► Wen Observer Network Guo Guanghao
Japan's largest circulation newspaper, the Yomiuri Shimbun, published an exclusive headline on January 5 saying that the Japanese government is coordinating the renaming of the "Air Self-Defense Force" to the "Space Self-Defense Force." The move aims to make it clear that space is also part of the defense field and strengthen the defense capability of space. The name will be changed as soon as FY 2021.
Yomiuri Shimbun front page on January 5
It will be the first time since the creation of the Army, Navy and Air Force in 1954 that the name has been changed. The current quota of air force is about 47,000 people, and about 3 human labor will be saved in the future to carry out new tasks such as space.
The air force will be newly established in this fiscal year with a 20-person "space combat team" (tentative name), which is expected to be expanded to 120 people in fiscal 2023 and begin to carry out space surveillance missions. Satellites to monitor space targets will be launched around 2026.
On September 17 last year, Abe said at a meeting of senior self-defense forces cadres held by the Ministry of Defense: "It is not a dream to develop into an aerospace self-defense force. ”
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