US military has ‘on-orbit’ space weapons, Air Force Secretary reveals

Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink speaks during the change of responsibility ceremony for Chief of Space Operations Gen. Douglas Schiess on Joint Base Andrews, Md., Sept. 3, 2026. U.S. Air Force / Eric Dietrich

Experts said the acknowledgment may lead to overt action by China, Russia.

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md.— Air Force Secretary Troy Meink acknowledged that the U.S. has space weapons, a public revelation that some experts said could accelerate an arms race in orbit.

“Today, we continue to ensure we remain ready to meet the challenges of evolving threats wherever they exist,” Mink said during his Monday morning speech at the Air, Space, Cyber conference here. “This is why the United States now has, on orbit, space-control weapons, capable of defending the joint force against hostile adversaries.”

Top service officials have typically been cagey when asked about U.S. space weapons, often citing national-security concerns. It also marks a major change in rhetoric. John Raymond, the service’s first chief of space operations, proclaimed in 2022 that “our primary purpose is to deter war.”

Defense experts were shocked by Meink’s admission on Monday morning, and said it will likely push the U.S. military’s main adversaries in space to acknowledge their capabilities, too.

“Well, that's huge, because I don't think any US government official has ever said that before,” said Victoria Samson, the Secure World Foundation's chief director of space security and stability. “The US also now has to accept the Chinese and Russians doing/saying the same. I don't think that this is going to be in the interest of US national security.”

Meink did not provide additional details on what type of on-orbit weapons the U.S. possesses.

Kinetic weapons, such as missiles, can create debris by destroying a target. Numerous top military officials have warned against using such weapons.

“Our commitment to responsible space operations is fundamental to our mission assurance and our role as stewards of the space environment,” Maj. Gen. Chris Povak, deputy director of the National Reconnaissance Office, said earlier this year .

Samson said that narrows her guess about what Meink was talking about.

“I'm going to guess what he's talking about is not a kinetic space-control weapon due to multiple comments government officials have said about avoiding debris causing counter space,” she said. “So I'm going to go with my first guess: space-based jammers, electronic warfare.”

Meink also made several other space-related announcements in his speech. The Air Force secretary said prototypes for the space-based Airborne Moving Target Indicator satellite constellation will be launched this month.

Meink also said that space-based interceptors, the cornerstone technology of President Donald Trump’s Golden Dome missile defense system, are now “flight ready.”

Last month, Space Force Gen. Michael Guetlein, Golden Dome’s direct-reporting program manager, warned that the missile defense project would be in dire straits if Congress can’t prioritize additional funding for the effort. The four-star general also said that initial development on space-based interceptors is underway and that the service has executed two “phenomenally successful” tests.

“All of the providers that are part of the competition are progressing exceptionally well,” Guetlein told reporters at the Space and Missile Defense Symposium.

“As everybody knows, there have been many who are developing capabilities to take those away from us, to threaten those things,” Meink said. “So, it is critically important that we maintain our dominance not only in the air but in space, and so that we've had to take steps to make sure that when we're threatened, we can take care of that.”

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2026年9月3日，美国空军部长特洛伊·梅因克在马里兰州安德鲁斯联合基地举行的太空作战部长道格拉斯·希斯将军的职责交接仪式上发表讲话。（美国空军/埃里克·迪特里希摄）

专家表示，这一承认可能会导致中国和俄罗斯采取公开行动。

马里兰州国家港——美国空军部长特洛伊·梅因克承认美国拥有太空武器，这一公开披露被一些专家表示可能会加速轨道上的军备竞赛。

“今天，我们将继续确保随时准备应对不断演变的威胁，无论这些威胁出现在哪里，”明克周一上午在空中、太空和网络会议上发表讲话时说。“正因如此，美国现在在轨道上拥有太空控制武器，能够保护联合部队免受敌对势力的攻击。”

当被问及美国太空武器时，高级军官通常态度谨慎，常常以国家安全为由搪塞。这也标志着措辞上的重大转变。美国军方首任太空作战部长约翰·雷蒙德在2022年宣称，“我们的首要目标是遏制战争。”

国防专家对梅因克周一上午的表态感到震惊，并表示这很可能会促使美国在太空领域的主要对手也承认自己的能力。

“这意义重大，因为我认为此前没有任何美国政府官员说过这样的话，”安全世界基金会太空安全与稳定事务首席主任维多利亚·萨姆森说道。“美国现在也不得不接受中国和俄罗斯也发表类似言论。我认为这不符合美国的国家安全利益。”

梅因克没有提供关于美国拥有何种类型在轨武器的更多细节。

动能武器，例如导弹，在摧毁目标时会产生碎片。许多高级军事官员都曾警告不要使用此类武器。

“我们对负责任的太空行动的承诺，对于我们的任务保障以及我们作为太空环境管理者的角色至关重要，”国家侦察局副局长克里斯·波瓦克少将今年早些时候表示。

萨姆森说，这缩小了她对梅因克所谈论内容的猜测范围。

“我猜他说的应该不是动能太空控制武器，因为政府官员曾多次表示要避免太空碎片造成反制，”她说。“所以我还是坚持我的第一个猜测：太空干扰器，电子战。”

梅因克在演讲中还宣布了其他几项与太空相关的消息。这位空军部长表示，天基移动目标指示器卫星星座的原型机将于本月发射。

梅因克还表示，作为唐纳德·特朗普总统“金顶”导弹防御系统基石技术的天基拦截器，现在已经“准备就绪”。

上个月，太空军上将迈克尔·盖特莱因（Michael Guetlein）警告说，如果国会不能优先考虑为导弹防御项目追加拨款，该项目将陷入困境。盖特莱因是太空军总部“金顶”（Golden Dome）的直接项目经理。这位四星上将还表示，天基拦截器的初步研发工作正在进行中，太空军已经成功完成了两次“极其成功”的测试。

“所有参与竞争的供应商都取得了非常好的进展，”盖特莱因在太空和导弹防御研讨会上告诉记者。

“众所周知，许多国家都在发展夺取我们这些优势、威胁我们这些能力的手段，”梅因克说。“因此，保持我们在空中和太空的优势至关重要，所以我们必须采取措施，确保在受到威胁时能够应对。”

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