Why is the Army and Navy, not the Air Force? The fierce space war has begun.

On the 2nd of this month, a bidding announcement was made for the Defense Acquisition Program Administration’s Defense Electronic Procurement System for’Marine-Based Space Operation Concept and Power Generation Plan Study’. According to the request for proposal, this research service ordered by the Naval Headquarters is ▶ Space strategies of the United States, China, and Japan ▶ Their naval space power and operational concepts ▶ Marine-based naval space operations ▶ Naval space power generation based on operational needs It is for direction.

A naval official explained, “The navy is very interested in advancing space satellite networks and operating a maritime-based satellite interceptor system,” he said. “It is entrusting research on this to an external specialized agency.” However, within the military, the land, sea, and air forces are fiercely fighting for space, and the order for research services by the navy is considered as one of the underwater works.

‘Wait, the army and navy are aiming for space. Nonsense.’ You can think of this, but the Army and Navy are looking at space. And it has its own logic. In addition, there is a possibility that there will be a pathway for the army and navy to take space into their territory. The air force is nervous about this movement of the army and navy. I have been preparing aerospace forces for over 20 years, because there is a risk of being stolen.

This is one of the questions and answers from the National Assembly Defense Committee on the 23rd. Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Byeong-ju asked Defense Minister Seo-wook about the’strategic command’.

In a call with JoongAng Ilbo, Rep. Kim Byeong-ju said, “A strategic company has been troubled since his active duty (Rep. Kim was a former vice-commander of the CFC). Is my belief.”

The strategic company conceived by Rep. Kim Byung-ju directs the military’s missile command, some of the navy’s submarine command, military reconnaissance and communication satellites, cyber warfare forces, and overseas troops. If a strategic company, which the strategist is considering as a joint command of the land, sea, and air, is established, the armed forces and naval forces can use this as a foothold to advance into space.

Rep. Kim Byeong-ju and the US Strategic Command, which the Ministry of Defense refer to in relation to strategic history, define the mission as follows.

To sum up, the Ministry of Defense is drawing the big picture of’Defense Vision 2050′, of which it is considering the issue of creating a strategic company. This is the background in which each group’s steps toward space have accelerated.

There is a background to each army’s cosmic competition.

Until now, the army had to fight in the land, the navy in the sea, and the air force in the sky. However, with the advancement of technology, space and cyber have entered the battlefield. For communication and reconnaissance purposes, satellites are now covering the Earth’s exosphere. Now, to strike first, you must destroy the enemy’s satellite. Conversely, in order not to be struck by surprise, we must protect our satellite.

The same goes for cyber. Invisible fierce battles are still taking place in them.

However, in the universe, virtual space is a physical space unlike cyber. Korea is carrying out the ‘425 Project’ to launch five independent military reconnaissance satellites into space with the advocacy of transitioning wartime combat control and independent defense. Last July, the first military communication satellite, Anasys 2, was launched.

In the future, investment in space will increase. Cyber ​​is important, but the investment cost is not comparable to space. It is explained that each military believes that in order to increase its organization and budget, it must occupy the universe.

This is the logic of the Navy that entered the research service this time.

The Navy will deploy nine 3000t-class Jangbogo-III submarines to the actual battle and have a submarine launch ballistic missile (SLBM). Not much is known about SLBM. If you look at the model of Jangbogo-III batch-I that appeared in the 2019 International Maritime Defense Project (MADEX), it has six SLBM vertical launchers. Batch-II can be increased to 8 or 10, and Batch-III can be increased to 10 or more.

The Korean SLBM is highly likely to use the Hyeonmu-2C (800km), which has the longest range among the surface-to-ground ballistic missiles, Hyeonmu-2. Also, if you have a nuclear-propelled submarine (SSN) that the Navy is propelling, the missile will be larger in size, and the range can be increased. The missile then exits the atmosphere and re-enters again.

In addition, the Navy intends to build three more Aegis destroyers and import SM-3 missiles that intercept ballistic missiles. The SM-3 can shoot down enemy ballistic missiles from space. In addition, the next six Korean destroyers (KDDX) made with pure domestic technology are going to carry SM-3 class domestic ship-to-air missiles. These missiles are also capable of dropping enemy ballistic missiles at high altitudes.

The Navy is trying to immerse its feet in space for the reasons of SLBM’s re-entry and SM (class) interception.

The army is more active than the navy.

In’Army Vision 2050′, a long-term strategy concept book published in January of last year, the Army selected’a super-connected network system including micro-community satellites that guarantees the integration of battlefields and combat means’ as the’eight game changers’. The Army Headquarters blog says that the’super-connected network system’ is composed of a’surveillance and reconnaissance system, a communication system to quickly transmit surveillance and reconnaissance data, and an intelligent command and determination system that supports quick judgment by converting the transmitted data into meaningful information.’ Explained.

He emphasized that surveillance and reconnaissance and communication systems should use air and space. It is the logic that no one space, space, air, or earth should be separated. An army official said, “The army has more troops and equipment than the navy and air forces, so the communication data is enormous. In addition, there are many targets for surveillance and reconnaissance,” he said. “There is also an infrastructure called a missile command that can shoot space launch vehicles.”

The Army’s ambition for space is revealed in the report “A Study on the Future Army’s Space Development Goals and Space Power Utilization Plan” made by the Korea Security Management Research Institute due to the intention of the Army headquarters in October 2019. According to this, the’Ground Army Space Policy Division (tentative name)’, which oversees the use of space at the Army Headquarters, and the’Space Operations Division’ at the Ground Operations Command and the 2nd Operation Command. The corps and divisions and brigades also have personnel in charge.

Separately, there is a plan to create a space battalion to obtain information from the assets of the universe, analyze and evaluate it, and provide it to each level. Another army official said, “The Army Missile Command should take charge of the destruction of enemy satellites and defense of friendly satellites. Later, close-quarter warfare may occur in space, which is also a major of the army.”

The Air Force is not comfortable with this movement. The air force called the slogan’to the sky! The universe has been prepared for a long time enough to be decided as’To space!’

In May of last year, the Air Force also unveiled the’Space Odyssey Project’ as the first of the ‘5 flagship projects’ of’Air Force Quantum 5.0′, a future aerospace development initiative. According to the military importance of the space domain, it is a development plan that materializes the connection between air and space operations, increases the capacity to control assets in the space domain, and expands the air advantage to space advantage. It means that the Air Force will lead the space operation and secure space superiority.

In addition, a satellite surveillance and control team was established last year that tracks and monitors 2,000 satellites passing over the Korean Peninsula. The unit plans to equip high-performance telescopes that look into the motion of satellites in the first half of this year. From 2025, it was decided to build an electro-optical satellite surveillance system, including a space weather forecasting and warning system, a high-power laser satellite tracking system that neutralizes enemy satellite reconnaissance, and a radar space surveillance system that monitors and tracks space objects at all times.

In addition, it operates a space agency belonging to the Aerospace Combat Development Group, and has a space meteorological team in the Aerospace Operations Center space operation team and the Air Force Meteorological Group at the Air Force Operations Command.

Air Force officials said, “Space operations are divided into space surveillance, space power projection, and space information support, but the Army and Navy mainly need space information support (communication, information, weather, navigation, etc.) such as communication, information, weather, and navigation. “The mission of seeing the space, sending power to space, and securing the space superiority is the mission of the space force. It takes a huge budget to create a space force, so it is important to prepare for a long time and protect the space by the air force most related to it. It is reasonable.”

Another Air Force official said, “The basics of space operations are the ability to find where objects in space are located, such as satellites, and the ability to follow the motion of those objects,” he said. “Only the Air Force has this ability, and the Air Force is the best.” It is not that the air force should use space as its territory because the air and space are connected, but the logic that the air force should be in charge of space by looking at the role and mission.

Not only the Air Force, but also the Navy are suspicious that the Army is trying to bring space through a joint effort.

If so, how about overseas? British Air Force Brigadier General Paul Popree took office as the first commander of the Space Command on the 1st. With his inauguration as commander, he was promoted to Major General of the Air Force. The Space Command is organized into a joint military system in which all three armies and civilians participate.

In September 2019, France expanded and reorganized the Air Force into the Air and Space Forces (Armee de l’Airet de l’Espace). French Defense Minister Florence Parli has announced that “France will be laser armed with satellites for defensive purposes.”

Japan is planning to rename the Air Self-Defense Force to the Aerospace Self-Defense as early as this year. The Japanese government’s position is that space has also entered the field of defense as China and Russia developed weapons to attack satellites.

Russia consolidated its space forces, an independent military species, under the Air Force in August 2015. The official name of the Air Force is Aerospace Force (Воздушно-космическими силами). In China, the People’s Liberation Army Strategic Support Unit (戰略支援部隊) was born as an independent military class in 2015, and is in charge of space warfare, electronic warfare, and cyber warfare. India established the Defense and Space Administration (DSA) in 2018 to integrate a military satellite control room and a military reconnaissance satellite processing and analysis center. India’s Defense and Space Commissioner is the Air Force Major.

The U.S. created the Space Force in 2019. It is the sixth military class after the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and Marine Guard. The space force honor guard will soon be seen at the Pentagon (US Department of Defense) protocol. The Air Force was opposed to the creation of the space force on the grounds of enormous expenses, but it could not defeat former President Donald Trump’s stubbornness.

The U.S. space force received troops from each army, mainly the air force. It can be said that the birthplace is the Air Force. The proof is the class system. Some politicians have insisted that the space army class system be brought from the navy like the’admiral’. This is due to the influence of the popular American drama’Star Trek’ set in the space fleet. However, the space force created a class system similar to the air force.

Russia, France, and Japan seem to have space forces under the air force, while Britain, India, and China have formed a joint space command-type organization. The US space force is an independent military species. What they have in common is the fact that the Air Force is the base.

Hong Gyu-deok, a professor at the Department of Political Science and Diplomacy at Sookmyung Women’s University, who served as the head of the Department of Defense Reform of the Ministry of National Defense, said, “The question of who leads the war in space, among the army, sea, and air forces, focuses on expertise, but the characteristics of joint operations with the US military must be considered together. ‘

In the space force, both the army, the navy, and the air force have interests. This is a proof that all roles are important. Until now, it has been pointed out that the most lacking part of the Korean military is the ability to gather military power through joint forces. Taking the controversy between the space forces and the Strategic Command as an opportunity, voices are growing both inside and outside the military that each military should set a common goal and provide an opportunity to demonstrate coordination rather than competing based on their own interests.

Reporters Lee Chul-jae and Park Yong-han [email protected]