Space Force writing new framework to outline ‘space warfighting’ concepts, definitions
The Space Force is creating a new document that will offer clarity regarding its approach and terminology related to offensive and defensive space activities, Chief of Space Operations Gen. Chance Saltzman said Wednesday.
The so-called “space warfighting” framework is expected to outline the common vocabulary and concepts used by the service in order to achieve what it calls “space superiority” — that is, the ability for the United States to operate freely in the space domain while also denying an enemy’s ability to do the same. The document will also categorize adversary on-orbit capabilities, link structures, ground facilities and network targets, Saltzman said during a webinar hosted by the Mitchell Institute.
“What the framework does is, it defines our terms so that planners — and this is space planners, but this is [also] joint planners — to make sure that our capabilities are accounted for and integrated fully into all the operational design,” Saltzman said. “We felt like we owed the Joint Force that set of framework, that set of definitions, so that we could have the right kinds of discussions.”
The drafting of the new framework comes as the Space Force continues efforts to more accurately convey its mission and warfighting functions both within the Defense Department and to the general public. In recent weeks, Saltzman and other senior service leadership have begun openly discussing the Space Force’s ability to conduct warfare in the space domain — marking a shift in messaging following years of keeping such rhetoric behind closed doors.
“We must think of space as a warfighting domain, rather than just a collection of support activities that the Space Force must organize, train, equip and conduct warfighting operations as an integral part of the joint and combined force,” Saltzman said March 3 during his keynote speech at the annual AFA Warfare Symposium in Denver, Colorado.
Saltzman said during Wednesday’s webinar that senior leadership across the Pentagon fully support the Space Force’s mission to enable all the military services to conduct joint operations. Likewise, younger warfighters who understand today’s “digital environment” understand the importance of space-based capabilities, he added.
However, there is a group in between those two levels that aren’t as informed as others, he said. The new space warfighting framework will provide a doctrine-level lexicon for that middle group and others as a way to help inform them of the Space Force’s missions.
“Here’s the terms we can talk about. Here’s what orbital warfare means. Here’s how we use electronic warfare. Here’s how we would use cyber warfare, and in pursuit of space superiority, protect what we have and deny an adversary,” Saltzman said regarding what the document will lay out.
Additionally, the service’s Space Training and Readiness Command (STARCOM) will also soon publish the Space Force Doctrine Document–1 (SFDD-1). Saltzman previously said that the document will articulate the doctrinal concepts shaping the service moving forward — including the service’s newest core function known as “space control,” among others.
The concept encapsulates the Space Force’s ability to deny, degrade, disrupt or even destroy adversary space systems using both kinetic and non-kinetic weapons. Space control can refer to both offensive and defensive orbital warfare, electromagnetic warfare and other counterspace operations.
“We have to deny the adversary the ability to use the space-enabled targeting that has now made them so lethal — particularly in the western Pacific — against our other terrestrial forces,” Saltzman said. “They have increased the range and the accuracy of their weapons because of that space-enabled targeting system, and it’s the Space Force’s job to deny them that.”
