U.S. Air Force confirms deployment of on-orbit weapons, prompting warnings from China and Russia

The United States Air Force said on Monday that it has deployed "on-orbit space control weapons" capable of defending U.S. forces against hostile actions, without providing details on the systems. Air Force Secretary Troy Meink made the remarks at the Air and Space Cyber Conference in Maryland, adding that the service is expanding autonomous capabilities and expects its structure to look "radically different" by 2032, with one-way attack drones potentially replacing traditional artillery.

Meink said the United States must "increase our combat power and innovate faster than anyone else, affordably" as artificial-intelligence technologies reshape the battlefield. The statement did not specify the number or type of weapons, noting that space control may involve kinetic and non-kinetic means, such as lasers or electronic jamming, for both offensive and defensive purposes.

China’s foreign ministry responded by warning against the "weaponisation of outer space, turning it into a battlefield" and urged the United States to halt the expansion of its military capabilities in orbit. Spokesman Guo Jiakun told reporters that Beijing seeks to prevent an arms race in space. Russia’s Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called for space to remain "free of any weapons" and appealed for international cooperation toward the demilitarisation of the domain.

Analysts said the U.S. admission confirms a long-standing, unofficial understanding that major powers possess space-based weapons, but the timing could heighten tensions and spur a new space-arms race. Legal experts noted that the 1967 Outer Space Treaty bans only weapons of mass destruction, leaving a regulatory gap for conventional systems, a topic expected to be discussed at an upcoming U.N. disarmament meeting.