The United States has publicly acknowledged for the first time that it has weapons deployed in orbit, revealing a previously undisclosed capability. US secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink said on Monday that the US now had “on-orbit space control weapons” capable of defending American forces against hostile action. Speaking at the Air & Space Forces Association’s Air, Space & Cyber Conference in Maryland, Meink declined to identify the weapon or disclose when it was deployed, but said the wording of his announcement had been carefully chosen to send a deterrent message to adversaries.“This is why the United States…