Abstract:
The United States publicly stated for the first time on Monday that the Space Force has deployed weapons in orbit. U.S. Air Force Secretary Troy Mink said at the Aerospace and Cyber Conference that the United States has "on-orbit space control weapons." He also elaborated on the overall plan to promote the modernization of the Air Force and Space Force in order to respond to adversary technological advances, the development of artificial intelligence, and the increasingly widespread application of autonomous weapons.
According to reports published on the official website of the U.S. Air Force Reserve Command, Mink did not disclose the specific models of deployed space weapons, nor did he announce the deployment time.
In his speech, Mink said that the threat environment facing the United States is deteriorating rapidly, and adversaries are using various new technologies; the United States needs to quickly improve its combat capabilities with higher efficiency and lower cost, including autonomous systems and lower-cost weapons and equipment.
"We will install highly autonomous systems on a large scale to greatly enhance combat capabilities." He said, "With various initiatives currently being promoted, by 2032, the face of the U.S. Air Force will have fundamentally changed."
Mink’s remarks come at a time when governments around the world are reassessing what weapons and defense systems they need to equip themselves to withstand the increasingly severe threat of hybrid attacks. The conflict in Ukraine, in particular, highlights the increasing tilt of modern warfare towards autonomous systems, artificial intelligence and drones.
Led by the success of SpaceX’s largest IPO in history this year, more and more investors are betting on the booming commercial space economy.
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