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US Intel community expands with Space Force unit

Chief of Space Operations Gen. John W. Raymond delivers remarks during a ceremony unveiling the newly decorated Space Force hallway at the Pentagon, Arlington, Virginia, Dec. 18, 2020. (File photo)

The US intelligence apparatus has further expanded with the addition of the newly established US Space Force in its bid to improve American dominance in space, referred to by US President Donald Trump as the “world’s new war-fighting domain.”

“This accession reaffirms our commitment to securing outer space as a safe and free domain for America’s interests,” US National Intelligence Director John Ratcliffe declared on Friday during an afternoon ceremony with Chief of Space Operations Gen. John Raymond, AP reported Saturday.

For the US military, the report added, Space Force answers a need to more effectively organize for the defense of American interests in space — “especially satellites used for navigation and communication.”

Citing a Pentagon report, the report further claimed that “China and Russia have embarked on major efforts to develop technologies that could allow them to disrupt or destroy American and allied satellites in a crisis or conflict.”

It then emphasized that the Space Force is “not designed or intended” to put combat troops in space.

The move to make the Space Force a co-equal member of the intelligence community in intended to “improve the access and sharing of information across the nation's intelligence agencies and give it clout in advocating for intelligence funding to protect the US in space,” according to the report.

The Space Force Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Enterprise thus became the 18th member of the massive US intelligence network, the report noted. It has not been expanded since 2006 when the Drug Enforcement Administration's intelligence unit became a member.

In December 2019, Trump celebrated the launch of Space Force — the first new military service in more than 70 years — saying that space is the “world’s new war-fighting domain.”


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