U.S. Air Force confirms deployment of on-orbit weapons
The U.S. Air Force announced it has fielded space-based weapons capable of defending against hostile actions, marking the first official acknowledgment of such capabilities.
The United States Air Force announced on Monday that it has deployed "on-orbit space control weapons" designed to protect the Joint Force from hostile adversary actions, though details on the systems were not disclosed. Air Force Secretary Troy Meink made the remarks at the Air, Space & Cyber Conference of the Air and Space Forces Association, 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 artillery as the primary kinetic option.
Meink said the force is "increasing readiness against existing threats," but did not specify whether the weapons target objects in space or on Earth. The statement follows earlier U.S. warnings about Russian and Chinese space threats and previous demonstrations of the ability to intercept satellites from the ground.
The disclosure arrives amid ongoing debate over the militarization of space. In 2019, the Trump administration created the Space Force as a separate branch, and later proposed the "Golden Dome" missile-defense system that includes space-based interceptors. The Congressional Budget Office has projected that the space components of that system could cost up to $542 billion over two decades.
In 2024, the Biden administration warned that Russia was developing a space-based nuclear weapon capable of destroying nearby satellites, prompting renewed discussions at the United Nations. A joint U.S.–Japanese resolution to prohibit the deployment of nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction in space was vetoed by Russia, which instead offered a resolution to ban all weapons in space, a proposal that ultimately failed.