The U.S. military has deployed weapons into orbit, Air Force Secretary Troy Meink said Monday, publicly acknowledging a capability in space that the Pentagon had kept largely secret.
“Today, we continue to ensure we remain ready to meet the challenges of evolving threats wherever they exist,” Meink said at the Air & Space Forces Association’s annual conference in National Harbor, Maryland, according to DefenseScoop. “This is why the United States now has on-orbit space control weapons capable of defending the joint force against hostile adversary actions.”
Meink did not say what the weapons are, how many are in orbit or what they can do. The Pentagon did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
In a statement to The Washington Sun, the Space Force said, “Space control requires both offensive and defensive actions,” including operations to disrupt, degrade, deny or destroy an adversary’s counterspace capabilities and actions to protect U.S. systems from attack.
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The Space Force declined to say when the weapons were deployed, whether they are kinetic or non-kinetic, or to provide other details about the systems.
But Meink made clear that the disclosure was deliberate. Asked about the statement after his speech, Meink said his wording was “very well thought out,” according to Air & Space Forces Magazine.
Meink’s statement appears to be the first time the Pentagon has publicly acknowledged that the U.S. military has weapons operating in orbit.
Space Force officials had previously said they planned to field a “substantial on-orbit capability” by 2026. Senior military leaders have also openly called for putting weapons and interceptors in space. But until Monday, officials had stopped short of saying weapons were already there.
The disclosure follows a broader shift by the Space Force toward talking publicly about how it would fight in space.
In a warfighting framework released last year, the service laid out how U.S. forces could protect American satellites and disable or destroy an adversary’s systems. Those attacks could physically damage a satellite or use electronic or cyber capabilities to disrupt it or cut off its communications.
It is not clear whether the weapons Meink disclosed Monday can do any of those things.
U.S. officials have repeatedly pointed to China and Russia as the main threats driving the military buildup in space. The Space Force says both countries are developing ways to attack or disrupt American satellites, including missiles, jammers, lasers and systems placed in orbit.
Meink separately highlighted the Space-Based Interceptor program, which is being developed as part of President Donald Trump’s Golden Dome missile-defense system.
The interceptors are still under development. The Space Force is building a network of interceptors in low-Earth orbit and says it plans to demonstrate an initial capability integrated with Golden Dome in 2028.
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