Japan to launch new space defence unit

JAPAN’S prime minister has said his country will form a space defence unit to protect itself from potential threats – and the new unit will work closely with its US counterpart recently launched by president Donald Trump.

The Space Domain Mission Unit will start in April as part of Japan’s Air Self-Defence Force, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said in a policy speech marking the start of the year’s parliamentary session.

He said Japan must also defend itself from threats in cyberspace and from interference against Japanese satellites.

“We will drastically bolster capability and system in order to secure superiority,” Abe said.

The space unit will be added to an existing air base at Fuchu in the western suburbs of Tokyo, where about 20 people will be staffed ahead of a full launch in 2022.

The role of the space unit is to conduct satellite-based navigation and communications for other troops in the field, rather than being on the ground.

The unit will co-operate with the

US Space Command that Trump established in August, as well as Japan’s space exploration agency.

Abe has pushed for Japan’s Self-Defence Force to expand its international role and capability by bolstering co-operation and weapons compatibility with the US, as it grows concerned about the increasing capabilities of China and North Korea.

In a sign of a thaw in Japan’s recently tense relations with South Korea, Abe said he planned to cooperate with the country and the US in dealing with harsh security environment in northeast Asia.

He called South Korea his country’s “most important neighbour” – a phrase he used until their relations rapidly deteriorated in the past two years.