US Vice President Mike Pence spoke to Congress and announced the need to allocate $ 8 billion for space forces and space security over the next five years. What for? Pence described China and Russia as potential threats to US satellites, creating a need to build a military capable of responding. "The creation of space forces is an idea whose time has come," said Pence.
Defense Secretary James Mattis spoke with Pence at the Pentagon ahead of the Defense Department's Space Force deployment plan. Citing Donald Trump's words two months ago, Pence said the group would be "separated and equal to the other five branches" of the military.
Why does the US need space forces? Will they fight in space?
To get things going, Pence proposes to unfold the plan in four steps:
- Create a single supervisory body - US Space Command - by the end of the year, in whose interests it will be to protect America's interests in space.
- Form an elite group of fighters - space special forces. This will include people from other military units.
- Create a Space Development Agency to rapidly create new space defense technologies.
- Establish clear lines of accountability when creating a new branch of the military by 2020. A civilian position will be created - Assistant Minister of Defense for Space Defense.
If you imagine people fighting in space, get rid of this spectacle immediately - it is proposed only to create a ground team to protect American satellites. Ultimately, however, the decision to create space forces will fall on the shoulders of Congress, which will have to approve their creation and sign funding.
Ilya Khel
