Source : INDIA TODAY NEWS
For decades, space has been described as the next battlefield. On September 14, the United States took a step that could turn that warning into a new strategic reality.
US Air Force Secretary Troy Meink publicly acknowledged for the first time that the United States has deployed “on-orbit space control weapons” capable of defending the Joint Force against hostile adversary action.
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The following day, US Space Force chief Gen. Douglas Schiess reinforced the disclosure, saying American Guardians already operate weapons in orbit that can defend the Joint Force against space-enabled attacks.
“Space is both a battlefield and the backbone of our Joint Force. We face determined and credible adversaries who are building and fielding counterspace systems at incredible speeds to target directly the United States’s space advantage,” Gen. Douglas Schiess said.
But the most important part of the announcement is what Washington did not reveal.
WHAT ARE THE WEAPONS US HAS DEPLOYED IN SPACE? NO ONE KNOWS
There is no public information about how many such weapons exist, where they are deployed, what satellites or systems they can target, or even whether they are kinetic or non-kinetic. “Space control” is a deliberately broad term.
The capability could involve electronic warfare, jamming or directed-energy systems, among other possibilities. US officials have offered no technical description that allows the weapon to be identified with certainty.
And that ambiguity may itself be the point.
Meink said the wording was important from a deterrence perspective, while declining to provide further details. In other words, Washington wants potential adversaries to know that a capability exists without necessarily telling them exactly what it can do.
This is significant because the United States is no longer merely talking about preparing for warfare in space. It has acknowledged that a weapon system is already there.
The distinction matters.
Military satellites underpin communications, navigation, missile warning, intelligence and targeting.
AN UNENDING BUILDUP IN SPACE
The US Space Force itself describes space superiority as essential to protecting American space assets and identifies orbital warfare and electromagnetic warfare among its missions.
“We will make disciplined and responsible choices about how we build and sustain our combat advantage. Which means scaling our ability to respond to threats,” Gen. Douglas Schiess said.
The announcement also creates a potential security dilemma.
China and Russia have long been accused by Washington of developing counter-space capabilities. Both countries have demonstrated technologies that can threaten satellites, while the US has also been expanding its own space warfare architecture. Now Washington has publicly crossed another threshold by acknowledging deployed orbital weapons.
China has already criticised the move and called for space not to become a battlefield.
A retired Indian Army general, formerly the Director General of Military Operations, told IndiaToday.in that the danger is not necessarily that China or Russia will immediately deploy an identical weapon.
“The bigger risk is a gradual cycle: one country reveals a capability; another interprets it as a threat; it develops or deploys a countermeasure; the first responds with another capability,” he added.
That is how arms races can begin, not always with a declaration of war, but with uncertainty, suspicion and deterrence.
DOES INDIA HAVE WEAPONS CAPABILITY IN SPACE?
For India, the development presents a difficult strategic calculation.
India has already demonstrated a kinetic anti-satellite capability through Mission Shakti in 2019. But New Delhi has not publicly declared that it has deployed weapons in orbit.
India has also developed significant capabilities in areas such as space situational awareness and electronic warfare, although the extent and location of any offensive counter-space capabilities remain undisclosed.
The immediate question for India, therefore, is not whether it should rush to put weapons in orbit. It is whether its defensive and counter-space capabilities need to evolve alongside the changing character of warfare.
That could eventually strengthen arguments for a more dedicated military structure for space, potentially beginning with an expanded space command and, depending on future strategic requirements, a dedicated space force.
The United States’ announcement does not tell us what weapon is orbiting above Earth.
But it tells the world something arguably more consequential: Washington now considers placing weapons in space an acceptable part of preparing for the next war.
The question is whether other major powers will eventually reach the same conclusion.
– Ends
SOURCE :- TIMES OF INDIA
