PDB Afternoon Bulletin | September 2nd, 2026: Russia Helps Iran Target U.S. Warships & China Builds Space Pursuit Satellites

It's Wednesday, the 2nd of September. Welcome to the PDB afternoon bulletin. I'm Mike Baker from your eyes and ears on the world stage.

Alright, let's get briefed.

First up, leaked documents reveal how Russia is repaying the Iranian regime for the drones Russia uses against Ukraine.

They're helping Iran master technology designed to put the US Navy at greater risk.

Later in the show China develops satellites capable of targeting, pursuing, capturing, and even refueling spacecraft as Washington prepares for the possibility of combat hundreds of miles above Earth.

Frankly, Elvis has left the building when he comes to that old theoretical discussion about the possible weaponization of space. Space has been weaponized for many years at this point.

But first, today's afternoon spotlight.

A new investigation reveals Russia has been secretly helping Iran develop supersonic cruise missiles capable of threatening American aircraft carriers and other warships in the Middle East.

The program is called C430L, well that's catchy, and according to the financial times it began in 2023 and is ongoing.

The investigation is based on leaked Russian correspondence, travel records, and an analysis of military patents.

The bottom line is that Russian engineers are reportedly helping Iran master the technology needed to build these advanced cruise missiles.

And the program centers on something called a ramjet engine.

Without getting too far into the engineering, even though I am a bit of a rocket scientist, a ramjet uses the missile's forward movement to compress air entering the engine, allowing the weapon to sustain flight at several times as speed of sound.

And that creates a particularly dangerous combination.

A cruise missile can approach at low altitude, reducing of course the distance at which radar can detect it.

Supersonic speed then gives the targeted ship much less time to identify, track, and intercept the incoming missile.

While American warships possess sophisticated layered defenses intended to defeat aerial threats, they confine waters around the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz make that defensive challenge even more difficult.

The Russian company, assisting Iran, is also exceptionally well suited to the job.

The company, NPO Machino Stoyina, helped develop the P800 ONIX, that's a Russian ramjet-powered anti-ship missile, capable of traveling faster than Mach 2, and descending to approximately 10 to 15 meters above the surface during its final approach.

The company also helped establish the partnership responsible for developing India's Brahmos supersonic cruise missile.

So Tehran is receiving help from some of the most experienced anti-ship missile engineers in the world.

The US sanctioned the company back in 2014, describing it as a leading Russian rocketry company responsible for cruise missiles launched from ships, submarines, and ground positions, along with work supporting Russia's strategic nuclear forces.

According to the Financial Times, Russia's State Arms Exporter, Rosa Boroniksport, coordinated the project.

Russian arms officials and senior engineers reportedly made repeated trips to Iran before a contract was formally signed with the Iranian Defense Ministry back in November of 2023.

By 2025, the company had received a large collection of Iranian technical material, including data from an actual test flight.

That test appears to have exposed some serious problems.

The telemetry, showing how the propulsion system was performing, ended less than one minute into the flight.

Russian engineers subsequently sent erad detailed questions about changes to the fuel system, instability inside the combustion chamber, the design of the air intake, and the engine nozzle.

They also wanted to know whether the ramjet continued operating after the telemetry disappeared.

In other words, Iran had built and tested an experimental system, but needed Russian experts to determine what went wrong and how to fix it.

Then in April of 2025, Rosa Boroniksport proposed sending a delegation of approximately 24 Russian specialists to Iran for additional technical consultations.

Correspondence from June of this year shows the two sides were still discussing a further phase of the project and additional Russian technical reports.

And reportedly, Iran has been pursuing this capability for years.

In 2019, an Iranian defense linked company displayed what it described as an indigenous ramjet engine during a visit by then-supreme leader Ali Khmerni.

And in August of 2023, Iranian media claimed Tehran had begun testing a prototype supersonic cruise missile.

But mastering ramjet propulsion is extremely difficult, and the leaked correspondence suggests Iran's engineers had not solved the most important technical problems alone.

And Russia may not be the Iranian regime's only path toward this capability.

If you'll remember back in February of this year, we reported that Iran was close to purchasing Chinese CM302 supersonic air-dice ship missiles, which have a reported range of approximately 290 kilometers.

Now, there's been no confirmation that that Chinese deal was completed.

But together, these programs reveal a potential to-trek strategy.

Iran has sought a finished weapon from China that could provide a more immediate capability, while using Russian engineers to develop the knowledge needed to produce their own missiles over the long term.

Of course, this relationship goes both ways.

Iran has supplied Russia with shahed attack drones for the Ukraine conflict, and has helped Moscow establish the production lines, now manufacturing Russian versions of those weapons, and those drones have become central to Putin's nightly bombardment of Ukrainian cities.

Now, Russia appears to be returning the favor by helping Iran acquire technology that could eventually be used against American forces.

And Putin may have signaled that strategy some two years ago.

In 2024, he threatened to respond to Western long-range weapons being provided to Ukraine by supplying comparable weapons to countries capable of striking sensitive Western targets.

C430L was reportedly already underway when he made that threat.

And on Tuesday, as American and Iranian forces exchanged attacks, Putin told Iranian President Masood Buzeskyin that Russia was, quote, trying to give you the help you need in this difficult period, and was, quote, supplying you with the goods you need.

End quote.

Now, Russia and Iran have not confirmed the C430L project, and there's still no evidence that the Russian assisted missile is ready for combat.

But of course, that does not reduce the significance of the weapons technology transfer.

Missile stockpiles can be depleted. Launchers and factories, of course, can be destroyed.

But it's the engineering knowledge needed to build and improve weapons. That's much harder to eliminate.

All right, coming up next.

The US and China prepare for a new kind of conflict involving hunter satellites, orbital pursuit, and space weapons, capable of crippling military operations on Earth.

I'll be right back.

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Welcome back to the PDB afternoon bulletin. A war in space may still sound like science fiction, but a new Reuters investigation shows that the US and China are already developing satellites capable of pursuing, capturing, and potentially disabling other spacecraft.

To understand just how serious this new space race has become, we have to start with something that happened back in June of this year.

That's when a secret of unmanned Chinese space plane, essentially a reusable spacecraft that can maneuver in orbit, released a small satellite hundreds of miles above Earth.

According to the US Space Tracking Company Leolabs, that satellite then looped around another Chinese satellite before returning toward the space plane.

Now we don't know exactly what Beijing was testing. China hasn't explained the mission and says its space plane is an experimental craft intended to support the peaceful use of space, of course.

But according to Reuters, the incident fits into something much bigger. As China is rapidly developing technology that could allow its satellites to pursue, maneuver around, and potentially even capture other spacecraft.

The US officials say Chinese satellites have engaged in what they describe as orbital dogfighting, with multiple spacecraft maneuvering in close proximity.

China has also demonstrated the ability to capture a defunct satellite and move it into another orbit.

Last year, according to a Space Force official, Beijing likely attempted another major step, refueling a satellite while it's already in orbit.

And that's important because satellites normally have to survive on whatever fuel they carry into space.

And Chinese researchers are pushing that concept even further.

Patent-related documents reviewed by Reuters described technology that could autonomously calculate fuel-efficient maneuvers while pursuing another spacecraft, along with concepts involving multiple satellites working together to capture targets with nets.

I'm not making this up. Now some of these technologies could have peaceful uses.

But the same spacecraft, capable of approaching another satellite to inspect or refuel it, could potentially approach an American military satellite to interfere with or disable it.

Physically capturing, one is only part of the threat. Western officials are also preparing for electronic jamming, cyber attacks, lasers, anti-satellite missiles, and potentially armed spacecraft.

General Chance Salzman, the chief of the Space Force, calls the threat from China, quote, substantial.

Of course, the military depends on satellites for communications, intelligence, navigation, precision targeting, and missile warnings.

Take those satellites away, and much of America's military advantage down here on Earth could be severely crippled.

That's why General Stephen Whitting, the head of US Space Command, says Washington can no longer focus exclusively on defending American satellites.

He argues that the US must also be prepared to threaten or strike hostile spacecraft if necessary.

And to that end, we're beginning to see the US practice military operations in orbit alongside its allies.

Last September, American Space Forces operating from Colorado maneuvered a US military satellite close to a British satellite.

As China's 12-0-1 experimental satellite passed roughly 50 miles beneath them.

That was the first known joint US-British military operation in space, and three experts with military backgrounds told Reuters that maneuver appeared to be a deliberate message to Beijing.

China, meanwhile, says it opposes the weaponization of space, of course they do, and accuses Washington of fueling an arms race through programs, including President Trump's golden dome.

Despite their predictable claims that they're simply interested in peace and the peaceful use of space, China's military is heavily engaged in weaponizing the final frontier.

In 2022, the PLA's official newspaper wrote that controlling space was essential to safeguarding China's national security, seizing the strategic initiative, and achieving victory in war.

And China isn't the only American adversary, preparing for that possibility. Russia also operates maneuverable satellites, capable of approaching other spacecraft, and Western officials say both basing and Moscow have demonstrated technologies that could potentially threaten US and Allied satellites.

The US has also accused Russia of developing a space-based anti-satellite weapon that could carry a nuclear device, although Moscow denies it.

So this is no longer simply a competition over who can place more satellites into orbit.

Nor is it some academic conversation about how to avoid weaponizing space.

The reality is space has been weaponized, and any future major conflict will very likely take place in part among the stars.

And on that cherry note, that, my friends, is the PDB after an embolecin for Wednesday, the 2nd of September.

Now if you have any questions or comments, please reach out to me at PDB at thefirsttv.com.

And of course, to listen to the show Add Free, you know how to do that, just become a premium member of the president's daily brief by visiting PDB premium.com.

I'm Mike Baker, and I'll be back tomorrow. Until then, stay informed, stay safe, stay cool.

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