U.S. acknowledges for the first time that it has deployed weapons in space

The United States has confirmed for the first time that it has deployed weapons in space. According to Air Force Secretary Troy Meink, the US has fielded "on-orbit space control weapons capable of defending the Joint Force against hostile adversary action."

Meink made the announcement at the Air and Space Forces Association's Air, Space & Cyber Conference. He did not provide details on the nature or functionality of the weapons.

The confirmation comes amid concerns about the potential weaponization of space by countries such as Russia and China. The US had previously warned about Russia's development of a new space-based, anti-satellite weapon. According to NPR, there have been previous warnings about countries possibly weaponizing a global frontier long agreed in treaties to be used for only peaceful purposes.

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