"The space arm is designed to return the US to military leadership in space, and to protect its space assets"

This is what US Vice President Michael Pence said in a speech he delivered at the Pentagon in which he officially announced the establishment of the space arm and added many details about it

Less than two months have passed since US President Donald Trump announced the establishment of the space arm, which received many criticisms, the administration revealed more details about the new force.

US Vice President Michael Pence and Defense Secretary James Mattis spoke at a conference in the Pentagon. In his speech, Pence detailed the reasons for establishing the new corps.

Since the first day of his presidency, Trump has repeated his promise to restore America's proud heritage of leadership in space with the belief that space is essential to security, prosperity and the American way of life."

"Last year, President Trump renewed the National Space Council to strengthen and coordinate the government's space activities. As vice president, he had the honor of serving as chairman of the National Space Council. And I'm happy to report that President Trump has already signed three new space policy directives to transform the manned space program, allow American commercial companies to thrive and preserve our vital space assets." "America will always seek peace in space as well as on Earth. But history proves that peace comes only by force. And in the field of outer space, the space force of the United States will be that force in the years to come."

After mentioning the air superiority of the US compared to the Nazi army at the beginning of World War II and how the newly formed air force was able to organize and arm itself, by the end of the war it had 30 times more planes and 85 times more pilots and support personnel than six years earlier. Another example is the joint command of the US special forces that made them effective, following the failure to release the hostages in Iran.

He described the missions of the space force as it appears in the document signed by President Trump. The first task is to establish a unified command and control over the operations of the space force, which will ensure cooperation with the other forces and develop the doctrine of space warfare, tactics, techniques and procedures.

"The second step referred to in this report is the creation of an elite group of joint fighters specializing in space, which will be the backbone of the country's new armed service: the Space Operations Force. Just like our special operations forces, a field operations force will draw men and women from across the military and grow into a unique and close-knit community. They will support the fighting forces in times of crisis and conflict through space expertise.

Third, this report calls for the creation of a new joint organization, the Space Development Agency, to ensure the men and women of the Space Force have the cutting-edge combat capabilities they need. "While our opponents were busy arming themselves in space, we were busy with bureaucracy, and over time our ability to adapt to new and emerging threats was stifled. The space development agency will be freed from inefficient and duplicated bureaucratic structures, which will focus on innovations, experiments and the development of the technologies of the future.

"Over the past sixty years, the United States has built the largest and most sophisticated constellation of military and intelligence satellites in the world. We leverage space technologies to provide the intelligence community with the information necessary to maintain a strategic advantage wherever our forces operate."

"The Ministry of Defense is currently deploying a new generation of GPS and communication satellites, and has also developed new missiles that are smaller and more powerful and have better maneuverability than ever before. President Trump said that it is not enough just to have an American presence in space, we must have the yield in space."

China and Russia and even Iran and North Korea have developed laser systems to intercept American satellites. Russia has also developed an airborne laser that will disrupt satellite activity and is developing space-to-air missiles that can hit satellites. Both China and Russia are conducting highly sophisticated operations in space that could allow them to maneuver their satellites in close proximity to ours, posing new and unprecedented dangers to our space systems."

Both countries are also investing heavily in sophisticated missiles designed to fly up to five kilometers per second at such a low altitude that they could evade detection by our missile defense radars. China claimed to have conducted its first successful test of such a weapon just last week."

China and Russia are working aggressively to integrate anti-satellite attack capabilities into their combat doctrines. In 2015, China created a separate military enterprise to oversee and prioritize its space combat capabilities.

"Our adversaries have already turned space into a military complex and the US will not shy away from this challenge. This is required to protect our people and build a future of peace here on Earth and in space."

"America will always seek peace in space as well as on Earth. But history proves that peace comes only by force. And in the field of outer space, the space force of the United States will be that force in the years to come." Vice President Pence concluded.

Transcript of Michael Pence's speech on the White House website

More of the topic in Hayadan:

• Trump announced the establishment of a space arm separate from the Air Force
• China launched a navigation satellite, first launch for 2007 and first space operation since the destruction of the satelliteConcern in the US about China's success in an attempt to destroy a satellite using a ballistic missile
• An American missile destroyed a malfunctioning satellite in response to China's test. It was feared that this would legitimize the Chinese to develop anti-satellite weapons