Vice President Pence wishes America to declare its dominance in space and revealed that the Trump administration wants to create “Space Force” by 2020
Vice President Pence said in a speech to the Defense Department that countries such as Russia, China, North Korea and Iran are already finding ways to bring “new weapons of war into space itself.”
Therefore, he argued that if others are doing so, the US should not stay behind:
“As their actions make clear, our adversaries have transformed space into a warfighting domain already and the United States will not shrink from this challenge,” he said. “Under President Trump’s leadership, we will meet it head on — to defend our nation, and build a peaceful future here on Earth and in space.”
Last week, Donald Trump mentioned that he had ordered the Pentagon to start the process of creating a Space Force as a new branch of the US military.
In addition, Pence mentioned on Thursday that this was an idea “whose time had come” and argued that this was an idea that the White House wants to pursue as fast as possible.
“President Trump and I are grateful to Secretary Mattis for this department’s diligence in preparing this report, and our administration will soon take action to implement these recommendations, with the objective of establishing the United States Department of the Space Force by 2020,” he said.
On this matter, he also mentioned that a new position will be created for an assistant secretary of defense for space.
“Creating a new branch of the military is not a simple process. It will require collaboration, diligence, and above all leadership. As challenges arise and deadlines approach, there must be someone in charge who can execute, hold others accountable, and be responsible for the results,” he added.
However, this move has raised signs of skepticism from the Defense Department. In a letter to Congress from last year, Secretary James Mattis strongly opposed the idea of a separate force, arguing that it would “likely present a narrower and even parochial approach to space operations” and said that a “properly integrated approach is better for carrying out this mission.”
However, he added that the Pentagon was in “complete agreement” with the White House:
“We are working our way through all this. We are in compete agreement, the vice president is the point man for the president on this, we are working closely, daily with his office and with supporters on Capitol Hill and the relevant committees,” he said. “So we’re working it up what that actual organization will look like.”
“It will be fit for purpose is what I can assure you, but I don’t have all the final answers yet, we’re still putting that together,” he said.
Source: foxnews.com
