‘I Don’t Think Any US Government Official Has Ever Said That Before’: On-Orbit Space Weapon Confirmed?
Por Jessica Corbett — Common Dreams
US Air Force Secretary Troy Meink seemingly revealed Monday that the United States has launched into orbit “space-control weapons.”
“Today, we continue to ensure we remain ready to meet the challenges of evolving threats wherever they exist,” Mink said during a speech at an Air & Space Forces Association (AFA) conference in Maryland. “This is why the United States now has, on-orbit, space-control weapons capable of defending the joint force against hostile adversary action.”
SpaceNews reported that when asked about the comment by AFA president and CEO Burt Field, Meink declined to elaborate.
“That phrase was very well thought out,” Meink responded. “So whatever I said before is what I say again.”
“It is critically important that we maintain our dominance, not only in the air but in space,” he added, according to AFA’s magazine. “So, we’ve had to take steps to make sure that when we’re threatened, we can take care of that.”
Defense One noted that experts were “shocked” by his admission‚ including Victoria Samson, the Secure World Foundation’s chief director of space security and stability.
“Well, that’s huge, because I don’t think any US government official has ever said that before,” she said. “The US also now has to accept the Chinese and Russians doing/saying the same. I don’t think that this is going to be in the interest of US national security.”
Although Meink wouldn’t offer details on the weapons, Samson said: “I’m going to guess what he’s talking about is not a kinetic space-control weapon due to multiple comments government officials have said about avoiding debris causing counter space… So I’m going to go with my first guess: space-based jammers, electronic warfare.”
While President Donald Trump has made a habit of attacking international bodies and pacts, the United States is, in theory, limited by the Outer Space Treaty, as a founding party that signed the agreement nearly six decades ago.
Under that treaty—to which China and Russia are also parties—governments agree not to “place nuclear weapons or other weapons of mass destruction in orbit or on celestial bodies or station them in outer space in any other manner.”
Fonte: Common Dreams
