China and Russia objected on September 15 after the United States acknowledged that it has weapons deployed in orbit. Air Force Secretary Troy Meink said the systems could protect American forces from hostile action. AP reported that this was Washington’s first public confirmation of such a deployment.
Meink made the announcement on September 14 at the Air, Space and Cyber Conference in National Harbor, Maryland. An official Air Force release published the next day confirmed his remarks. He presented the capability as a response to evolving threats, without identifying the weapons or explaining how they work.
A Space Force spokesperson told The War Zone that space control missions can disrupt, degrade or destroy an adversary’s capabilities, using physical and nonphysical means. Such missions can serve offensive and defensive purposes. The service declined to disclose the deployed systems’ payloads, technical features or operating methods.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said on September 15 that Beijing opposed an arms race in outer space and attempts to turn it into a battlefield. According to the ministry’s transcript, he urged Washington to stop expanding its military presence there and take concrete steps to uphold global strategic stability.
Russia also called for weapons to be kept out of space. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Moscow wanted broad international cooperation toward its complete demilitarisation, AFP reported. The objections followed an announcement that disclosed an existing capability without specifying when deployment occurred.
At a conference in Paris on September 15, US Space Command official Richard Palmer defended the disclosure as a means of deterring aggression against American allies and economic interests, Reuters reported. He said the capabilities should be ready for use if deterrence fails. Their precise nature remains undisclosed.
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