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US Space Force to beef up Japan unit amid growing threat in region
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| Februari 14, 2025
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TOKYO (Kyodo) -- The U.S. Space Force aims to beef up its fledgling unit in Japan to counter the evolving threats coming from the Indo-Pacific region, where China and Russia are developing space capabilities and North Korea continues to test-fire ballistic missiles, a U.S. commander said.
"While there's only a limited number of personnel today, we're going to grow that component over the next year or two into the fully capable system that we think we need here in Japan as a part of a larger network in the Indo Pacific," Lt. Gen. David Miller, head of the U.S. Space Operations Command, told a recent interview in Tokyo.
The U.S. Space Force's field command in Japan was launched at Yokota Air Base in western Tokyo in December to offer space expertise in support of the U.S. military stationed in the Asian nation. It also works in close coordination with Japanese counterparts for the security of space, which has emerged as a new warfighting domain.
Miller said space surveillance, missile warning and tracking are among the key mission areas for collaboration with Japan and that he can "anticipate a continued partnership moving forward," welcoming the Japan Air Self-Defense Force's plan to reinforce its own team dedicated to space operations.
The U.S. Space Force, which was established in 2019 as America's newest military service branch, has been expanding its footprint in the Indo-Pacific region, with a component also set up in South Korea in 2022. Its elements in Japan and South Korea both fall under the U.S. Space Forces Indo-Pacific.
The U.S.-Japan cooperative space efforts marked a milestone when a U.S. space domain awareness sensor was hosted on a Japanese satellite launched earlier this month to deliver the capability to track objects in space and predict potential threats.
The United States, Japan and South Korea, meanwhile, have been increasing their trilateral cooperation in addressing the challenges posed by North Korea's weapons development program, having fully activated a real-time information-sharing system for missiles launched by Pyongyang in December 2023.
Miller underscored the importance of investing in a missile warning mechanism as well as in building more space surveillance and awareness capability to help warn about potential debris from "irresponsible actions" by countries such as Russia.
In 2021, Moscow conducted an anti-satellite missile test to destroy one of its derelict satellites in orbit, creating massive and long-lasting space debris that could put other satellites and space missions at risk, according to the U.S. Space Command.
Anti-satellite tests are conducted to develop weapons systems that are intended to deny adversaries' ability to use their space capabilities, such as by destroying satellites that are crucial to national security.
Also touching on China's demonstration of anti-satellite weaponry and North Korea's firing of ballistic missiles, some of which have flown over Japan, Miller said, "Over the recent decades, particularly in the Indo Pacific, the threat landscape is ever changing and ever evolving."
"What I see in the future is, as much as we would hope that we see a proving stability and security across the globe, the reality of it is there is a pacing threat that we are concerned about in the People's Republic of China. There is an existing threat that we have seen in our NATO border with the Russian Federation in Ukraine," said the head of the U.S. Space Operations Command who has been in the post since January last year.
Miller said part of the work of the new Japan component of the U.S. Space Force is to ensure that the two countries are "ready for any potential crisis" by deepening their partnership through training and exercises.
As Japan builds out its space domain awareness, missile warning and tracking capability, there are "opportunities for partnership and training at the tactical level as well," he said.
Miller also stressed the importance of multilateral partnerships and working with the commercial sector, noting how private companies have helped the U.S. Space Force in areas such as space domain awareness and launch capabilities.
"I think, what you have seen from the Space Force and the Department of Defense overall, is a recognition that, throughout our history, the United States doesn't go it alone -- that we have found willing and abiding partnerships as fundamental to our ability to deter and ultimately, if necessary, defeat threats and deal with any crisis that evolves," he said.
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