
However, even such an arsenal might not be enough to destroy large numbers of Western reconnaissance and communications satellites in the event of a large-scale war against the West, according to Defense Express, citing RUSI.
RUSI’s assessment suggests that this limitation could push Moscow toward developing specialized satellites capable of carrying nuclear weapons into space, potentially allowing Russia to threaten multiple spacecraft rather than relying exclusively on conventional missile interceptors.
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The A-235 Nudol system was originally developed for Moscow’s missile defense network, but its anti-satellite capabilities were demonstrated in 2021, when Russia destroyed one of its own satellites during a weapons test.
Meanwhile, the operational status of the Soviet-era Kontakt system remains uncertain. Although Russia announced plans to revive the program and photographs of a MiG-31 carrying a suspected anti-satellite missile emerged in 2018, there is no publicly confirmed evidence that the system entered active service.
In April 2026, US Space Force Commander General Steven Whiting warned that Russia could deploy nuclear anti-satellite weapons in low Earth orbit, potentially triggering what he described as a “space Pearl Harbor.” Such an attack could disable thousands of satellites, disrupting GPS, communications, and military reconnaissance systems.
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-899d44352237f3ef88d6d4ee49b73d4e.jpg "The sanctioned heavy-lift vessel Ya Qing Hai Yang, formerly known as Ocean 28, which previously transported equipment for Russia’s Arctic LNG 2 project. (Source: Open source)")
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