America’s top military officer has declared that the US joint force must now train and equip itself to fight and sustain operations across an enormous new battlespace stretching from the ocean floor all the way to the region around the Moon. Gen. Dan Caine, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told the September 2026 Air, Space & Cyber Conference that future conflicts will not offer the luxury of safe supply lines or uncontested access. The general’s remarks mark a clear expansion of traditional warfighting concepts into what the military calls cislunar space, the vast zone running from Earth’s surface outward past the Moon. His warning comes just after the Air Force Secretary confirmed that on-orbit space control weapons are already deployed, underscoring that space is no longer a peaceful sanctuary but a fully contested domain.

The comments signal that the Pentagon is actively planning for the possibility of sustained combat operations far beyond low Earth orbit. Without guaranteed logistics or free movement, commanders will have to rethink everything from satellite protection and lunar logistics to power projection across the void between Earth and the Moon. These statements raise urgent questions about how the United States intends to defend commercial and scientific assets in deep space, whether allies will join this expanded mission, and how soon actual warfighting capabilities will appear around the Moon. The shift places the US military firmly in a new era where the next great-power clash could unfold among the stars.