{"id":196520,"date":"2019-01-06T01:04:22","date_gmt":"2019-01-06T06:04:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=196520"},"modified":"2019-01-06T01:04:22","modified_gmt":"2019-01-06T06:04:22","slug":"military-expert-suggests-canada-may-want-to-consider-its-own-space-force","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2019\/01\/06\/military-expert-suggests-canada-may-want-to-consider-its-own-space-force\/","title":{"rendered":"Military expert suggests Canada may want to consider its own space force"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Overton, who served in the Canadian Forces for 39 years, noted that Canada’s Air Force already has a space component. It is led by Brigadier General Kevin Whale, Director General Space. (File Photo<\/a>: @OvertonCDA\/Twitter<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

MONTREAL \u2014 President Donald Trump’s push to create a U.S. space force is being welcomed by military experts in Canada, and the executive director of one defence think tank says Canada should consider following suit.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt some point we might like to think about a space force,\u201d Matthew Overton, executive director of the Conference of Defence Associations Institute, said in an interview. \u201cThinking about space as a separate entity in itself that deserves attention and expertise, I think is a good idea.\u201d<\/p>\n

But it is not something that needs to be done immediately, he added, suggesting Canada should first develop a centre of excellence on space knowledge.<\/p>\n

Last month, Trump took a first step toward a space force when he signed an order to create a U.S. Space Command, which pulls together space-related units from across military services into a co-ordinated, independent organization.<\/p>\n

The move comes amid growing concerns that China and Russia are working on ways to disrupt, disable or even destroy U.S. satellites.<\/p>\n

The U.S. air force has operated a space command since 1982, and its mission is \u201cto provide resilient, defendable and affordable space capabilities for the air force.\u201d It also operates the mysterious X-37B space plane, known simply as its orbital test vehicle. The unmanned plane has already completed four clandestine missions, carrying classified payloads on long-duration flights.<\/p>\n

Overton, who served in the Canadian Forces for 39 years, noted that Canada’s Air Force already has a space component. It is led by Brigadier General Kevin Whale, Director General Space. Its mission, a spokesman said by email, is \u201cto maintain space domain awareness, and to develop, deliver and assure space-based capabilities.\u201d<\/p>\n

Overton said Trump’s space force makes a lot of sense, but he expects there will be tension as the new entity gets down to work with other branches of the military. He gave the example of the GPS network, which is crucial for land, air and sea forces, but could become a space force responsibility.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat is the relationship with other forces? How do you work out that dynamic?\u201d\u201c<\/p>\n

Wayne Ellis, who served in the Canadian military for 20 years, agrees that a U.S. space force is a good idea.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think there’s enough activity and potential activity to concentrate resources in that domain, which probably merits a separation from the air force,\u201d Ellis, a past president of the Canadian Space Society, said in an interview.<\/p>\n

\u201cPerhaps now is a good opportunity to look at a totally separate branch \u2014 at least for the U.S.\u201d<\/p>\n

He noted that Canadian military personnel have worked side by side with the U.S. military for decades. \u201cA lot of these positions are actually space positions at various bases so, at some point, our posted personnel are going to be interacting with the U.S. space force as it gets set up,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

James Bezan, the Conservative defence critic, said he wants to see more details about the space capabilities Americans envision.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor Canada, my sense is that we need to watch this and see how it evolves,\u201d he said. Before Canada considers creating its own space force, Bezan added, it should focus on making Norad \u2014 the bilateral North American Aerospace Defence Command \u2014 more effective.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would think that any co-operation that we do with the States as it relates to North American defence, as it relates to aerospace, should be part of the Norad discussions,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Randall Garrison, the NDP defence critic, criticized Trump’s plan to launch a sixth branch of the U.S. military.<\/p>\n

\u201cNew Democrats are fundamentally opposed to the militarization of space and believe that space should only be used by all of humanity for peaceful purposes,\u201d he wrote in an email.<\/p>\n

\u201cNew Democrats urge the government of Canada to uphold the principles of peaceful space exploration and to engage with our allies on a renewed call for the drafting of an international treaty aimed at the prevention of an arms race in space.\u201d<\/p>\n

Overton pointed out that space has long been exploited for military purposes, and there’s no way it can be avoided.<\/p>\n

\u201cCommunications satellites, GPS and intelligence communications, you name it \u2014 all that is there,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The office of the Minister of National Defence noted in a statement that \u201cspace-based capabilities have become essential to Canada’s operations at home and abroad.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat is why Canada’s defence policy … commits to investing in a range of space capabilities such as satellite communications, to help achieve global coverage, including the Arctic.\u201d<\/p>\n

The statement goes on to say that \u201cCanada will continue to promote the peaceful use of space and provide leadership in shaping international norms for responsible behaviour in space.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2014 With files from The Associated Press.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MONTREAL \u2014 President Donald Trump’s push to create a U.S. space force is being welcomed by military experts in Canada, …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":196521,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18,16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-196520","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news-ca","category-news","mauthors-peter-rakobowchuk","mauthors-the-canadian-press"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/196520","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=196520"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/196520\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/196521"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=196520"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=196520"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=196520"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}