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Every idea this president comes up with his critics attack to no end. If people are unhappy with how he's handled the virus, then they should be thrilled with his idea of a space force. All we have now is NASA and two private companies to build rockets. Do people realize if a war starts among countries that are capable of reaching space, the first part will happen in space. They'll be taking out each others military and civilian satellites. Everything runs off satellites now. You'll need to defend and possibly repair them....we'll need a highly trained space force. It's proactive and way ahead of time but, since we it's his idea and we all hate it's stupid.
I remember that: “My new national strategy for space recognizes that space is a warfighting domain,” he told the troops, “just like the land, air, and sea. We may even have a Space Force, develop another one: Space Force. We have the Air Force, we’ll have the Space Force. We have the Army, the Navy. You know, I was saying it the other day — because we’re doing a tremendous amount of work in space — I said, ‘Maybe we need a new force. We’ll call it the Space Force.’ And I was not really serious. And then I said, ‘What a great idea. Maybe we’ll have to do that.’ ”
The only nation with an independent space force is the United States, which established the United States Space Force in December 2019.
Space has from the start been militarized, but so far not overtly weaponized.
There is maybe not a bright bold red line, but a somewhat fuzzy line that has not yet been crossed.
That fuzzy line is established by the Outer Space Treaty, which went into effect in 1967 and which allegedly governs how militaries can behave in space — but actually leaves plenty of wiggle room. It outlaws a couple of very specific actions: No lofting weapons of mass destruction into orbit, for example, and no putting nuclear weapons on celestial bodies like the moon.
Right...
I like the idea of Space Force. It might be a decade or 2 or 3 away but the idea is a solid one. I'm sure that other Presidents have thought of it but it took Trump, a man with broad shoulders that is not afraid to be criticized (he might not like it but he sure has gotten used to it) and not afraid to think big, HUUGE and Tremendous, Spectacular really.
The reason we don't have separate forces for every little military technology variant is that it hinders the chain of command. Now when the Air Force needs help from a space asset, they will need to transfer it to a different organization with different priorities. It's do-able, but it can produce a significant handicap in the heat of battle.
I don't know, I don't really think that "Space Force" is 100% a bad idea, I don't know how far this administration will get with it, or if another future administration will continue that work or not. I'm enough of a sci fi nerd to think that having defense systems that go beyond the possibility of one country on Earth attacking another, might be a good idea. I've slogged my way through the entirety of Battlestar Galactica after all.
Maybe Trump will protect us from the "toasters." Or not.
But Trump is not the first US Prez to consider defense+space, and it's my understanding that Reagan's plans kinda flopped (at least partially) because he didn't have the best grasp on the real logistics of making his ideas a reality. I suspect that Trump might end up with the same problem, and frankly I don't see our government having the resources, the funds, for ambitious military expansion right now. Guess we'll see.
Trump's military notions seem to be coming directly from the Bush administration's think tank group, known as PNAC. John Bolton and other hawks were leading the charge in all things military in those days. One of PNAC's objectives was the complete domination of the world's military might, seeking to initiate dominance in space was also a part of PNAC strategies. The entirety of PNAC leadership was heavily invested in a neoconservative hawk mentality, something dear to the GOP's inner core.
I don't know, I don't really think that "Space Force" is 100% a bad idea, I don't know how far this administration will get with it, or if another future administration will continue that work or not. I'm enough of a sci fi nerd to think that having defense systems that go beyond the possibility of one country on Earth attacking another, might be a good idea. I've slogged my way through the entirety of Battlestar Galactica after all.
Maybe Trump will protect us from the "toasters." Or not.
But Trump is not the first US Prez to consider defense+space, and it's my understanding that Reagan's plans kinda flopped (at least partially) because he didn't have the best grasp on the real logistics of making his ideas a reality. I suspect that Trump might end up with the same problem, and frankly I don't see our government having the resources, the funds, for ambitious military expansion right now. Guess we'll see.
Well, we also have to keep in mind, the US govt does not show all of its cards to the general public ( in relation to the military forces and defense of the country)...
So, its VERY possible, they are aware of some 'off planet threat', and this is the reason for the creation of Space Force...(of course they are not going to tell the public that! LOL)
Well, we also have to keep in mind, the US govt does not show all of its cards to the general public ( in relation to the military forces and defense of the country)...
So, its VERY possible, they are aware of some 'off planet threat', and this is the reason for the creation of Space Force...(of course they are not going to tell the public that! LOL)
True, and I'd bet top military brass know something this. However, given his proclivity for grandstanding, there is no way they could tell this to the current president without him turning into a personal achievement, look what I did moment.
Every individual service has been doing it's own space activities since the dawn of the space age. The idea of pulling all those assets out of the individual services and into a single space organization has been suggested many times. It's mostly been shot down because each service has it's own parochial interests and heart in contrast to space which by it's very nature is strategic and cross service.
If you look back, Air Force Space Command was formed in the early 80s. US Space Command a little later to consolidate command and control of all service space assets. This was renamed in early 2000s, so the formation of a new "US Space Command" is just getting back to what we once had.
In the early 2000s there was again a push to AF Space Command into a space force because the Air Force was too interested in air planes and not doing an adequate job with space. The compromise solution was to shift the acquisition of space assets from Air Force Material Command to AF Space Command and so he space force was postponed once again.
But the Air Force was still run by pilots who focused primarily on the airplane and less on space assets needed by the rest of the services and DoD as a whole. Finally, under Trump, the Air Force was pretty much told shut up and color because the national, strategic need for space is more important than the individual service's personal goals.
A single integrated space force is something this country has needed for a long time. Because space is important to the nation as a whole, and petty inter-service squabbles get in the way of the national interest.
Ronald Reagan, the greatest President who ever lived, accomplished exactly what he intended with the "Star Wars" program. Through leaking disinformation and deliberate misdirection, the Russians were lured into spending billions of dollars on a program of their own, to fight a program that was all smoke and mirrors. This was one of the most masterful uses of counter intelligence ever in the history of the world.
Reagan knew the financial conditions of Russia and their over extension of resources. He also knew due to the arrogance and fear typical of Soviet leaders, they would attempt to gain an advantage in any military field the Americans were in. Reagan knew all he had to do was give the appearance we were developing massive space weaponry and the Soviets would allocate funds they did not have to try to get ahead of us.
It worked, Reagan was a genius and no lives were lost due to the "Star Wars" program libs love to make fun of.
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