Space soon to be the final missile frontier

Space is the new arena for war, US President Donald Trump said yesterday, as he announced a major drive to update America’s missile defence system and touted his “Space Force” proposal.

He said he wanted a “layer” of sensors in space that can detect missile launches and that he would demand the technology was funded in his next budget. The item was one of a host of improvements the Pentagon wants to make to its decades-old missile defence system, outlined in a new review.

It drew comparison to Ronald Reagan’s costly and ambitious project to create a space-based anti-missile system at the height of the Cold War in the 1980s, which was derisively dubbed “Star Wars” by critics.

Speaking at the Pentagon, Trump explained the new strategy and insisted that now was the time to modernise to keep America safe. “Our goal is simple: To ensure we can detect and destroy any missile launched against the United States, anywhere, anytime, anyplace.”

The review picked out four countries that pose a missile threat to Americans on home soil — North Korea, Iran, Russia and China — and warned that adversaries were rapidly developing their programmes.

It said that North Korea posed an “extraordinary threat”, in contrast to Trump’s declaration after meeting its leader Kim Jong Un last year that “there is no longer a nuclear threat”.

Yesterday Trump said: “We have some very bad players out there. We’re a good player. But we can be far worse than anybody if need be.” Trump named six priorities:

● putting the defence of Americans first;

● developing new technologies;

● being prepared for all types of missile attacks;

● recognising space is now in play;

● removing obstacles to US projects;

● demanding “burden sharing” from America’s allies.

It was his comments on space that especially raised eyebrows. “We will recognise that space is a new warfighting domain, with the Space Force leading the way.”

Space Force is Trump’s proposal for a free-standing military department focused specifically on space. Currently such issues largely fall under the US Air Force. The move has faced some opposition in the Pentagon, including from James Mattis, the former defence secretary, over whether the major reorganisation needed for its creation would bring enough benefit.

Trump said yesterday that his next budget will invest in a “space-based missile defence layer”. US officials have suggested a layer of sensors in space would help detect missiles moving at hypersonic speeds.

Responding to the President’s new strategy, Viktor Bondarev, chairman of Russia’s upper house defence and security committee, said it would ramp up global tensions, according to Interfax news agency.