U.S. Space Force to beef up Japan unit amid growing threat in region

Lt Gen David Miller Jr, commander of U.S. Space Operations Command, gives an interview in Tokyo on Feb 10. 

“Rock Miller,” as it’s written on his uniform in the photo above, looks a whole lot like Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson.

Judging how the US is treating its other “allie” Japan needs to be treading very carefully.

Also, when did The Rock take over the space force ?

“ 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.”

we’ve had efficient missile warning and object tracking in space for a generation.

I think the US are the growing threat in the region.

Miller doesn't know that the U.S. Space Force cannot keep a unit in Japan because the Japan -U.S. Security Treaty says only the U.S. Army, Navy and Airr Force are granted to use land and facilities in Japan.

 

Miller's mindset is no different from a war-won commander, who thinks winners can do whatever they want.

I wonder how this sits with the "America shouldn't spend a dime on anyone but itself" crew.

I highly recommend you get ahold of Godzilla and get him on OUR side…and any of his buddies you can find

Trump started Space Force in 1.0, good thing too, as Japan's got SERIOUS Problems now due to weapons proliferation to NK and China due to Ukraine Proxy War.

Phasers on stun!

Be a porcupine, Japan, with many sharp and dangerous quills.

I think the US are the growing threat in the region.

In the whole world..

Stop intervention in other countries..

"Space force"..

What a joke..

In the whole world..

Not like China

Pretexts to continue their hegemonic occupation of Japan. The Pentagon should behaving their troops discipline, committing crimes to the locals especially sexual assaults on Okinawa made them deemed as the biggest threat ever !

A missile from Japan adversary can reach Shinjuku station in 5 minutes after launching

Is there a threat from space now?

If not, where is the threat coming from?

Could the threat be coming from the country that has a President who wants to expand his empire to include Canada, Greenland and Gaza?

Is it time to realise that the US is not a trustworthy ally?

elephant200Today 11:20 am JST

Pretexts to continue their hegemonic occupation of Japan.

Pro-CCP nonsense.

The US forces are in Japan at the request of the Japanese government. The government can terminate the agreement if it wishes and the US will close the bases, as happened with the Philippines in 1991.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_bases_in_the_Philippines#Closure_and_turnover

YrralToday 11:32 am JST

A missile from Japan adversary can reach Shinjuku station in 5 minutes after launching

And China would get several back, from both the US and Japan's counterstrike capability.

@bass4funk

Exactly, not like China

I struggle with this. Only two minutes ago I was reading an (US) article about a POTUS declaration of advancing denuclearization with Russia & China to save billions of bucks that could be better used for other purposes. I'll be honest, methinks hogwash time. Disrupt all of the peoples thinking, then US got the whole monopoly board. the world is for US only?? Inc spaced out force finance gathering, Sat lunch beer time, with dog owners for me

yap yap.

Exactly, not like China

Because they're the problem, agreed.

Eat the leftToday  08:09 am JST

Cute little Starfleet badge as well!

If you look at the bottom of that logo it says that the 'Space Farce' is a branch of the USAF.

A couple of retired USAF is no military branch! And as a Cold War veteran I refuse to even recognize or acknowledge this totalitarian claptrap.

'Gee ma. I wanna join the Space Force!'.

'You need a college degree for this one. Have a happy 4, 5 or 6 years and then you might be lucky,'

TokyoLivingToday  11:01 am JST

Stop intervention in other countries..

"Space force"..

What a joke..

Invented by the Spanky Boy Dictator Donnie in 2020. Need I say more? Another ego fest from the Caligula.

gaijintravellerToday  11:49 am JST

Is there a threat from space now?

If not, where is the threat coming from?

Could the threat be coming from the country that has a President who wants to expand his empire to include Canada, Greenland and Gaza?

Aliens! OMG! Well aliens intercepting our TV signals would probably want nothing to do with stupid ol' Earth!

Oh I know. We got to 'protect this great again' nation from GOD. Well trump had better be afraid of God, as much as he uses his name in vain with his evil deeds and words! 'The Chosen One', a very clear indication that beyond a shadow of a doubt trump is by definition and meaning of the word an antichrist.

bass4funkToday  11:08 am JST

In the whole world..

Not like China

Yes like China. China has a rotten totalitarian regime fershure, and guess what? They supposedly have their own military 'space farce' branch too! Monkey see, monkey do.

As a veteran and as an amateur astronomer, I would normally find all of this to be an absolute joke, but there's nothing funny when an entire nation kisses the fanny of an ill-mannered screaming convicted rapist/insurrectionist/traitor/sassymouth brat who never worked a day in his misbegotten life and keeps buying his shrieking hateful lies.

"Space force"..

What a joke..

"Air Force" was considered by many as a joke in the early 1900s too.

"What, people will be fighting in the air? Ridiculous!"

Read: Space Force as a military service specialized in dealing with missile attacks, and independent of USAF.

YrralToday  11:32 am JST

A missile from Japan adversary can reach Shinjuku station in 5 minutes after launching

It can also be intercepted in that 5 minutes by Japanese SM-3s and Pac-3 systems as well as US THAAD systems. And Gide Phase Interceptor systems are under development for hypersonic missiles and ICBMs. So please stop repeating this silly one liner like it's some great discovery.

I wonder how this sits with the "America shouldn't spend a dime on anyone but itself" crew.

Japan is a huge aircraft carrier, butted up against its most formidable military foe

The US forces are in Japan at the request of the Japanese government

Here it is again, this is what we define the manipulation of narrative, being implemented daily by the US industrial military complex. 

When Japan tried to just discuss it a partial disengagement with U.S., we have we seen it with the Yukyo Hatoyama administration until 2010, on a platform to reduce the burden of the American troops in Okinawa, he was ousted with full strength. Philippines is a totally different case. A reminder that Ferdinando Marcos dictatorship was sponsored by the US administration during his ruling, and the current administration of his son is supported by Washington, hence the disinformation (alleged skirmishes of fishermen) to incite tensions with China and allowed the US military to justify their multibillion dollar deals of weapons to Japan

Tokyo Guy

I wonder how this sits with the "America shouldn't spend a dime on anyone but itself" crew.

What we see on a daily basis is part of a PR strategy from the US industrial military complex, since the top 5 arms manufacturers in the world are all American. This explains the Wall Street historical records despite the instability on a geopolitical level. The more conflicts you have (Eastern Europe, Middle East, the incitement of tensions in Asia) the bigger the profits for the warlords in Washington, not to mention the creation of US jobs in the weapons industry, like the ex NATO Chief, Jens Stoltenberg said recently during an interview.

Currently, under the defense strategy, Japan aims to eventually double its annual military spending to around 10 trillion yen ($63 billion), making it the world’s No. 3 military spender after the United States and China.

FosToday 06:04 pm JST

When Japan tried to just discuss it a partial disengagement with U.S., we have we seen it with the Yukyo Hatoyama administration until 2010, on a platform to reduce the burden of the American troops in Okinawa

Hatoyama promised a base/troop relocation, but didn't deliver. "Partial disengagement" is a very strange way to describe this.

he was ousted with full strength.

He resigned because he was a terrible prime minister, he didn't fulfill his promises, he was embroiled in financial scandal, and he was polling extremely poorly ahead of elections.

"Ousted with full strength" is a very strange way to describe this.

Has everyone forgotten about the two Americans stranded in space?

Forgotten about the two Americans stranded in space?

They were expensedables !

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

That need statement isn't congruent with what Pete Hegseth said recently about the future of US forces in Europe, when he clearly said that the US is no longer going to be their primary guarantor of defense (which by the way was an agreed to term per Article 5 of the NATO pact) https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/feb/12/us-no-longer-primarily-focused-on-europes-security-says-pete-hegseth.

Who's to say that the current US leaders will just outright renege on Article 5 of the Japan-US Security Treaty on a whim, if it's being openly said in public in front of the leaders of Europe? Basically once your usefulness has expired on our terms, you're going to be left high and dry at the most inopportune of times.

Ant trump will send a bill to Japan to pay for this uptake.

PrimusinterToday 01:49 am JST

The Cold War is a propaganda invention to somehow demonstrate the achievements of a group of countries that have never won anything.

Seems like we decimated the Soviet Union pretty good for them to be struggling to claw back their ill gotten gains to this day.

Pukey2Feb. 15 08:37 pm JST

Has everyone forgotten about the two Americans stranded in space?

Going to return March 12th and then you will need a new inanity.

FosFeb. 15 06:04 pm JST

China assaults on Filipino cost guard ships are real. Next 5 weapons manufacturers are Chinese.

China assaults on Filipino cost guard ships are rea

Says the citizen of a country which has a long track record of spinning false narratives. 

Just to stay in the area, in Vietnam, a reminder how the US lied about the Gulf of Tonkin incident to drag the nation into a needless conflict (1964)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulf_of_Tonkin_incident

Talking about the alleged skirmishes in the Philippines, whose president (Bongbong) is the son of an ex dictator (Ferdinando Marcos) supported by the US administration, there is absolutely no real evidence of clashes with China. The US big industrial military complex to incite tensions for their own economic interests.

As a fact the US is trying to advance its "Indo-Pacific" strategy to contain China, fanning the flames in the Korean Peninsula, Taiwan Straits and South China Sea.

For sure we cannot change history, but at least we must make any effort to prevent the same mistakes again. The lies of the US industrial military complex in the past decades, and the present conflicts (Eastern Europe and Middle East) fought and sponsored by American made weapons, which let to the historical record of US financial markets, must be a wake up call in Asia. Against the manipulation of narrative of the warlords in Wall Street and the fearmongering to preserve their economic interests

Pukey2Feb. 15  08:37 pm JST

Has everyone forgotten about the two Americans stranded in space?

elephant200Feb. 15  09:32 pm JST

Forgotten about the two Americans stranded in space?

They were expensedables !

Sez who? They sent a Christmas video message live from the I.S.S., wearing Santa hats and displaying their Christmas dinner feast, freeze-dried and ready in a tightly packed boxey. And those astronauts knew right from the start that they would be spending the holiday season up in orbit. They're not 'stranded', never were. That's yet another media fib to cause a hyper-in-the-diaper sensation.

TaiwanIsNotChinaFeb. 16  02:02 am JST

Pukey2Feb. 15 08:37 pm JST

Has everyone forgotten about the two Americans stranded in space?

Going to return March 12th and then you will need a new inanity.

Right on the original schedule, just as planned. Wish them a safe return home.

Pukey2Feb. 15 08:37 pm JST

Has everyone forgotten about the two Americans stranded in space?

No, because you remind us about it every second because this is all you have to prove China's "superiority".

elephant200Feb. 15 09:32 pm JST

Forgotten about the two Americans stranded in space?

They were expensedables !

Not expended clearly as they could have been told to risk the starliner coming down.