Pentagon’s Next War: Troops Told to Prepare for Combat to Seize the Moon

For decades, anyone who said the military was weaponizing space was called a conspiracy theorist. Now the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is saying it out loud—and pointing at the Moon.

American troops need to prepare for combat not only in Earth’s orbit but around the Moon, President Donald Trump’s top military adviser said Wednesday, looking ahead to a new frontier in warfare after the U.S. revealed for the first time that it has deployed weapons in space.

Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told service members and industry figures at the Air, Space and Cyber Conference outside Washington that the U.S. military should adapt now so it “is prepared to fight, endure and win … from the seabed to cislunar space”.

“Cislunar space.” That’s the term they want you to get used to. It describes the region between Earth and the Moon—including lunar orbit. And according to the Pentagon’s top uniformed officer, it’s now a designated battlespace.

They Admitted It Days Ago

This isn’t speculation. On Monday, Air Force Secretary Troy Meink told the same conference that the U.S. has fielded “on-orbit space control weapons” capable of defending the joint force against hostile adversary action.

This was the first formal public acknowledgment of armed U.S. platforms in orbit.

Meink deliberately declined to disclose the weapons’ type, number, or capabilities. He said talking about operational details “would actually not benefit that deterrence”.

Translation: They exist. They’re up there. And they’re not going to tell you what they do.

The Treaty Loophole

The 1967 Outer Space Treaty, signed by the U.S., China, and Russia, says celestial objects like the Moon are to be used “exclusively for peaceful purposes” and prohibits placing nuclear weapons or weapons of mass destruction in orbit.

But it does not explicitly ban conventional weapons in space.

That’s the loophole. That’s always been the loophole.

When asked about the treaty and other obligations, Lt. Gen. Gregory Gagnon, head of Space Force’s Combat Forces Command, said the U.S. “will continue to execute safe and responsible space operations in all the reaches of space”.

He would not say what Space Force policy is on using bullets or projectiles in space. He directed questions to the Pentagon, which did not immediately respond.

The “Deterrence” Word

Gagnon said the U.S. aims to double the size of the Space Force over the next five years—to roughly 25,000 service members—with about two-thirds of that growth focused on Combat Forces Command.

“We have capabilities in the military because we are preparing to defend the nation,” Gagnon said. “The reason we have the capabilities is to help create deterrence”.

Deterrence against what? Gagnon named China: “Our potential adversaries such as the PRC are actively pursuing activities in the system, in parts of space”.

China established its own military space troops in 2024, tasked with boosting capability to manage space crises.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun responded: “China always upholds the peaceful use of outer space, maintains outer space security and opposes the weaponization, militarization and an arms race in outer space.” He urged the U.S. to “stop expanding its military preparations in outer space.”