Space Force has ‘space control weapons’ on orbit, Air Force secretary reveals

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — The US Space Force has launched “space control weapons” into orbit, according to Air Force Secretary Troy Meink, the first public acknowledgement from a US government official that America has deployed weapon systems to circle the earth.

“Today, we continue to ensure we remain ready to meet the challenges of evolving threats wherever they exist,” Meink said in a keynote address at the Air and Space Forces Association conference here. “This is why the United States now has on-orbit space control weapons capable of defending the joint force against hostile adversary action.”

Meink did not elaborate, and the Department of the Air Force declined to offer further detail.

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The secretary’s limited remarks are sure to raise eyebrows, as frank discussion of orbital weaponry generally was taboo for the US government for many years amid fears of sparking a global space arms race — even as the Pentagon loosened policies related to potentially offensive capabilities and began to speak openly about their necessity. The US has also spearheaded efforts to promote responsible behavior in orbit, including a ban on destructive anti-satellite testing advanced during the Biden administration.

“Space control” has been defined as defensive actions to protect US and friendly space forces and offensive actions to “negate” an adversary’s space capabilities. While Meink did not specify what types of weapons are on orbit, options in theory include both kinetic and non-kinetic systems. (Any weapons of mass destruction, however, would be expressly forbidden by the Outer Space Treaty.)

Space control assets aren’t the only weapons the Pentagon plans to launch into the heavens. Meink said today the Space Force has achieved “flight ready” hardware for space-based interceptors that can bat down adversary missiles from orbit, a centerpiece of the administration’s Golden Dome initiative.

Meink revealed additional space-based milestones as well. The secretary said that the first among many air-moving target indication satellites will be launched this month. The orbital birds will provide overhead global coverage to keep tabs on air-based adversary platforms, a mission bolstered by a fleet of E-7 Wedgetail radar planes and other assets like the Navy’s E-2D Advanced Hawkeye.

The Space Force plans to have an initial AMTI constellation working by 2028, following a multibillion-dollar award in May to SpaceX.

MMA, CCA Targets

Elsewhere during his speech, Meink revealed new goals for the Air Force’s budding drone programs.

The Air Force plans to replace the MQ-9A Reaper with a new unmanned platform officials call the Massed Modular Aircraft (MMA). After Air Force officials earlier this month revealed plans to accelerate the MMA program, Meink disclosed the service has set a goal of fielding 100 MMA drones by 2029, and 500 by 2032. When the MMA program was launched in July, officials originally set a target of getting just 20 drones operational by fiscal 2031.

The Air Force secretary also revealed some key new details about the service’s Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) drone wingman program. After picking Anduril and General Atomics in June to lead production of the CCA program’s first round, Meink said the Air Force now expects 500 CCA drones will be in service by 2032. He did not specify how many of those drones might come from the CCA program’s first “increment,” or how many may be drawn from successive development rounds.

The Air Force has also officially christened its first CCA drones, according to Meink. Anduril’s FQ-44A will keep its industry name “Fury” for Air Force purposes. While General Atomics internally refers to its FQ-42A as the “Dark Merlin,” the Air Force, for its purposes, will call the drone “Vengeance.”