Space Force has ‘space control weapons’ on orbit, Air Force secretary says

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 photo by Eric Dietrich)

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — The US Space Force has launched “space control weapons” into orbit, according to Air Force Secretary Troy Meink, the first public acknowledgement from a US government official that America has deployed weapon systems to circle the earth.

“Today, we continue to ensure we remain ready to meet the challenges of evolving threats wherever they exist,” Meink said in a keynote address at the Air and Space Forces Association conference here. “This is why the United States now has on-orbit space control weapons capable of defending the joint force against hostile adversary action.”

Meink did not elaborate, and the Department of the Air Force declined to offer further detail.

RELATED: Laser weapons for space? US officials see threat, opportunity

The secretary’s limited remarks are sure to raise eyebrows, as frank discussion of orbital weaponry generally has been taboo for the US government for many years amid fears of sparking a global space arms race — even as the Pentagon loosened policies related to potentially offensive capabilities. The US has also spearheaded efforts to promote responsible behavior in orbit, including a ban on destructive anti-satellite testing advanced during the Biden administration.

“Space control” has been defined as defensive actions to protect US and friendly space forces and offensive actions to “negate” an adversary’s space capabilities. While Meink did not specify what types of weapons are on orbit, options in theory include both kinetic and non-kinetic systems. (Any weapons of mass destruction, however, would be expressly forbidden by the Outer Space Treaty.)

Space control assets aren’t the only weapons the Pentagon plans to launch into the heavens. Meink said today the Space Force has achieved “flight ready” hardware for space-based interceptors that can bat down adversary missiles from orbit, a centerpiece of the administration’s Golden Dome initiative.

Meink revealed additional space-based milestones as well. The secretary said that the first among many air-moving target indication satellites will be launched this month. The orbital birds will provide overhead global coverage to keep tabs on air-based adversary platforms, a mission bolstered by a fleet of E-7 Wedgetail radar planes and other assets like the Navy’s E-2D Advanced Hawkeye.

The Space Force plans to have an initial AMTI constellation working by 2028, following a multibillion-dollar award in May to SpaceX.

Elsewhere during his speech, Meink revealed new goals for the Air Force’s budding drone programs.

The Air Force plans to replace the MQ-9A Reaper with a new unmanned platform officials call the Massed Modular Aircraft (MMA). After Air Force officials earlier this month revealed plans to accelerate the MMA program, Meink disclosed the service has set a goal of fielding 100 MMA drones by 2029, and 500 by 2032. When the MMA program was launched in July, officials originally set a target of getting just 20 drones operational by fiscal 2031.

The Air Force secretary also revealed some key new details about the service’s Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) drone wingman program. After picking Anduril and General Atomics in June to lead production of the CCA program’s first round, Meink said the Air Force now expects 500 CCA drones will be in service by 2032. He did not specify how many of those drones might come from the CCA program’s first “increment,” or how many may be drawn from successive development rounds.

The Air Force has also officially christened its first CCA drones, according to Meink. Anduril’s FQ-44A will keep its industry name “Fury” for Air Force purposes. While General Atomics internally refers to its FQ-42A as the “Dark Merlin,” the Air Force, for its purposes, will call the drone “Vengeance.”

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。（美国空军照片，摄影：埃里克·迪特里希）

马里兰州国家港——据美国空军部长特洛伊·梅因克称，美国太空部队已将“太空控制武器”发射到轨道上。这是美国政府官员首次公开承认美国已部署武器系统绕地球运行。

“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，”梅因克在空军和太空部队协会会议上发表主旨演讲时说。“正因如此，美国现在拥有在轨空间控制武器，能够保护联合部队免受敌对势力的攻击。”

梅因克没有详细说明，空军部也拒绝提供更多细节。

相关报道：太空激光武器？美国官员既看到了威胁，也看到了机遇

这位部长的简短讲话势必会引起关注，因为多年来，出于对引发全球太空军备竞赛的担忧，美国政府一直对坦率讨论轨道武器持谨慎态度——即便五角大楼已经放宽了与潜在进攻性能力相关的政策。美国也一直致力于推动轨道上的负责任行为，包括在拜登政府时期推进的禁止破坏性反卫星试验的法案。

“太空控制”被定义为保护美国及其盟友太空部队的防御行动，以及“抵消”敌方太空能力的进攻行动。虽然梅因克没有具体说明轨道上部署了哪些类型的武器，但理论上选项包括动能武器和非动能武器系统。（然而，任何大规模杀伤性武器都将被《外层空间条约》明确禁止。）

五角大楼计划发射到太空的武器不仅限于太空控制资产。梅因克今天表示，太空部队已经研制出可用于天基拦截器的“飞行就绪”硬件，这些拦截器能够从轨道上击落敌方导弹，这是政府“金顶计划”的核心内容。

梅因克还透露了其他一些太空领域的里程碑事件。这位部长表示，首颗空中目标指示卫星将于本月发射，而这仅仅是众多此类卫星中的一颗。这些轨道卫星将提供全球空中覆盖，用于监视敌方空中平台，这项任务将得到E-7“楔尾”预警机机队以及海军E-2D“先进鹰眼”预警机等其他装备的支持。

美国太空部队计划在 2028 年前建成一个初步的 AMTI 星座，此前他们在 5 月份向 SpaceX 授予了数十亿美元的合同。

在演讲的其他部分，梅因克还透露了空军新兴无人机项目的新目标。

美国空军计划用一种名为“模块化大规模飞行器”（MMA）的新型无人平台取代MQ-9A“死神”无人机。本月初，空军官员公布了加快MMA项目进度的计划后，梅因克透露，空军已设定目标，到2029年部署100架MMA无人机，到2032年部署500架。MMA项目于7月启动时，官员最初设定的目标是到2031财年仅投入使用20架无人机。

空军部长还透露了空军协同作战飞机（CCA）无人机僚机项目的一些关键新细节。梅因克表示，空军在6月份选定安杜里尔公司和通用原子公司负责CCA项目首批无人机的生产后，预计到2032年将有500架CCA无人机投入使用。但他没有具体说明这些无人机中有多少来自CCA项目的首批“批次”，又有多少来自后续的研发阶段。

据梅因克报道，空军已正式为其首批CCA无人机命名。安杜里尔公司的FQ-44A将沿用其内部名称“狂怒”（Fury），供空军使用。通用原子公司内部将其FQ-42A称为“黑暗梅林”（Dark Merlin），但空军出于自身目的，将这款无人机命名为“复仇”（Vengeance）。