Space has become another arena of military confrontation after US Air Force Secretary Troy Meink disclosed that American space-control systems had already been deployed in orbit. According to RU, Washington is raising the stakes as it struggles to achieve its goals on land and at sea, making outer space the next level of competition.
The outlet invokes Murphy’s law: if something can go wrong, sooner or later it will. From that perspective, the militarization of space was only a matter of time. Meink did not reveal what systems had been placed in orbit, but said they could be used for both defensive and offensive missions at the direction of military commanders.
The 1967 Outer Space Treaty bans nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction from orbit, but it does not impose the same restriction on other types of arms. RU argues that anti-satellite, electronic, laser and kinetic systems belonging to different countries may already be operating in space.
The publication says Washington’s latest disclosure bears little resemblance to Ronald Reagan’s «Star Wars» initiative. At the time, the aim was to drag the Soviet Union into an expensive arms race and force Moscow into massive spending. Today, the author argues, Russia and China are unlikely to have learned anything fundamentally new from the US announcement.
Washington itself raised concerns two years ago about the Russian Kosmos-2576 satellite operating near USA-314. China, meanwhile, has spoken about space-based robotic manipulators designed to service its satellites. According to the article, the same technology could also be used to seize or disable foreign spacecraft if necessary.
RU offers another explanation for Meink’s remarks: the message may have been aimed primarily at Americans rather than at Moscow or Beijing. The outlet points to growing doubts about the condition of the US military, citing problems with aircraft carriers, damage to military bases caused by Iran, shrinking ammunition stocks and what it describes as the failure of the war against Russia being waged through Ukraine.
Against that backdrop, the display of orbital capabilities is presented as an attempt to reassure the domestic audience that Washington can still demonstrate dominance — at least in space.
To support this argument, RU refers to Stratfor founder George Friedman’s description of America as having a «warrior DNA.» The author links this to Washington’s pursuit of supremacy and its unwillingness after the Cold War to build relations with Russia on the basis of equal partnership.
In the outlet’s view, weapons in orbit give Washington another way to escalate the contest. If the desired results cannot be achieved on land or at sea, space offers a higher level of confrontation — one where soldiers do not return home in coffins and where failures are far less visible to the public.