美空军部长首次证实美军已在轨道部署空间控制武器US Air Force Secretary Confirms Deployment of Space Weapons in Orbit

在由航空与太空部队协会于马里兰州国家港湾主办的年度会议上，美国空军部长特洛伊·梅因克向与会代表明确宣布，美军当前已在轨道部署用于保护联合作战部队的空间控制武器。梅因克指出，美方必须持续确保做好应对任何领域演变威胁的准备，因此采取了相关行动以确保在遭受威胁时能够予以应对。

Speaking to attendees at the annual Air, Space and Cyber Conference hosted by the Air & Space Forces Association in National Harbor, Maryland, Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink announced that the United States currently maintains on-orbit space control weapons to defend the joint force. Meink stated that the military must continually ensure readiness against evolving threats across all domains, noting that steps had been taken to handle threats whenever American forces are challenged.

梅因克在发言中强调，维持美军在空中与太空领域的优势地位至关重要，美军必须具备在空间领域反制敌方行动的能力。尽管美方高级军事领导层此前多次表达过提升太空作战能力的意图，但梅因克的表态是美国官方首次正式证实轨道武器的实际存在与部署，向潜在对手明确传达了美军在轨防御能力的部署状态。

Meink emphasized that maintaining military dominance in both the air and space domains remains critically important, requiring direct capabilities to counter adversary actions in orbit. While senior defense leadership had previously stated intentions to expand military space capabilities, Meink's remarks represent the first time the United States government has formally confirmed the active operational presence and orbital deployment of such assets, deliberately signaling the military's space control posture to prospective adversaries.

美国官员并未公开该空间武器的具体运作模式、型号规格或进入轨道的确切时间。美国太空军发言人在发布的新闻声明中指出，空间控制任务涵盖争夺与控制太空领域所需的全部作战职能，能够根据作战司令部的指示，采用动能和非动能手段对敌方能力实施干扰、降级乃至彻底摧毁，并同时服务于进攻与防御双重目标。

U.S. defense officials have declined to disclose the technical specifications, operational mechanisms, or launch timeline of the deployed orbital hardware. In a public statement, a U.S. Space Force spokesperson explained that space control encapsulates the mission areas required to contest and control the space domain, utilizing both kinetic and non-kinetic means to disrupt, degrade, or destroy adversary capabilities for offensive and defensive purposes at the direction of combatant commands.

防务专家指出公众对该技术的实际信息掌握极少。英国皇家联合军种国防研究所专家布莱丁·鲍恩博士向英国广播公司表示，美军所指的资产可能包括用于干扰无线电通信的电子战或无线电干扰平台，这类技术在地面已成熟应用；另一种推测是发射弹体撞击敌方卫星的动能杀伤器，但此类物理摧毁手段容易产生大量轨道碎片，相对可能性较低。

Space defense analysts observed that publicly verified technical information regarding the deployment remains scarce. Dr. Bleddyn Bowen from the Royal United Services Institute told the BBC that the military could be operating an electronic warfare or radio jamming platform similar to terrestrial systems designed to disrupt communications. Bowen added that another theoretical possibility includes kinetic kill vehicles engineered to release projectiles and destroy targets on impact, though physically destructive systems carry a substantial risk of creating dangerous orbital debris and remain less probable.

美国太空军在其官方说明中，将部署在轨空间控制武器的理由直接对准俄罗斯与中国两个主要竞争对手。太空军评估认为，中国正在将研发与运用太空及反太空能力纳入其军事现代化战略，而俄罗斯则将太空视为实战作战领域，并坚信太空制权将成为未来冲突的决定性因素。美方防务官员指责两国持续测试新型进攻性太空能力，包括俄罗斯卫星星座的攻防战术演练，以及中方具备核能力的部门轨道高超音速导弹研发。

The U.S. Space Force explicitly justified its on-orbit weapons deployment by citing threats posed by Russia and China, framing both nations as major geopolitical rivals challenging American interests in orbit. According to Space Force assessments, China develops and operates space and counterspace capabilities as part of a comprehensive military modernization strategy, while Russia views space as an active warfighting domain where achieving supremacy will serve as a decisive factor in future conflicts. American military officials pointed to adversarial testing of offensive capabilities, including Russian satellite constellation maneuvers designed around combat tactics and Chinese development of nuclear-capable partial-orbit hypersonic systems.

面对美方公开承认部署空间控制武器，中国外交部发言人郭家昆在周二的新闻发布会上做出回应，警告各方防范外层空间出现军备竞赛。郭家昆敦促美方停止在外层空间扩充军备和备战行为。美方此前还曾提出俄罗斯探索研发太空高能电磁脉冲武器的评估，但莫斯科方面对此类指控予以否认。

China's Foreign Ministry responded to Washington's deployment acknowledgment on Tuesday by warning against an escalating arms race in outer space. Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun urged the United States to stop expanding its military capabilities and preparing for war in the orbital domain. U.S. defense officials have also raised concerns regarding alleged Russian research into space-based electromagnetic pulse systems that could disrupt extensive satellite networks, an allegation that Moscow has officially denied.

在法律与国际军控层面，1967年缔结的《外层空间条约》仅明确禁止在轨道部署核武器以及其他大规模杀伤性武器，但该条约并未对常规武器部署或陆基反卫星系统作出限制，从而为各主要大国开发常规攻防太空手段留下了法律解读空间。自2019年美国创建太空军作为70多年来首个新军种以保护卫星资产以来，华盛顿便持续将太空防御能力融入国家总体安全架构。

From a legal and international arms control standpoint, the 1967 Outer Space Treaty strictly prohibits placing nuclear weapons or other weapons of mass destruction into Earth's orbit, yet it contains no explicit ban on deploying conventional armaments or operating ground-based counterspace systems, leaving critical operational flexibility for major powers. Since the establishment of the U.S. Space Force in 2019 as the first new military branch in more than seven decades to safeguard orbital communications and surveillance satellites, Washington has progressively elevated space control within its overarching defense architecture.

去年12月，唐纳德·特朗普签署行政令，将太空优势定义为国家愿景与意志的衡量标准，并着重提出发展下一代导弹防御技术。这一举措直接服务于拟议中的“金穹”多层导弹防御系统规划。该项目旨在利用太空拦截能力与地面拦截弹建立全球反导网络，官方规划在2028年前后完成建设并在此之前安排关键测试。梅因克同时证实，美国天基拦截器项目目前已推进至新的研发阶段。

Last December, Donald Trump signed an executive order designating American superiority in space as a vital measure of national vision and willpower, placing direct emphasis on developing next-generation missile defense technologies and countering potential orbital nuclear threats. The directive advanced planning for the proposed multibillion-dollar Golden Dome shield, an initiative structured around space-based capabilities and interceptors to stop incoming missile threats. Meink noted on Monday that a U.S. space-based interceptor program has advanced to subsequent stages of development ahead of major program milestones planned before 2028.