U.S. Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink said Monday that the United States has weapons stationed in orbit, which he said enable Washington to protect its armed forces and space capabilities and counter threats in space. Speaking at a conference of the Air & Space Forces Association near Washington, Meink said his country was enhancing its readiness to deal with evolving threats wherever they emerge, pointing to measures to preserve U.S. superiority in the air and space.
He added that the U.S. military’s reliance on space capabilities was critically important at a time when several countries, he said, were working to develop means of denying Washington access to those capabilities or undermining them. The secretary did not specify the type or nature of the orbital weapons he mentioned.
Russian warning of a space arms race
Russia’s permanent representative to the United Nations Office and other international organizations in Geneva, Gennady Gatilov, had warned that the United States and other Western countries could ignite an arms race by carrying out broad programs to develop weapons systems intended for use in space.
Gatilov said some Western countries and blocs describe near-Earth space in their space-policy documents as an operational environment that could see combat. He pointed to programs to develop weapons used in, from or against space, including the U.S. Golden Dome missile-defense project.
The nature and potential uses of orbital weapons
Orbital weapons are military systems placed aboard satellites or vehicles orbiting Earth, and can be used to protect space assets or affect the capabilities of adversaries. Space-warfare capabilities may include military satellites performing defensive or offensive roles when conflict breaks out.
