Zap! Then a Flap

An F-15 jet fighter raced off a runway at California's Edwards Air Force Base last Friday, soared to 35,000 ft., then launched an 18-ft.-long, two- stage rocket. At the same time, some 320 miles above the Pacific, an inoperative six-year-old satellite hurtled along at 17,000 m.p.h. A 35-lb. instrument package, no larger than a gallon can, separated from the rocket. Guided by infrared sensors that could detect the warmth of the satellite and powered by 64 tiny jet rockets, the cylinder closed in on its target. Zap! The two bodies collided at a combined speed of almost 27,000 m.p.h. The satellite was destroyed.

A triumph of U.S. antisatellite (ASAT) technology? Yes, indeed, claimed Pentagon planners, who needed a success on a program that has been plagued by troubles. Not at all, argued the test's critics, who contended that the demonstration was timed for its possible impact on the Soviets rather than for any technical value. Conceded one Air Force officer: "Read the test as a message to Gorbachev."

Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger had persuaded President Reagan to notify Congress that the test was in the national interest and to certify that the U.S. was making a "good faith" effort to reach agreement with the Soviets on restricting antisatellite warfare. Congress had banned the spending of funds for ASAT testing unless the President made such a certification. Four Congressmen and the Union of Concerned Scientists failed to convince a federal judge last week that the test violated the congressional restrictions and should not be held. The test was rushed so that it would come before arms negotiations between the superpowers resume in Geneva this week.

Weinberger argues that the U.S. tests are needed to catch up with the Soviets, who have a much cruder ground-based ASAT system in operation. For their part, the Soviets threatened to break their unilateral moratorium on ASAT testing if the Pentagon proceeded. Ironically, the system that was tested last week is not necessarily the one that the U.S. is most likely to deploy. A ground-based model, possibly using laser technology, is favored by many military scientists.

Lieut. General James Abrahamson, head of the Strategic Defense Initiative, disclosed last week that the U.S. had recently aimed a powerful laser at part of a Titan II on the ground in New Mexico and had "blasted the thing just absolutely apart." The test was research for the President's Star Wars defense against missiles. Hitting a grounded target may have been a breeze, but the potency of the laser also showed the potential kinship in technology between knocking out satellites and destroying missiles.