SHANAHAN ADDRESSES SPACE FORCE CONCERNS: The big rap against President Trump’s proposed Space Force is not about its core mission, but its potential overhead. “While there’s plenty of debate about the how, we are united by the why: Protecting our economy and deterring our adversaries, and focused on delivering more capability faster,” Deputy Defense Secretary Pat Shanahan said in his keynote address to an Air Force Association conference yesterday.

The concern in Congress and among internal critics is that standing up a sixth branch of the military to deal with space will waste billions on bureaucracy, funding all the accouterments of a separate service, such as a Space Academy, an additional civilian service secretary and a military member of the Joint Chiefs.