US confirms it has weapons in space 'capable of defending against hostile action'

US confirms it has weapons in space 'capable of defending against hostile action' A senior Trump official has admitted for the first time that the US has weapons in space 'capable of defending against hostile adversary action' but did not reveal how long these have been in orbit The US military has revealed for the first time that it has weapons in space and sent a chilling threat to its enemies. US Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink, on Monday, issued a warning that the "on orbit" space weapon would be used to protect the armed forces. This acknowledgement comes amid years of warnings from the US that Russia and China had been preparing to carry out attacks in space, such as disrupting satellites or using lasers. Meink, at the Air, Space and Cyber Conference, said: "The United States now has on-orbit space control weapons capable of defending the joint force against hostile adversary action." The official, at the annual conference in National Harbor, Maryland, did not reveal what weapon has been deployed into orbit or what it was capable of but suggested it would be used for "space control". He added that the US was ready to defend against "evolving threats" but also did not share how long the weapon has been in space. On the US's role outside of our planet, Meink added argued that the nation needed to "operate freely" in space while emphasising it was a key area for the military as well as economic security. Meink told the conference: "Today we continue to ensure we remain ready to meet the challenges of evolving threats wherever they exist." Weapons of mass destruction in orbit were banned in a 1967 treaty but powers including the US, China and Russia have long looked at other routes in space. These could include jamming satellites for military communications and navigation. Despite this, Donald Trump established the US Space Force in 2019 and last year put an executive order that said the force would not just work to protect assets but also attack other forces. The Trump administration also said it was working on creating interceptor missiles to be used in space as part of its "Golden Dome" defence system. This so-called dome system would create layers of defence intended to stop incoming missiles using satellites based in space that would track and destroy weapons. A US Space Force spokesperson, according to the BBC, said: "Space control encapsulates the mission areas required to contest and control the space domain – employing kinetic and non-kinetic means to affect adversary capabilities through disruption, degradation and even destruction, if necessary. "These capabilities can be employed for offensive and defensive purposes at the direction of combatant commands."