US Air Force Secretary Troy Meink publicly confirmed for the first time on Monday that the United States has deployed "space control weapons" in orbit, marking a significant shift in the Pentagon's willingness to discuss space warfare openly. The disclosure, made at the Air and Space Forces Association's Air, Space & Cyber Conference near Washington DC, signals a notable change from just a few years ago, when senior officials avoided such topics, and is likely to draw close attention from Beijing and Moscow.

Meink offered no details on the weapons' nature, capabilities or deployment date, saying such disclosures would undermine deterrence, though he acknowledged the programme likely spans several presidential administrations given the long development timelines typical of space technology. He justified the move by pointing to Russia's and China's own advances, citing Russia's 2020 anti-satellite weapon test, a 2024 US assessment that Moscow could deploy nuclear weapons in orbit, and China's fleet of highly manoeuvrable satellites that analysts say could form a "formidable on-orbit counterspace arsenal".