Global Powers Accelerate Autonomous Weapons, From Space Platforms to Underwater Drones
U.S. officials disclosed orbital weapon capabilities for the first time, raising questions about the 1967 Outer Space Treaty. China unveiled a new class of unmanned submarines built at a Shanghai shipyard, while Russian and American forces continue to develop land and sea autonomous platforms. Experts warned that space-based weapons could generate hazardous debris, and that the legal status of the cislunar zone remains contested. Both Washington and Beijing claim to be modernising their militaries amid a broader arms race that now spans space, air, sea and underwater domains.
At a three-day conference on aerospace and cyber operations, U.S. Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink confirmed the deployment of orbital weapon systems, a move that challenges the 1967 Outer Space Treaty’s ban on placing weapons of mass destruction in space. The announcement sparked criticism from Beijing, which also highlighted its own advances, including the construction of a carrier-type vessel for unmanned submarines (XXLUUV) at the Chu-tung Chung-chua shipyard in Shanghai.
Russian and American militaries are simultaneously fielding autonomous ground and naval technologies that could replace human operators. Analysts noted that space-based weapons, such as laser or kinetic systems, would create significant debris, potentially violating treaty provisions that forbid harmful space pollution. Legal scholars pointed out the ambiguity surrounding the cislunar region, where some view satellites as part of the domain and others treat it as a separate arena. The developments reflect a widening competition among the United States, China and Russia to dominate future battlefields from orbit to the ocean floor.
