Space Command Envy

On a recent trip to China, Gen. Paul Hester asked a large unit commander how China would integrate that nation’s anti-satellite capability into its war plans. The Chinese commander politely sidestepped the question, but admitted to Hester that he had only learned about the ASAT test from Western media. He also privately told Hester that China’s space and air assets are not integrated, and that he hoped China would pattern a new organization like Air Force Space Command to bring them together. It was “an enriching discussion,” Hester said during AFA’s Air & Space Conference in Washington.