ElNono
08-10-2018, 07:03 PM
Pentagon plans to launch Trump's Space Force as a separate armed service
WASHINGTON – Vice President Mike Pence announced Thursday that the Pentagon plans to launch a Space Force, embarking on an effort to create the first armed service since 1947.
In June, President Donald Trump called for the establishment of the sixth armed service, to join the Air Force, Army, Marine Corps, Navy and Coast Guard. Thursday's plan, which requires authorization and funding from Congress, would develop forces to defend satellites from attack and perform other space-related tasks. China and Russia are the nation's primary rivals in space.
"The time has come to establish the United States Space Force," Pence said.
The force would be created by 2020, Pence said. Before that, the Pentagon plans to assemble the U.S. Space Command, which would be led by a four-star officer and draw forces from the other armed services. A 15-page proposal outlines the need for the force and steps to get there but no bottom line, saying only that any costs associated with it will be sent to Congress next February.
Deputy Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan told reporters that he assumed creating the Space Force would cost "billions."
When the proposal for a separate force was broached last year, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis resisted it. He wrote to Congress that it would “likely present a narrower and even parochial approach to space operations.”
Mattis signaled this week that his thoughts had changed.
"We need to address space as a developing war-fighting domain, and a combatant command is certainly one thing that we can establish," Mattis said. "This is a process we're in. We are in complete alignment with the president's concern about protecting our assets in space that contribute to our security, to our economy. And we're going to have to address it as other countries show a capability to attack those assets."
Read more: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2018/08/09/space-force-pentagon-announces-plan-create-sixth-armed-service/945365002/
WASHINGTON – Vice President Mike Pence announced Thursday that the Pentagon plans to launch a Space Force, embarking on an effort to create the first armed service since 1947.
In June, President Donald Trump called for the establishment of the sixth armed service, to join the Air Force, Army, Marine Corps, Navy and Coast Guard. Thursday's plan, which requires authorization and funding from Congress, would develop forces to defend satellites from attack and perform other space-related tasks. China and Russia are the nation's primary rivals in space.
"The time has come to establish the United States Space Force," Pence said.
The force would be created by 2020, Pence said. Before that, the Pentagon plans to assemble the U.S. Space Command, which would be led by a four-star officer and draw forces from the other armed services. A 15-page proposal outlines the need for the force and steps to get there but no bottom line, saying only that any costs associated with it will be sent to Congress next February.
Deputy Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan told reporters that he assumed creating the Space Force would cost "billions."
When the proposal for a separate force was broached last year, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis resisted it. He wrote to Congress that it would “likely present a narrower and even parochial approach to space operations.”
Mattis signaled this week that his thoughts had changed.
"We need to address space as a developing war-fighting domain, and a combatant command is certainly one thing that we can establish," Mattis said. "This is a process we're in. We are in complete alignment with the president's concern about protecting our assets in space that contribute to our security, to our economy. And we're going to have to address it as other countries show a capability to attack those assets."
Read more: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2018/08/09/space-force-pentagon-announces-plan-create-sixth-armed-service/945365002/