US confirms for first time it has deployed space weapons
US confirms for first time it has deployed space weapons
美国首次证实已部署太空武器
The US has confirmed it deployed a space weapon in Earth’s orbit, the first time it has acknowledged such offensive capabilities. US Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink said the “on orbit” weapon was necessary to safeguard US forces against hostile enemy action. 美国已证实其在地球轨道上部署了太空武器，这是美国首次承认具备此类进攻性能力。美国空军部长特洛伊·梅因克（Troy Meink）表示，这种“在轨”武器对于保护美军免受敌对行动的侵害是必要的。
Speaking at the Air, Space and Cyber Conference on Monday, Meink said the US was ready for “evolving threats”, but did not elaborate on the weapon’s capabilities or when it was put into orbit. 在周一举行的航空、航天与网络会议上，梅因克表示美国已为“不断演变的威胁”做好了准备，但并未详细说明该武器的功能或其进入轨道的具体时间。
Senior military leaders have previously said they planned to boost military capabilities in space, citing Russian and Chinese programmes developing ways to attack and disrupt US satellites in a future conflict. 高级军事领导人此前曾表示，他们计划提升太空军事能力，并指出俄罗斯和中国正在开发在未来冲突中攻击和干扰美国卫星的手段。
China responded on Tuesday by warning against an “arms race” in space. “We urge the US side to stop expanding its military capabilities and preparing for war in outer space,” AFP quoted a foreign ministry spokesman as saying. 中国周二作出回应，警告不要在太空进行“军备竞赛”。据法新社援引外交部发言人的话称：“我们敦促美方停止扩张军事能力，停止在太空进行战争准备。”
Details of how the weapon operates have not been disclosed by US officials. 美国官员尚未披露该武器运作方式的细节。
A US Space Force spokesperson said: “Space control encapsulates the mission areas required to contest and control the space domain – employing kinetic and non-kinetic means to affect adversary capabilities through disruption, degradation and even destruction, if necessary. These capabilities can be employed for offensive and defensive purposes at the direction of combatant commands.” 美国太空军发言人表示：“太空控制涵盖了争夺和控制太空领域所需的任务区域——通过动能和非动能手段，在必要时通过干扰、削弱甚至摧毁来影响对手的能力。这些能力可在作战司令部的指挥下用于进攻和防御目的。”
An expert on military uses of outer space noted that “precious little” was publicly known about the technology, and told the BBC there could be a “whole range of different weapons systems”. 一位外层空间军事用途专家指出，公众对该技术“知之甚少”，并告诉英国广播公司（BBC），这可能涉及“一系列不同的武器系统”。
Speaking to Radio 4’s Today programme, Dr Bleddyn Bowen, from the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), said he was “totally guessing” but that the US could have been referring to “some kind electronic warfare or radio jamming platform”. That would be the sort of weapon that already exists on Earth and could disrupt radio communications, Bowen said. 英国皇家联合军种国防研究所（RUSI）的布莱丁·鲍文（Bleddyn Bowen）博士在接受第四电台《今日》节目采访时表示，他只是“完全在猜测”，但美国所指的可能是“某种电子战或无线电干扰平台”。鲍文说，这类武器在地球上已经存在，可以干扰无线电通信。
An alternative would be “a kinetic kill vehicle of some sort - so a vehicle that would release a projectile of some sort that would ram into a satellite and destroy it”. But this was less likely because such a physically destructive tool would be capable of creating a lot of debris, Bowen added. 另一种可能是“某种动能拦截器——即释放某种弹丸撞击并摧毁卫星的飞行器”。但鲍文补充说，这种情况的可能性较小，因为这种具有物理破坏性的工具会产生大量碎片。
The Trump administration has said that space-based capabilities - and interceptor missiles - are a crucial part of its planned “Golden Dome” defence system to protect the US from missiles and other airborne threats. 特朗普政府曾表示，天基能力和拦截导弹是其计划中的“金穹”（Golden Dome）防御系统的重要组成部分，旨在保护美国免受导弹和其他空中威胁。
Last year President Donald Trump issued an executive order underlining the US Space Force’s role in not only defending assets, but also as an attacking force. 去年，唐纳德·特朗普总统发布了一项行政命令，强调了美国太空军不仅在防御资产方面的作用，还将其定位为一支进攻力量。
The US Space Force - the first new branch of the US military for more than 70 years - was launched in 2019 as a way to protect American assets in space, including hundreds of satellites used for communication and surveillance. 美国太空军是美国70多年来成立的第一个新军种，于2019年组建，旨在保护美国的太空资产，包括数百颗用于通信和监视的卫星。
A 1967 treaty banned weapons of mass destruction in orbit. Since then, key powers including the US, Russia, and China have been exploring other capabilities outside of the treaty, such as targeting rivals’ satellites - which are key for military communications, surveillance and navigation. 1967年的一项条约禁止在轨道上部署大规模杀伤性武器。自那时起，包括美国、俄罗斯和中国在内的主要大国一直在探索条约之外的其他能力，例如针对竞争对手的卫星——这些卫星是军事通信、监视和导航的关键。
In early February, it was revealed that two Russian satellites had likely intercepted the communications of at least a dozen European ones since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Such interceptions may have allowed Russian intelligence services to read the sensitive data they transmit, or hypothetically, even to take control of the satellites. 今年2月初，有消息披露，自2022年俄罗斯入侵乌克兰以来，两颗俄罗斯卫星可能拦截了至少十几颗欧洲卫星的通信。这种拦截可能使俄罗斯情报部门能够读取它们传输的敏感数据，或者在假设情况下，甚至可能控制这些卫星。
In 2024, the US said Russia had launched a satellite which it believed may be capable of attacking other such probes. Russia did not publicly comment on the issue. 2024年，美国称俄罗斯发射了一颗卫星，美方认为该卫星可能具备攻击其他探测器的能力。俄罗斯未就此事发表公开评论。
The US Space Force says China “develops and operates space and counterspace capabilities as part of a military modernisation strategy,” while Russia “views space as a warfighting domain and believes space supremacy will be a decisive factor in future conflicts”. 美国太空军表示，中国“作为军事现代化战略的一部分，正在开发和运行太空及反太空能力”，而俄罗斯“将太空视为作战领域，并认为太空优势将是未来冲突中的决定性因素”。