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Abe says ASDF may evolve into 'Air and Space SDF'

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Uhhh . . . Space is not "owned" by any country, which means you cannot have a defensive space force be ausevtheir is no territory to be defended.

0 ( +17 / -17 )

Very smart uniform, and shiny sword - a useful weapon for hand to hand combat in space. ;)

8 ( +19 / -11 )

Like the Trump Space Force. Expect more wars. When will Japan regain its sovereignty?

-17 ( +7 / -24 )

Promising news, and necessary. Together with the USAs Space Force started by Trump, Japan Space Force will ensure PRC do not try and "claim" planets, moons etc.

-14 ( +16 / -30 )

If you have satellites in orbit, you might want to defend them.

14 ( +19 / -5 )

"Air Abe"....Let me guess, he got the "idea" from BFF "Space Commando" ?

-3 ( +9 / -12 )

Help us Abe-Wan Kennobi, you're our only hope!

Said nobody, ever.

7 ( +18 / -11 )

So what is JAXA for?

Because they don't wear Chitti Chitti Bang Bang Uniforms.

0 ( +8 / -8 )

Japan Space Force will ensure PRC do not try and "claim" planets, moons etc.

It is illegal, and against the constitution, for the JSDF to be used for anything other than the defense of Japan, so unless you are suggesting that Japan "owns" the universe, it's all your pipe dream!

5 ( +20 / -15 )

*liberating

3 ( +4 / -1 )

So would that make it the ASS Defense Force?

9 ( +17 / -8 )

So who has to foot the bill for this frivolous Star Wars nonsense?

Deep Space nine and a third?

Economically deal with what's right in front of you, before taking on the some illusionary jemadar.......

6 ( +16 / -10 )

I would say that its absolutely essential that Japan’s Air Force modernize and evolve.

4 ( +16 / -12 )

Post WW2, people thought the idea of a dedicated Air Force was unnecessary. They reasoned the Army and Navy Air Corps was sufficient.

9 ( +9 / -0 )

Abe is a PM who never grown up. Space force is for big nations, not for Japan. Yes, Japan has the capabilities already, and economically capable too. But, what if the space war evolves into a territory war ? Is Japan ready for that ?

If Abe has the resolve to make Japan a safer place, spend the money and time on better relationships with neighbors. In the end, the better place for Japan isn't in a dream, or in the space, but in Northeast Asia.

-15 ( +9 / -24 )

Promising news, and necessary. Together with the USAs Space Force started by Trump, Japan Space Force will ensure PRC do not try and "claim" planets, moons etc.

Have you ever tried to read your comments?

Your lip service to everything that is related with Japan or remotely Japanese is amusing.

And this is another pearl,I guess we must prepare ourselves for the birth of the new Japanese intergalactic empire.

The white stormtrooper so but in katana are already there.

2 ( +13 / -11 )

disgusts me whenever I see politicians or anyone who's never served reviewing an honor guard they have no right no dignity no honor

-8 ( +8 / -16 )

"Space warfare is combat that takes place in outer space. The scope of space warfare therefore includes ground-to-space warfare, such as attacking satellites from the Earth, as well as space-to-space warfare, such as satellites attacking satellites."

As of now, China, France, India, UK, Russia, USA all have such "Space Forces".

7 ( +16 / -9 )

The new troops will be tasked with monitoring radio interference, space debris and other countries' satellites that can pose threats to Japanese surveillance satellites orbiting Earth. They are initially expected to be staffed with about 70 personnel.

Did any of you people screaming ‘we don’t need space commandos’ even bother to read the article? It seems like a logical step for the future.

7 ( +15 / -8 )

disgusts me whenever I see politicians or anyone who's never served reviewing an honor guard they have no right no dignity no honor

Get over it. It’s one of their duties.

8 ( +18 / -10 )

Abe is big idea PM. But Japan can't be run by big ideas, but big progresses.

-24 ( +2 / -26 )

$484 million is a drop in the ocean of/to a space operations unit.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe could devote that expenditure to family focused policies to stem the threat of depopulation.

The perceived Klingons are not off the starboard bow. Captain

-4 ( +8 / -12 )

Meanwhile on earth people are still in temporary housing, people still have no electricity no water. Childcare no change, pension system not even able to give back what it was given, Nuclear disaster looking to get more complicated.....etc. But there is money for this?

-2 ( +9 / -11 )

Uhhh . . . Space is not "owned" by any country, which means you cannot have a defensive space force be ausevtheir is no territory to be defended.

Are you honestly naive enough to think that countries won't start claiming asteroids with resources on them, or the moon once the technology lets them? Just like the ocean isn't "owned" by anyone but land is.

On top of that, defending the things you do own up there is pretty important. Japan doesn't own space obviously, but it does own many important pieces of infrastructure.

8 ( +13 / -5 )

Does it mean Japan will develop real life Gundam suits or other giant space robots ?

0 ( +3 / -3 )

Does it mean Japan will develop real life Gundam suits or other giant space robots ?

No, it means there will be a few platoons of nerdy guys staring at monitors, analysis charts, calculating trajectories and other boring stuff.

The new troops will be tasked with monitoring radio interference, space debris and other countries' satellites that can pose threats to Japanese surveillance satellites orbiting Earth. They are initially expected to be staffed with about 70 personnel.

10 ( +12 / -2 )

I don't see any problem with them adding Space to the name. I mean it fits the Japanese aesthetic of tech advancement. Regan had space defense satellite plans in the 80s and nobody batted an idea the idea. They probably already have defense sats up there that nobody even knows about. So what if Trump brought it up it wasn't even his idea in the first place. America abandoned space exploration for no reason and now its being used to get people to stop being stuck in the idea we are going to stay here forever. One day you may need space defense and if they waited until they needed it then you would cry they weren't prepared. As long as they are producing results it should matter. If they are only doing it to siphon money then you should have a problem.

0 ( +5 / -5 )

.... space force .... air and space sdf ....

.... still waiting for those aliens to come mess with us

-6 ( +3 / -9 )

Perhaps adding, "Air and Troposphere" and "Air and Stratosphere" to Self Defense Force might be worth looking into. But really, how unnecessary is any of this anyway?

-3 ( +5 / -8 )

Space is a dangerous place, it's not going to conform to oyaji dreams

-4 ( +3 / -7 )

SpeedToday  10:01 am JST

But really, how unnecessary is any of this anyway?

How necessary are Communications and GPS capabilities to most people?

https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/china-will-soon-be-able-destroy-every-satellite-space-27182

7 ( +12 / -5 )

I have read Abe says so many times. It feels like his first name is says. (Reversing names according to the direction by current defense minister).

This is going to be interesting as everyone already mentioned no one owns the space so is Japan going to claim some tiny meteoroid like the Islands?

-5 ( +3 / -8 )

From the article:

"The envisaged unit will be installed amid the intensifying race among major powers such as the United States, Russia and China to develop technologies in the domain."

It is not a race to develop technologies, but rather a race to militarize space that is happening. It has always been, from the beginning of armed conflict, a globally accepted prime military goal to control the high ground. You don't get any higher than space in relation to controlling what's happening on earth.

11 ( +11 / -0 )

Endless paycheck.

Spend, spend, spend other peoples money.

It is like someone is drunk with money,

Like someone who inherits Bill Gates fortune and has to exhaust it before he dies, all his thoughts will be centered on what to spend on.

The difference is a country is not an individyal.

-5 ( +2 / -7 )

I say let the Russians and the Chinese spend their money to take control of space. Japan and the U.S. need to provide free health care, free college and free income for everyone.

-6 ( +4 / -10 )

@Yubaru

Air Abe"....Let me guess, he got the "idea" from BFF "Space Commando" ?

LOL! Monkey see, monkey do!

-1 ( +3 / -4 )

@ksteer

Are you honestly naive enough to think that countries won't start claiming asteroids with resources on them, or the moon once the technology lets them? Just like the ocean isn't "owned" by anyone but land is.

The governments of the world signed a pac almost 50 years ago claiming that no country can own any part of the moon or Antarctica.

1 ( +4 / -3 )

I say let the Russians and the Chinese spend their money to take control of space. Japan and the U.S. need to provide free health care, free college and free income for everyone.

Right! And when China and Russia have complete control over all communication and GPS systems (because, you know, they’re in space), it won’t matter because we all got free college!! Great idea!

5 ( +9 / -4 )

Abe has to play quiet video-game in his isolated room if he want to follow Trump space odyssey. Don't lose our tax money and increase national bonds for dreaming of never awake, the realities we are confronting towards poverty.

-7 ( +1 / -8 )

Japan under Abe govt spend immense budget to national security than social security with chronic budget shortage.

-3 ( +2 / -5 )

Well, they have to ward off the threats from all those space kaiju and alien bad guys. New worlds to discover and space stations to build. You've seen those Toho films of the 50s and 60s?

-5 ( +0 / -5 )

With the way Abe is managing the economy, the only space program Japan will be able to afford is bottle rockets.

1 ( +4 / -3 )

Love the uniforms. It's like a white version of the original star trek movies (wrath of khan to undiscovered country).

-1 ( +2 / -3 )

Like most advanced countries I would be very surprised if a lot of what they will be doing isn’t being done on a piecemeal basis already. Unlike some of the grand illusions some posters seem to invent so as to then criticise them, this will be much more about techies in front of screens monitoring satellite orbits and managing space assets like observation and gps satellites.

Sorry folks, Star Wars and space battles are on hold for the indefinite future.

As for little green men, don’t get me sterted!

4 ( +5 / -1 )

Forgot to add that putting it all under the control of one organisation makes sense but whether you need a separate command structure is more like command overlap.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Japan, for such a Wealthy Nation, has somewhat lacked its Human Space Exploration "branch", yet has done remarked well in the other aspects. In contrast India, a 3rd World Nation trying to place a rover upon the moon is a disgrace to the nation - and it's quite right that the US should withdraw the poor nations status from it (as too the UK should). Get your own house in order before splashing out on fanciful's... so I'm expecting to see more from Japan in future.

4 ( +4 / -0 )

How can japanese just nod to this? Starting oct 2019 taxel are will go up to 10%. No surprise the declining rate of population in japan, because no one wants to build a family under harsh conditions

0 ( +3 / -3 )

It's necessary in today's world. In fact I would say Japan has been slow when it comes to space.

0 ( +4 / -4 )

LOL

-2 ( +1 / -3 )

ASS DF?

-3 ( +1 / -4 )

Wow... could Abe stick his nose any further up Trump's backside? No doubt he's already preparing to raise the consumption tax to 15% in the next year or so after the 10% in order to make deals with American companies to get it all started.

-9 ( +3 / -12 )

Has Abe turned into a Trump mini-me?? First Abe weaponizes trade against S. Korea the way Trump weaponizes it against other countries. Now Abe is suddenly interested in a Space Force?

-8 ( +3 / -11 )

HJSLLS: No kidding. It's no coincidence Abe only brings this up after Trump does.

-9 ( +2 / -11 )

His inclination toward constitutional revision suggested in the speech was later criticized by the opposition forces, which said it was "in breach of (the premier's) legal obligation to respect and uphold the constitution."

Opposition parties are a joke. A constitutional reform respecting the requirement of Article 96 is totally legal and constitutional.

Article 96. Amendments to this Constitution shall be initiated by the Diet, through a concurring vote of two-thirds or more of all the members of each House and shall thereupon be submitted to the people for ratification, which shall require the affirmative vote of a majority of all votes cast thereon, at a special referendum or at such election as the Diet shall specify.

Amendments when so ratified shall immediately be promulgated by the Emperor in the name of the people, as an integral part of this Constitution.

It is things like these that take away the credibility of the political parties that aspire to replace the LDP of power. For saying meaningless things. And then they get upset about their lousy election results.

Only if they started to use simple logic, they would start to have better results. They don't seem to want to learn.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

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