US acknowledges for first time that it has deployed weapons in space

The United States has confirmed that it has deployed weapons in space. Air Force Secretary Troy Meink made the announcement at the Air and Space Cyber Conference in Maryland on Monday. According to Meink, the US has fielded "on-orbit space control weapons capable of defending the Joint Force against hostile adversary action."

Meink did not provide details on the nature or functionality of the deployed weapons. The US had previously expressed concerns about other countries, including Russia, potentially developing space-based anti-satellite weapons. The US has demonstrated its own ability to shoot down satellites from Earth in the past.

The deployment of US weapons in space marks a significant development, given that space has long been considered a domain for peaceful purposes under international treaties. The US, Russia, and China have all expressed concerns about space threats, with much of the US infrastructure dependent on satellite communications.

Brief written by urgent.news from Daily Times, The Korea Times, France 24 — 3 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.