In a keynote address to the Air Force Association’s annual air warfare symposium in Orlando, Florida, General Goldfein said that it is not a question of if, but when, airmen will be fighting in space.
“I believe we’re going to be fighting from space in a matter of years,” he said.
“And we [US Air Force] are the service that must lead a joint war fighting in this new contested domain. This is what the nation demands,” Goldfein emphasized in the strongest rhetoric yet on space warfare as an area that deserves special attention from the US Air Force.
He also said that in order to increase the US’ military firepower, the Air Force needs to use battlefield intelligence coming from “all domains,” including air, cyber, ground, sea and space.
According to Space News, the US Air Force has been allocated $7.75 billion for advancing its space programs in 2018, which is 20 percent more than it received last year.
The Air Force is seeking $8.5 billion for its space programs — $5.9 billion for research and development, and $2.6 billion for procurement of new satellites and launch services.
Speaking at a meeting of the National Space Council earlier this month, President Donald Trump’s National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster said that the United States would be prepared for any conflict that took place in space. Earlier in the meeting, Vice President Mike Pence said the United States should be as dominant in space as it is on earth.
In June, the US Air Force declared the creation of the position of Deputy Chief of Staff for Space Operations Directorate in order to assemble multiple functions and ensure the United States is the predominant power in space.
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