Asianbangla Desk : Vice President Mike Pence on Thursday unveiled details of plans to build a US Space Force that would become the sixth branch of America’s massive military, saying the time has come to prepare for “the next battlefield.”
Afp, Washington
President Donald Trump ordered the creation of Space Force in June, arguing the Pentagon needs it to tackle vulnerabilities in space and assert US dominance in orbit.
Its creation however is not a done deal, as it needs to be approved by Congress, and the concept has met with some skepticism from lawmakers and defense officials wary of the cost and added bureaucracy.
But Pence was unequivocal in presenting the administration’s wish for it to become a reality — preferably by 2020, the end of Trump’s term in office.
“The time has come to write the next great chapter in the history of our armed forces, to prepare for the next battlefield where America’s best and bravest will be called to deter and defeat a new generation of threats to our people, to our nation,” Pence told an audience at the Pentagon.
“The time has come to establish the United States Space Force,” he said, repeating Trump’s call for Congress to invest an additional $8 billion in US space security systems over the next five years.
Shortly after Pence’s speech, Trump tweeted: “Space Force all the way!”
