US builds force for space wars

THE UNITED States met a mounting 21st century strategic challenge from Russia and China Friday with the creation of a fullfledged US Space Force within the Department of Defense.

Acting on an ambition by President Donald Trump that had met resistance at first, the White House signaled its determination to not cede superiority in a Star Wars-like future of killer satellites and satellitekiller weapons.

Trump made the Space Force’s creation real with the signing of the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act, which set the initial budget for a Pentagon force that will stand equally with the military’s five other branches.

“Going to be a lot of things happening in space, because space is the world’s newest warfighting domain,” Trump told members of the military gathered for the signing.

- Seeking dominance

The Space Force will be the sixth formal force of the US military, after the Army, Air Force, Navy Marines, and Coast Guard.

“Our reliance on space-based capabilities has grown dramatically, and today outer space has evolved into a warfighting domain of its own,” said Secretary of Defense Mark Esper.

“Maintaining American dominance in that domain is now the mission of the United States Space Force.”