For the first time in history, the American Armed Forces revealed possessing weapons in space. The statement was made by the Air Force secretary, Troy Meink, during a conference of the Air and Space Forces Association held in Maryland. Meink stated that the United States now has "space control weapons in orbit capable of defending joint forces against hostile actions from adversaries."
The secretary refused to reveal what the weapon is or detail its specific capabilities. According to him, the exact formulation of the weapons system is "important from a deterrence perspective," and providing more details about what they are doing "would not benefit that deterrence."
Meink declared that the US needs to ensure they can "operate freely" in space, considering this an important arena for both military security and American economic security. The Pentagon is the headquarters of the United States' Defense agencies.
Meink's announcement occurs at a time when the Trump administration is accelerating the development of military space capabilities.
