US Space Force in Japan priority as China threat grows

Establishing a component field command in Japan is a priority for the US space authorities as China invests heavily in capabilities that pose a threat to America's armed forces and those of its allies in the region, Report informs via Nikkei Asia.

The US Space Force Indo-Pacific Commander Brig. Gen. Anthony Mastalir said Tuesday that his agency is working closely with the Japanese government to set up a component in the country, which he said would be similar to the one established in South Korea in 2022. The South Korean component, based at Osan Air Base south of Seoul, was started with eight members, which Mastalir said was his baseline for the envisioned command in Japan.

Mastalir said the Space Force's most important effort in the region is understanding how to protect the US and allied forces from China's kill chain, a term that refers to the Chinese military's capacity to find, fix, track, engage and assess targets.

He said Beijing had tripled the size of its number of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance satellites over the past five years and was investing in directed-energy capabilities, space-based jamming technology and ground-based anti-satellite missiles.