US confirms for first time it has ‘space control weapons’
China has responded, warning against an arms race in space
The United States has confirmed that it has weapons in space, in the first announcement of this kind from the nation.
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This announcement was made by US Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink when speaking to an audience at the Air, Space and Cyber conference on Monday.
Meink made this statement following years of concerns about Russian missiles in space, and potential Chinese space weapon manufacturing.
“The United States now has on-orbit space control weapons capable of defending the joint force against hostile adversary actions,” said Meink.
Meink did not clarify what these weapons are, or why the US would need space weapons at this time.
In 2024, the US announced suspicions that Russia was working on anti-satellite missiles which could be launched from space. At the time, US officials said there was no imminent danger posed by these threats.
In response to Meink’s announcement, a spokesperson from China said they are concerned about a space arms race, saying: "We urge the US side to stop expanding its military capabilities and preparing for war in outer space.”
A 1967 treaty banned the production and placement of weapons of mass destruction in space. However, nations have worked on tools to attack rival nations’ satellite communications.
Russian satellites have been accused of intercepting dozens of European communication satellites since the outbreak of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
The US Space Force has accused China of being a nation that "develops and operates space and counterspace capabilities as part of a military modernisation strategy.”
And, that Russia "views space as a warfighting domain and believes space supremacy will be a decisive factor in future conflicts".
The US Space Force was created in 2019 under the umbrella of the US Air Force. It is the first new branch of the US military since 1947.
Its mission statement reads: “The establishment of the USSF resulted from widespread recognition that space is a national security imperative.
“When combined with the growing threat posed by strategic competitors in space, it became clear that there was a need for a military service focused solely on pursuing superiority in the space domain.”