China and Russia collaborated on a plan to heat and alter the Earth's atmosphere. The experiment will give the two countries a military advantage over other nations since it can disrupt satellite communications which are an advantage in war or espionage.
They are planning to use charged particles, ions, in their advantage. Ions create a reflective layer that can block all satellite communications. The two nations started they experiments in some parts of Europe and China. They altered the chemical composition of the air above these areas. They are planning to expand the use of technology.
The ionosphere is created as cosmic rays heats atoms which separate the charged electrons. Above the earth, this phenomenon is common. The ions bounce off microwaves and radio waves like a mirror. The ions have a significant impact on the transmission of radio signals at a long distance.
In a report of the South China Morning Post, one of the experiments involved a 49, 0000 square miles region above Eastern Europe. According to reports, the small Russian town of Vasilsursk experienced a spike of electricity which had ten times more negatively charged subatomic particles that its neighboring regions.
They are also experimenting in some areas by increasing the temperature of an ionized gas above the by more than 100 °C. The experiment involved a specialist facility in Vasilsurk which microwaves at 269 megawatts into the atmosphere. A Chinese electromagnetic surveillance satellite collects the data on the reaction of the Earth's atmosphere. The satellite was developed to maximize data collection and it is expected to record measurements every half a second.
Earth and planetary physics, a Chinese Journal, published a study which authors described the result of the experiments as "satisfactory". According to Guo Lixin, a professor at Xidian University in China, the joint venture of the two superpowers is unusual. He said that such international cooperation is very rare for China. He added the technology involved in the experiment is too sensitive.
China and Russia's joint venture is the latest advancement in the use of the ionosphere in the military. If a nation can change the ionosphere in an enemy territory, it can disrupt or cut-off communication with satellites.
The venture, however, created fear that it can be used to modify weather patterns that will cause disasters. Some theories claim that it may interfere with proper brain functions of the people in places subjected to the experiments.
