US troops must prepare to fight around the moon, Trump’s top military adviser says

The comments by Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, come soon after the US revealed that it has deployed weapons in space

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 on Wednesday, looking ahead to a new frontier in warfare after the US revealed for the first time that it has deployed weapons in space.

General 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 US military should adapt now so it “is prepared to fight, endure and win … from the seabed to cislunar space”.

Space Force, the newest military service, which was created by Trump in 2019, is preparing to fight in space and around the moon because “humanity is advancing deeper into space – the Space Force’s job is to help be prepared to defend US interests,” Lieutenant General Gregory Gagnon, head of the force’s Combat Forces Command, told reporters separately.

The announcement that the US military is ready to fight in the area between high Earth orbit and the moon itself comes days after Air Force Secretary Troy Meink revealed at the same conference that the US has fielded “on-orbit space control weapons”.