EMP weapons can destroy satellites and ground-based electronic infrastructure.

The Chinese new microwave system is called TPG1000Cs. That system can be mounted on the Chinese space station. The system is introduced. As a ground-based system developed at the Northwest Institute of Nuclear Technology (NINT), it is capable of disrupting or damaging satellites. The new Chinese development could also target American Starlink satellites. But. The five-ton weight system. It can also be mounted in aircraft, ships, or satellites. 

On July 9, 1962, the U.S. military made the “Starfish Prime” test near Johnson Island. The test was a high-altitude 1,4 megaton nuclear test. This detonation. Turned the electric supply off in Honolulu. And. That nuclear detonation. Showed the impact of the high-power electromagnetic pulse. The Starfish Prime raised a question: what if the EMP impulse could be made without a nuclear explosion? 

In 1977, the Soviet reconnaissance satellite Kosmos 954. Dropped in Canada. The thing that made that satellite interesting. It was its nuclear reactor. Kosmos 954 used its reactor. For its radar system. But. Some researchers thought that the Kosmos 954 had a microwave or radio wave-based system that it could use against other satellites. The EMP weapon. That uses aimed maser (microwave amplification by stimulated emission of radiation) technology is an extremely dangerous system. The system can take out other satellites. But if that EMP system has enough power. It can also affect ground targets. 

China developed the Starlink killer. That system can generate a 20-gigawatt microwave impulse for one minute, which can potentially destroy electronics on all satellites. The system can destroy the satellite constellations. The length of that system is five meters. The weight of the system. It is about five tonnes. The system can be mounted on a truck, ship, aircraft, or even in a spaceship. The name of the system. Is TPG1000Cs. 

There are plans. To create radio-wave-based EMP systems. Those systems use radio waves that. Jump from the ionosphere to destroy electronics. High-power radars and radio telescopes can create EMP pulses. That can destroy computers and microchips in their effective range.   The system can also use crossing radio waves. Those systems create an electric arc. Into the target area. Those systems can cause fire. And destroy also other things than just electronic components. 

"Cosmos-954 satellite artist rendition Note: The image is a pure phantasy depiction and has nothing in common with the real Cosmos-954 (RORSAT) and should not be used to illustrate articles on Cosmos-954 or RORSAT" (Wikipedia, Kosmos 954)

China developed the Starlink killer. That system can generate a 20-gigawatt microwave impulse, which can potentially destroy electronics on all satellites. The system can destroy the satellite constellations. 

The microwave-based system can also destroy low-trajectory reconnaissance satellites. But the ability to generate such a powerful microwave makes it possible to destroy electronics on the ground. If we think. About the orbiting system that can generate a 20-30 gigawatt microwave-EMP pulse. That system can be dangerous for hypersonic missiles and aircraft. And ground-based electronics. 

The system can use solar panels or a small nuclear reactor. To create that kind of microwave burst. This kind of system differs from the explosive-based systems. That way. That it can give. Those high-power microwave bursts. into multiple targets. If that kind of microwave hits the missile base or communication platform, that system destroys the electronics immediately. The space-based microwave transmitter can also operate against other satellites. The EMP weapons are also suitable systems to use against drone swarms and combat robots. 

This is one of the reasons. Why. Large-scale structures in space. Are. Somehow dangerous. China plans to launch data centers into space. Those systems require lots of energy. And the space-based microwave systems can use similar power supply technology that was developed for those data centers. 

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3342443/chinese-scientists-build-world-first-20gw-microwave-weapon-can-fire-60-second-bursts

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2025/mar/19/inside-ring-china-rapidly-building-space-warfare-might-us-intel/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kosmos_954

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starfish_Prime

Last night. At midnight, the last treaty. That limits nuclear weapons ended.

The worst thing in history is here. The world is without a treaty that limits the R&D work with nuclear weapons. The INF (Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty.  The treaty that limited the intermediate-range ballistic missiles ended in 2019, and missiles like “Oreshnik” are the new threat. Oreshnik is the IRBM missile that can hit any target in Western Europe. The end of the START II treaty opens the road to nuclear tests that happen underwater and in the atmosphere. If the new treaty is not coming. That means the world will fall to the 1950’s. 

“An intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) is a ballistic missile with a range between 3,000 to 5,500 km (1,864 to 3,418 miles), categorized between a medium-range ballistic missile (MRBM) and an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). Classifying ballistic missiles by range is done mostly for convenience. In principle, there is little difference between a high-performance IRBM and a low-performance ICBM, because decreasing payload mass can increase the range over the ICBM threshold. The range definition used here is used within the U.S. Missile Defense Agency. “ (Wikipedia, Intermediate-range ballistic missile)

Russian “Oreshnik” missile in its transporter. 

An intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) is a ballistic missile with a range greater than 5,500 kilometres (3,400 mi), primarily designed for nuclear weapons delivery (delivering one or more thermonuclear warheads). Conventional, chemical, and biological weapons can also be delivered with varying effectiveness but have never been deployed on ICBMs. Some modern designs support multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles (MIRVs), allowing a single missile to carry several warheads, each of which can strike a different target. The United States, Russia, China, France, India, the United Kingdom, Israel, and North Korea are the only countries known to have operational ICBMs. Pakistan is the only nuclear-armed state that does not possess ICBMs.” (Wikipedia, Intercontinental ballistic missile)

There are also other types of nuclear weapon systems. Like FOBS (Fractional Orbital Bombardment System). That means space- or orbital-based nuclear bombardment system. In the beginning, that system meant Soviet spaceborne nuclear weapons. They planned to drop nuclear bombs from satellites. But later. The term FOBS came to mean all spaceborne nuclear weapons. 

The main problem is that. Any treaty is only paper if the participants only search for. How to circumvent the contract. Technical advancements. Including. A new computer-based targeting and fire control system makes it possible. The ICBM missile is to attack. To any point of its flightpath. The only reason why the IRBM missiles are developed is that. Those missiles are lighter and easier to transport than ICBM missiles. Also, things like Tomahawk missiles can be launched from the same catapults. These are used for BQM-109 drone launchers. 

Things like hypersonic “Kalibr” missiles can also be launched from ground-based systems. Another question is this: why were ship-launched IRBM and cruise missiles left outside the INF treaty? The “Kalibr”, or its CLUB-K container launch system. It’s easy to transport to the ground or to ships. Those kinds of systems are an easy way to circumvent those treaties. 

We must not say that a new Cold War is coming. We must say that we are in a more complicated situation than ever before, including the Cold War era. The thing that makes the situation more complicated is that. There are many other countries that have nuclear weapons. Their stockpiles are not as large as the Russian and the USA nuclear stockpiles. But those weapons are extremely devastating. Most of those new nuclear states are not members of any nuclear treaty. 

And they see a situation where they can ask the USA and Russia to decrease their nuclear strike capacity, before they get involved or even start to discuss their involvement in START or its successor. That means that. Those third-party nuclear states will increase their strike capacity. Until. It’s on the same level as the U.S. and Russian capacity. And that causes problems in the nuclear treaties. Most of those nuclear limitation treaties are made between the U.S. and Russia. And there are many more states with nuclear arsenals. And those countries want the same respect that the U.S. and Russia have. The world needs a treaty that controls those weapons. But the world also needs willingness to. follow those treaties. 

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4g31n4ey9go

https://nuclearweaponarchive.org

https://www.reuters.com/world/us-russia-close-deal-extend-new-start-nuclear-arms-treaty-axios-reports-2026-02-05/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fractional_Orbital_Bombardment_System

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intermediate-range_ballistic_missile

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intermediate-Range_Nuclear_Forces_Treaty

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oreshnik_(missile)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_START

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/START_I

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/START_II

Oreshnik as a threat.

China used billions of dollars. To sponsor the development of the Oreshnik missile. This means that. Maybe China used that data in its own weapon development. 

The “Oreshnik” missile is one of the most feared weapons, and one of the mysteries is: why does it not have ICBM capacity? The Oreshnik is an IRBM missile, which means it's prohibited in the IRBM treaty. That treaty lost its meaning. The Oreshnik is quite similar to RS-26 “Rubetzh”. The rocket of the “Rubezh” is 12 meters long, and the weight of the missile is about 36 tonnes. The question is: does that weight contain only the missile?

Or is it calculated with its transporter? The missile itself can involve multiple independently targetable re-entry vehicles, MIRV, or one Avangard hypersonic glide vehicle. It is possible that “Oreshnik” and “Rubetzh” are created for fitting in the cargo bay of An-22 “Antei”, or IL-76 “Candid” cargo planes. 

The heavy transporter can make those missiles extremely dangerous. The fast transportable missile can be carried into Cuba. Or somewhere to Latin America. And those missiles can be launched against the USA, just like they can be used against Europe. Those missiles are highly mobile systems that can be transported on roads. Or ships. Or by using aircraft. To the launching position. 

“Antonov An-22A Antei, Russia - Air Force AN2203462” (Wikipedia, Antonov An-22)

“A Russian Air Force Il-76MD-90A” (Wikipedia, Ilyushin Il-76)

The primary question is, where is the system that gives the launching codes to the system? There is a possibility. That. The system uses normal telephone lines. To get the launch code. But. The launching code can also be given by using satellites or from command aircraft. The command aircraft can give the code. By using normal radios. Or the system can also use laser communication. In the last case, the command aircraft must have visual contact with the missile. 

This system must be existed, because satellite radio communication is “easy” to jam. In the case that the jammer denies those satellites' radio communication. In that case, there must be some kind of wired communication. Or satellites, or an aircraft-based laser system. 

The system needs a command aircraft in cases where it must use individual missiles. That’s why the damage that the Wagner PMC revolt caused can be more devastating than it seems. During that revolt, rebellious forces destroyed one of the Russian Il-22 (”Coot-B”) command aircraft. The Il-22 (”Coot-B”) is a command post variant of the Il-18 aircraft. 

The Il-22 can have those laser systems. And we must realize that the crew operates systems. Those that are reserved for revolt situations do not operate with the same aircraft as normal combat operations teams. So the aircraft that those special crews use must also be. Different types. From a normal command aircraft.

There is a possibility that this aircraft had a role in commanding the nuclear missile fire. Those aircraft's purpose was to control the cooperation with air forces (Spetsnaz, Alpha team), ground troops, and naval units. That revolt ended, but that command aircraft was not sent airborne for nothing. In Russian doctrine. It is possible to use nuclear weapons against rebellious troops.  

https://www.militaryfactory.com/aircraft/detail.php?aircraft_id=2467

https://www.newsweek.com/russia-mi8-helicopters-pilots-killed-wagner-mutiny-1808976

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/01/28/china-helping-russia-build-nuclear-capable-missile/?gsid=578484a7-a2fa-4cfd-850a-a1ecc8c8680a

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alpha_Group

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonov_An-22

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilyushin_Il-18

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiple_independently_targetable_reentry_vehicle

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oreshnik_(missile)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RS-26_Rubezh

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spetsnaz