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

Dead man's hand denies air strikes to Russia.

There is a tale in the Interesting Engineering that the U.S and its allies can destroy all Russian nuclear sites in less than two hours. The problem is that two hours is too long a time, and the Russian command system has time to launch missiles. The thing. The Western military commanders are afraid. Called: “Perimeter”. The dead hand trigger. If the Russian nuclear strike capacity turns too low, the dead man's hand can open fire with ICBM missiles. 

Also, if the commanders of that monstrous force are to be declared dead. The “Perimeter” starts the launching procedure. Two hours is too late to deny that operation. The problem is that the ICBM missiles can also be mounted on trains or on road-based launching systems. Those systems can be very hard to find. Things like missile submarines can make the launching operations. 

In addition to the USA, the Russian missile command comprises three or four parts. 

1) The ground-based tactical missiles. Those missiles. Like. Kalibr (CLUB-K) and the Iskander are highly mobile battlefield systems. 

2) Tactical and strategic bombers that can launch air-to-surface missiles and drop more or less free-fall bombs. 

3) Nuclear submarines and conventional submarines with nuclear strike capacity. Those submarines can launch nuclear cruise missiles and ballistic missiles. 

4) Silo-based and highly mobile intercontinental ballistic missile systems. Those systems. Like R-36M2 (SS-18), RS-28 (Sarmat), and RS-24 Yars(SS-27 mod 2 or SS-29). The last one is the mobile system that can be driven out. From bases very fast. Yars system replaced the RT-2P (Topol, and Topol M (”M for mobile”)) missiles. 

The remarkable thing about the Russian missiles is this. Those missiles are equipped with much more powerful warheads than Western missiles. And another thing is that. Russia's defense leans more toward nuclear weapons than Western defense. And the conventional troops' failures in the Ukraine war are growing nuclear weapon value for Kremlin leaders. 

Artist’s impression. Tu-95 launches Kh-55 missile (Wikipedia) 

The RT-2PM missiles are now mentioned as retired. But. The Russian inventory is not similar. To the Western. And it's possible that some of those missiles are still somewhere. The fact is that the new nuclear-powered “Skyfall” missiles are also coming to the arsenal. 

It’s possible that RS-28 Sarmat, which has some kind of technical problems, is “only” SS-18 with a new hypersonic “Avangard” glide warhead. The RS-28 “Sarmat” carries 16 warheads. Or in a lower payload, those systems can operate as FOBS (Fractional Orbital Bombardment Systems). 

Sarmat missile. 

The problem with Russian air-launched missiles is that their carrier vehicles, Tu-95 (Bear-H), Tu-22M (Backfire), and Tu-160 (Blackjack), are quite old systems. The Su-34, Su-35 (Improved Flanker), and MiG-31 (Foxhound) can also carry those missiles. The same aircraft can also carry hypersonic Kh-47M2 “Kinzhal” missile, and especially its nuclear strike variant. The problem is that those aircraft have limited operational time. The MiG-31 is the only one of those aircraft that can accelerate the Kinzhal missile to hypersonic speed. Normally, those missiles. Operational launching platforms are Tu-22M3M and MiG-31. 

The Tu-160 can carry nuclear-powered 9M730 Burevestnik  (SSC-X-9 “Skyfall”) missiles. The nuclear reactor makes it problematic to defend against those missiles. If the reactor damages those systems. Can deliver radioactive material all around the area. And the “Skyfall” missiles can probably be installed on board the Oscar and Kilo-class. And more modern submarines. Like Akula and Yasen-class boats.  The Sarmat missile has faced problems, but nuclear-powered cruise missile tests have succeeded. And the Yasen-class submarine is in the U.S. backyard with Mach 9 hypersonic missiles. 

"Nuclear engine-powered unlimited range Burevestnik missile illustration The Burevestnik missile is launched by a conventional rocket motor while the nuclear reactor powered engine takes over in flight providing it unlimited range and loitering ability." (DefenseMirror.com)

The problematic system is also a long-range “Poseidon” torpedo. A 50-100mt nuclear warhead makes those nuclear-powered underwater weapons very devastating. They can form a tsunami that causes very bad destruction. It’s possible that the Poseidon underwater unmanned vehicle (UUV) patrols the oceans.  And if it loses its contact with the base, it starts to make an attack. 

The older, Cold War-era Kh-55  (AS-15 “Kent”)  cruise missiles are similar to the retired Boeing AGM-86. The AS-15 is partially replaced by the Kh-101 (AS-23 “Kodiak”) nuclear cruise missile. The Kh-102 is a nuclear warhead, a long-range variant of the Kh-101 missile. All other than Kh-102 were used in the Ukraine war. 

The Russian nuclear strategy. Based on the political control. Possibility to use. Nuclear weapons require that those weapons exist. 

Every time a nuclear submarine or nuclear bomber is out from base, it’s possible that those pilots talk about something that they should not talk about.  Another thing is that Kremlin leaders know the value of nuclear weapons. They know that nuclear power denies the outside military operations in Russia. 

https://www.19fortyfive.com/2025/12/the-russian-militarys-unstoppable-sarmat-icbm-just-failed-again-and-badly/

https://www.19fortyfive.com/2025/12/russias-yasen-class-attack-submarine-is-in-americas-backyard-with-a-mach-9-hypersonic-punch/

https://www.armscontrol.org/act/2024-11/news/sarmat-failure-casts-doubt-russian-heavy-icbm

https://defensemirror.com/news/35154/Russia_Claims_Testing_Complete_of__Burevestnik__Nuclear_powered_Cruise_Missile

https://www.defencetoday.com/security/military-capabilities/russia-tests-nuclear-powered-nuclear-armed-burevestnik-cruise-missile/

https://edition.cnn.com/2024/09/24/europe/russia-sarmat-missile-test-failure-intl

https://interestingengineering.com/military/us-allies-edge-over-china-russia

https://www.technology.org/2025/12/02/putins-doomsday-rs-28-sarmat-crashes/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/9K720_Iskander

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/9M730_Burevestnik

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akula-class_submarine

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kh-47M2_Kinzhal

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kh-55

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kh-101

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikoyan_MiG-31

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oscar-class_submarine

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poseidon_(unmanned_underwater_vehicle)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R-36_(missile)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RS-24_Yars

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RT-2PM_Topol

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sukhoi_Su-35

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tupolev_Tu-22M

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tupolev_Tu-95

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tupolev_Tu-160

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yasen-class_submarine