US Confirms It Has Deployed Weapons in Space

The United States has confirmed for the first time that it has deployed weapons in space, Air Force Secretary Troy Meink said Monday at the Air and Space Cyber Conference in Maryland. Meink said the country had fielded on-orbit systems intended to defend the Joint Force against hostile adversary action, but he did not identify the weapons or explain how they work.

The disclosure follows a 2024 statement by the United States that Russia was developing a new anti-satellite weapon capable of being launched from space. The White House said at the time that the danger was not imminent.

Reports about that Russian system reflected longstanding concerns over potential threats in space from Russia and China. Those concerns are heightened by the dependence of much US infrastructure on satellite communications.

Meink also said the Air Force was adding more autonomous systems to its capabilities and predicted that the service would look “radically different” by 2032. As one example, he forecast that one-way attack drones would replace artillery as the “primary killer.”

“We are increasing readiness against existing threats,” Meink said. The Space Force, the US military branch focused on operations in space, was created by President Donald Trump in 2019.