@Northwest Wait till we get satellites in space that can launch kinetic weapons! All the destruction of a nuke, none of that messy radiation! We won't have to worry about outer space, we won't survive the stuff we have in our own exosphere.
@Pherick I don't know if people remember SDI, from the early 80s. Reagan did not believe in MAD. My school (and some other schools) got a bunch of money, at the time. Years later, it was determined that a terrestrial based laser system, will not work, so it was replaced with a space-to-space, permanently orbiting missile defense shield. I'm sure this is one of the things, if not the only thing, that the Space Force will do, when it gets transferred from the Air Force, where it currently resides.
I think it is a ploy and a diversion. What better way to funnel money away from truly needed places like social programs than to get people all excited about space again.
As others pointed out, we still lead in the technology and the ability to use it with the other branches of our military. I'm pretty sure NASA is still in business too.
I just wish people could just step back from the BIGLY show DOJ has been performing long enough to see how this will affect us ALL in the long run. You got to worry about anyone that needs instant gratification, especially running our nation.
It's an excuse to spend money they don't have developing weapons and computer system technology they can then sell.
Ordinarily they'd do this through military systems and weapons testing. But they know there are no wars to fight that would justify this kind of expense at this time.
@Picklebobble2 then what did they say to the public? "We're developing a space force and its purpose is..." what exactly? Or do they not explain at all?
@HannibalAteMeOut Mention the word 'SPACE' and 'FORCE' to many and they think of that daft fight scene from the James Bond movie 'MOONRAKER'. [media=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pG5v7ng0o4A]
'Oooh ! That's how future wars will be !" Folk are LESS likely to complain or demonstrate against the conventional arms race propaganda that usually accompanies this type of announcement.
SW-User
Everyone thumbs their nose at the idea of Space Force until one day General Roth'h'ar Sarris shows up with an entire army of Fatu-Kreys right outside of our atmosphere.
I think it’s a needed step for the United States Other powers like China and Russia I’m sure will be militarizing space, putting weapons and surveillance in earths orbit, so in order to keep a balance of power I think the space force is a good idea for the US They have military branches dedicated to land, sea, air So space makes sense
@Rickg so it's because they are suspicious of China and Russia? Do these countries also have a space force? And why wouldn't the USA be the first to militarize space, put weapons and surveillance in Earth's orbit? Maybe China and Russia will create their own forces just because they themselves are afraid the USA will use its powers for bad and they want to balance it out.
I believe both countries have been trying to develop military space capabilities and it makes sense that they would given that they have been building their militaries for years and trying to compete with US influence So if I was the US I’d want military forces in space Also it will be even more crucial when different countries start colonizing space
@Rickg Russia has tried to put military hardware in space since the 1970s (the Soviet era Almaz stations). And the US since the (cancelled) Manned Orbiting Laboratory in the '60s. (Peaceful name for USAF spy-stations).
Until very recently Soyuz capsules came with firearms for crew members. (Although that was more in case it landed in Siberia by mistake and the cosmonauts came across a bear).
@BananaBrown, yes and what perfect excuse to cut Medicaid to the most needy. Who should care about those people when we can show off our latest rockets.
Maybe he wants a big missile parade like they do in North Korea. Nothing like a little more bragging.
Having the high ground available is always a military advantage. The USA can be obliterated with an EMP nuclear bomb exploding in the atmosphere, and it is projected that if such a thing happened, 90% of our population would die from starvation and lack of water. We do not yet have the capability to knock such strikes down accurately if they are lobbed at us over the north pole, so I believe a space force might be a future option.
Our space force will probably be headed to Mars in the distant future, and we have a crew already training to go back to the moon. We are talking about what might be involved in establishing a permanent base.
@4meAndyou so it's training mostly just in case something happens and also having other planets' occupation in the back of their head too. Do you think this could seem suspicious to other nations?
@HannibalAteMeOut I think it is more mining and mineral acquisition at the back of their minds, because we can not terraform such waterless environments.
Other nations are typically rather hate-filled when it comes to their suspicions of the USA, and I don't think our government cares if they feel suspicious. We have announced our intentions very clearly. Defense and exploration.
SW-User
It's ridiculous. In reality, nobody is waging war in space. Ever. The science behind that doesn't hold up. It's just a show to say we have this potentially threatening thing...that we can never use.
@SW-User This is absolutely not true. Space is already militarized, every major player has military intelligence satellites and anti-satellite weapons.
SW-User
@QuixoticSoul I didn't say anti-satellite weapons were not there. I said they will never be used.
Well, here's the thing. We've had an Air Force Space Command since 1982 under oversight by the USAF. It was simply redesignated Space Force. Yet another "original" Trump idea.
It may well be a step toward the future, but it'll be decades before there's a need to push our warfare all the way into space. We lack the technology currently to even get to the moon. ISIS is not in space.
@HannibalAteMeOut There will be a reshuffle, but essentially yes.
But what’s probably more important here - the space force will have its own budget. Large services tend to underfund areas outside their core responsibilities. USAF will naturally prioritize planes over everything else.
USAF Itself was split off a few decades after combat aviation became ubiquitous, for much the same reasons, though it was a more gradual process.
I note that we have money to pay for this expensive boondoggle but whenever the kids talk about free college tuition suddenly america is broke. somebodies lying.
@HannibalAteMeOut I hate this fucking society and it's twisted priorities. hell our schools are not even places of education so much as glorified football fields.
@HannibalAteMeOut I guess this is what happens when what's supposed to happen doesn't, you know like the Jocks just have a fatal heartattack and die after high school's over instead of languish on in dead end jobs and yet everyone has the right to vote...
Most advanced nations, and especially the nuclear powered ones are in space, and rest assured it's not only for exploration. Military priorities are very much a part of a nation's interest in space. And that competition right now, at least between the U.S. and China, and very likely Russia as well is very intense.
@HannibalAteMeOut yup, bc how many other nations can assert their presence in space? Iran is trying to do something but failed at launching a satellite.
It is a cheap tirck (Trump is good at those) to get a headline, and give non Americans a good laugh, considering Americans need to hitch a ride on Russian space craft to get the their own Space Station.
Space Force sounds really stupid/scary but it's not some Star Wars clone troopers kind of affair, nor even shooting down other countries' satellites (which would be a terrible idea because all the debris would be a huge risk to allied satellites too) - it's taking responsibility for various military satellites (including those already there) away from the Air Force.
Given that the air force exists to provide support for ground forces, and the navy (and marines) have their own aircraft anyway for their own needs, and the obvious merits of combined operations - rather than create yet another armed service, a better idea might have been to give all airplanes to the US Army/Navy/Marines, and turn the USAF into the USSF instead. Also probably saves on a lot of admin salaries.
@HannibalAteMeOut I suspect not. It's a PR, LOOK HOW MUCH WE LOVE THE MILITARY stunt mostly. Any good reasons for it for making management more effective and efficient are kind of ignored...
@MistyCee why would anyone be impressed by it, though? I mean there's nothing to fight for there (yet?). It seems kinda irrelevant for now. Maybe there are things I cannot conceive with my little mind, though.
@HannibalAteMeOut, he is still jealous of JFK getting us excited about going to the moon. At least in 1960, we had the budget to do it and we were also living in the Cold War where we legitimately needed to be ahead with space technology.
This stuff today is really scary because I fear too many voters will not see how they are being played.
@DDonde it's not a deep question really, I'm actually asking about its purpose. If there's a practical use of it or not. And if it's not practical, then why would it be created?
