- Chinese researchers believe submarine-fired lasers could destroy satellites.
- A laser could target more of the growing satellite networks essential to military operations.
- But US experts are skeptical a scheme like this would work.
Chinese scientists claim that it's possible to destroy satellites — including SpaceX's Starlink system — using lasers mounted on submarines.
American experts question the feasibility of mounting a power-hungry energy weapon on a sub. But China and other potential American adversaries are looking for ways to destroy or degrade the satellite-based communications and targeting that has given the US military an edge, and researchers at the Chinese navy's Submarine Academy are confident that the submarines are the answer.
"A submarine with a megawatt-class, solid-state, laser weapon installed in its midsection could stay submerged while it raised a retractable, 'optoelectronic mast' to fire at satellites, before diving back down to depth," according to Hong Kong's South China Morning Post, citing the study, which was published in the Chinese defense magazine "Command Control & Simulation."
The Chinese researchers contrasted this approach with current anti-satellite weapons, which use ground-fired rockets to launch what is essentially a killer satellite that destroys its prey with an explosive warhead or projectile. The US government recently warned that Russia is also developing an anti-satellite with a nuclear warhead. A laser, by contrast, offers the potential to fire at many space targets but also comes with the many complexities of submarine operations.
These technologies, which began in the 1950s, were conceived for an era when satellites were big, expensive and few in number. They remain a threat to sophisticated spy and communications satellites, but the advent of cheap, expendable swarms of communications satellites, such as the Starlink commercial network, has vastly complicated anti-satellite efforts.
"Taking the satellites launched by the Starlink program as an example, they are numerous, densely packed and small in size, making the satellite network extremely resilient," the study noted. "Even if a significant number of satellites are destroyed, there are redundancies to replace them. Therefore, using missiles to attack such satellites is highly inefficient."
Satellite swarms are becoming a crucial part of warfare. They have enabled Ukraine, for example, to provide connectivity for its forces when existing Internet and satellite communications facilities were destroyed. Thus, there's a need for destroying or disabling many small satellites in low-Earth orbit.
Chinese researchers envision the solution as flotillas of mass-produced laser subs that could be dispatched to oceans around the world. They would wait for tracking data from other non-submarine platforms to determine when a target satellite is overhead.
"When the satellite enters the attackable range, the laser weapon is raised. Due to the limitations of the submarine's detection equipment, other forces are required to provide satellite position guidance for the submarine to attack the satellite. After the attack is completed, the submarine can submerge and wait for the next mission or return to the home port."
In addition to destroying satellites, these subs could also blast aircraft or land targets such as radars and oil refineries. The Chinese researchers estimated that "a modest 150-kilowatt laser weapon on a submarine can damage the photoelectric detection equipment on an anti-submarine aircraft in one-fifth of a second, with an effective range of more than 20 kilometers [12 miles]," the Post said. "Continuous firing could also penetrate the aircraft's fuselage."
Laser subs could also shield China's ballistic missile submarines from detection. "The escorting submarine can first use the laser weapon to interfere with or destroy overhead satellites in the sea area, making it difficult for the enemy's space-based surveillance system to function, thereby achieving the concealment of missile launches."
In 2019, the US Navy put out a research solicitation for electrical connectors that would allow submarines to transmit power — through the sub's hull — to an externally mounted laser. American submarines needed a towed power source to accomplish this, the Navy said at the time.
Still, the idea of a sub-mounted anti-satellite laser leaves American experts cold. "The submarine would have to be designed from the ground up to generate the many, many megawatts of electricity to power a laser shooting at an object 200-300 miles up, and that delivers about 10 kilowatts on target," Chris Carlson, a former Defense Intelligence Agency naval analyst, told Business Insider. "That would require an incredibly huge amount of volume."
Submarines would also have trouble aiming lasers. "A submarine at periscope depth is anything but a stable firing platform," Carlson said. "Just a little wiggle in pitch, roll, or yaw will yank the beam off target." In addition, targeting data would have to be transmitted to the sub so that it can assume a firing position when the satellite is overhead.
"Communications with a submerged submarine are difficult," said Carlson. "And after alerting the sub, it would still have to raise a mast with a data link to the tracking sensor before a separate tracking laser on the sub itself could acquire the target and point the laser weapon in the right direction."
"There are lots of ways for this to go wrong," Carlson said.
Michael Peck is a defense writer whose work has appeared in Forbes, Defense News, Foreign Policy magazine, and other publications. He holds an MA in political science from Rutgers Univ. Follow him on Twitter and LinkedIn.