{"id":21911,"date":"2018-07-24T17:05:10","date_gmt":"2018-07-24T17:05:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/uncategorized\/2018\/07\/24\/no-space-force-for-trump-in-big-pentagon-policy-bill\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T20:59:47","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T20:59:47","slug":"no-space-force-for-trump-in-big-pentagon-policy-bill","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/intel-geoint\/2018\/07\/24\/no-space-force-for-trump-in-big-pentagon-policy-bill\/","title":{"rendered":"No space force for Trump in big Pentagon policy bill"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WASHINGTON \u2014 U.S. President Donald Trump wants<\/a> a new military \u201cSpace Force<\/a>,\u201d but Congress isn\u2019t ready for blast off.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Senate and House did come together Monday on a $716 billion defense authorization report that could set the stage for a sixth military service<\/a> dedicated to space. It would create a sub-unified command for space under Nebraska-based U.S. Strategic Command, whose main mission is to oversee the military\u2019s nuclear arsenal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou could view this as some of the preparatory work. They\u2019re trying to get the Air Force in better shape to spin off its space forces,\u201d said Todd Harrison, director of the aerospace security project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat they\u2019re not doing is trying to integrate space forces across the military. The only way to really do that would be to actually set up a separate department,\u201d Harrison said, adding that the Air Force’s space forces are outnumbered by the combined space forces of the other services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A House-proposed requirement to establish a new numbered Air Force dedicated to space war fighting was dropped, likely to compromise with members of the the Senate Armed Services Committee, where the idea of a separate service was largely met with skepticism, if not opposition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stoking fears about the militarization of space, the Pentagon would also have to develop a comprehensive space war-fighting strategy (by April 2019) aimed at attributing attacks in space, resolving conflicts, and deterring, defending against and defeating aggressive behavior in space.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

America\u2019s adversaries, and the public, might one day be able to learn more about the military\u2019s secretive activities in space; the Pentagon would have to examine the feasibility of a declassification strategy to ensure deterrence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The conference report for the sweeping 2019 National Defense Authorization Act is expected to come to a vote in the House this week and the Senate next week. The annual must-pass bill covers military hardware, personnel and a wide swath of hot-button national security issues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To be clear, when Trump last month ordered<\/a> the Pentagon to begin establishing a new \u201cSpace Force,\u201d a process that could add a sixth military service to the Defense Department, Congress was not expected to snap to immediately.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Congress is waiting for one Pentagon report on the topic, due next month, that it mandated in the last NDAA and another from the Center for Naval Analyses by year\u2019s end on a possible road map to establish a separate space service. Congress might then incorporate its recommendations into future NDAAs.<\/p>\n\n\n\t