Stratcom Chief: U.S. Must Maintain Space Dominance

By Jim Garamone

DoD News, Defense Media Activity

WASHINGTON, Feb. 6, 2015 – The space domain is changing, and the U.S. military must remain ahead of these changes to maintain the nation’s military dominance, the commander of U.S. Strategic Command said here today.

Navy Adm. Cecil D. Haney spoke at a Peter Huessy Breakfast Series seminar sponsored by the Air Force Association, the Reserve Officers Association and the National Defense Industrial Association.

The playing field in space is changing, and not always to the advantage of nations that are peaceful and have democratic governments, Haney said. “Today, our nation is dealing with a global security environment that is more complex, dynamic and volatile than at any time in our history,” he added.

The security environment features multiple actors operating across all domains. Many actors challenge U.S. democratic values in many ways, the admiral said.

Tensions With Nation States, Ungoverned Environments

“In addition to significant tensions involving nation states,” Haney told the audience, “we are in an environment that is flanked with numerous ungoverned or ineffectively governed areas that are breeding grounds for bad actors and violent extremist organizations.” These groups, he added, also use space and cyberspace to recruit and spread propaganda -- including misinformation -- in support of their causes.

“Perhaps of greater concern, however, is the proliferation of these emerging strategic capabilities attempting to limit our decision and maneuver space that ultimately impacts strategic stability,” Haney said.

The admiral focused on the emerging capabilities and what it means for the United States. Space is getting cluttered, he said, noting that it is more “congested, contested and competitive.” That alone makes U.S. capabilities increasingly vulnerable, he said.

Congestion in Space

Congestion is a huge problem for Strategic Command. More than 17,000 objects the size of a softball or larger are in orbit today, the admiral said, and hundreds of thousands of smaller, untracked objects are circling the Earth at orbital speeds.

Roughly 1,200 of those objects are satellites, Haney said. The rest are debris, increasingly threatening operational satellites.

Complicating this already crowded environment is the increase of small satellites, which also pose a threat, the admiral said. “Consider for a moment the devastating effects just one collision could have on our financial and economic sectors and our ability to conduct military operations,” he said.

As more countries develop space capabilities, the problem will grow, the admiral said. North Korea has been busy upgrading launch facilities, Haney noted.

“Iran, just this past week, successfully launched a satellite into orbit after a string of failures,” he said.

China has publicly stated that its goal for the next decade is to outperform all other nations in space, investing large amounts of money in increasing the number of platforms in every orbital regime, and increasing their influence, Haney added.

Nations Seek to Take Away U.S. Strategic Advantage

Countries also are working to take away America’s strategic advantage in space, the Stratcom commander said. “U.S. national security space systems are facing a serious growing threat,” he added. “For example, multiple countries have developed and are frequently using military jamming capabilities designed to interfere with satellite communications and global positioning systems.”

China and Russia warrant the most attention, the admiral said. “Both countries have acknowledged they are developing -- or have developed -- counter-space capabilities,” he said. “Both countries have advanced directed energy capabilities that could be used to track or blind satellites -- disrupting key operations -- and both have demonstrated the ability to perform complex maneuvers in space.”

Space also plays a large role in 21st-century deterrence, Haney said. “To effectively deter adversaries -- and potential adversaries -- from threatening our space capabilities, we must also understand their capabilities and their intent and make it clear that no adversary will gain the advantage they seek by attacking us in space,” the admiral said. “We must apply all instruments of power and elements of deterrence.”

Operational Planning Comes First for Stratcom

Strategic Command is working to ensure the United States maintains the strategic advantage in space today. Operational planning is first with the command, the admiral said, ensuring it is prepared for all phases of potential conflict. This means characterizing the operational environment, allowing timely and accurate warning and assessment of threats to senior leaders including the president, Haney said.

Operationally, the admiral said, Stratcom must protect and defend space capabilities using new tools and new tactics, techniques and procedures. The command, he said, also must use new partnerships and new command and control relationships.

All this is happening at a time of constrained budgets, he noted.

“I am pleased to see the president’s budget for fiscal 2016 recognizes the growing and demonstrated threat to our vital space assets -- assets our forces are reliant upon and assume will always be there,” Haney said.

“We are early in the process, but let me make clear: Any retrograde in the president’s budget could jeopardize these investments and diminish our asymmetric advantage in space, exposing our nation to significant risk in this foundational area,” he said.

AFSPC leaders among key speakers at AFCEA Cyberspace Symposium 2015

by 1st Lt. Samantha Degnan
AFSPC Public Affairs

2/5/2015 - Peterson Air Force Base, Colo. -- 2/5/2015 - The 2015 AFCEA Cyberspace Symposium was held Tuesday through Thursday at the Broadmoor Resort, Colorado Springs, Colo.

The theme of this year's Symposium was "Protecting Cyberspace- Policy, Partnerships, and Practical Solutions," with each day of the conference focusing on one of these three principles.

The week's schedule was filled with various panels, covering a wide range of topics to include policy matters, industry partners, the sharing of information and intelligence, bridging inter-agency gaps in cyber warfare, and rising cyber leaders.

Each day of the symposium also featured keynote speakers of various backgrounds, to include several senior military leaders.

General John E. Hyten, commander of Air Force Space Command, was the week's top speaker. In his speech he stressed the need for innovation and partnerships as we look to the future, saying, "If we don't partner with industry, not only are we missing an opportunity, but we are failing to take advantage of the best and brightest in the world that face the same problems and threats that we do fundamentally and we have to figure that out together."

Retired USAF Brig Gen Gregory J. Touhill, the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Cyber Security Operations and Programs for the Department of Homeland Security, used the metaphor "Cyber Security Neighborhood Watch" in his panel focusing on the sharing of information and intelligence, stressing that "we are united as a team with both the public and private sector."

In his keynote address, General Hyten also focused on the importance of two huge additions the Air Force is building for the future. These two additions are the Joint Information Environment (JIE) and the Cyber Mission Force (CMF).

General Hyten stressed the importance of the JIE, saying, "We have one Department of Defense and we need one network so that is what the JIE is going to be at its basis."

Lt Gen William J. Bender, Air Force Chief of Information Dominance and Chief Information Officer for the Office of the Secretary of the Air Force, elaborated on the significance of both JIE and CMF, saying, "For us this is a complete and total transformation of the workforce."

While the symposium revealed many achievements and future goals for the cyber world, many challenges faced in the cyberspace domain were also highlighted over the course of the week.

Maj Gen Burke E. Wilson, 24th Air Force Commander, highlighted the unique attributes of the cyberspace domain,  calling it a manmade domain that grows and changes every day. He also said, "The primary architect is private industry. That presents a different set of challenges. Opportunities, but challenges. Private industry drives the technology, the terrain, and the capabilities in most cases."

Maj Gen Wilson also touched on how cyberspace is contested and therefore presents risk.

This discussion of risk and the US military's ability to keep up with the challenges presented by a constantly changing environment was present throughout the symposium.

"Security is being redefined, by the bad guys as much as anyone. But it is being redefined and you still have to do the three dimensional physical security stuff, and you have to have persistent preservation of the data and persistence of timing all because of the speed of everything," said retired USAF Lt Gen Robert Allardice, Chairman of Allardice Enterprises, Inc.

"All of our capabilities and all of our operations in both cyber and space are very focused on delivering a service, and they are not as focused on assuring the delivery of that capability in a highly threatened, contested domain and against a very agile and gifted adversary," said Col Paul Welch, Deputy Director of Integrated Space, Cyberspace and ISR Operations for AFSPC.

Timeliness was another theme of the week. One of the questions posed numerous times throughout the symposium was "What century are you in?"

Lt Gen Robert Allardice was the first to ask the question. He set the scene by saying "We live in a pervasive information environment. This concept of information flowing everywhere certainly drives us to a change of culture."

Maj Gen Wilson applied this change of culture to the military, stating that "Every Soldier, Sailor, Airman, Marine is relying, whether they know it or not, on cyber in some capacity to make their job more effective."

General Hyten addressed the same question as a challenge we have to address, saying "We are in the 21st century, but in the USAF and across our military most of our conversations that I hear us having are 20th century conversations when it comes to the cyber business."

He then highlighted the need to harness innovation and figure out how to do the business of a 21st century construct.

"I'm optimistic. Really, I can sit here today and say we are on the right path. But, oh my gosh, it is a hard path," said General Hyten.

"We owe the future our best effort at working together and trying to figure this out," said Lt Gen Bender. "We owe the partnership that we talked about today and the effort to get after very serious problems against a determined enemy that is bound and determined to prevent us from being as successful as we have in the past going forward."

Official Shares DoD’s Technology Goals With Industry

By Terri Moon Cronk

DoD News, Defense Media Activity

WASHINGTON, Feb. 5, 2015 – The assistant secretary of defense for acquisition laid out the Defense Department’s areas of emphasis and goals for technology for an audience of industry and government officials here yesterday at the Naval Future Force Science and Technology Expo.

Because DoD faces budget and investment pipeline challenges, Katrina G. McFarland said, industry and government leaders should think about what they can do to contribute to offset the challenges of what she called “the three nots.”

“Technological superiority is not assured, [research and development] is not a variable cost, and time is not recoverable,” McFarland said.

Technological Superiority

To keep up with superiority in technology, DoD is looking for “effective counters” in electronic warfare, long-range air-to-air missiles, radars operating in nonconventional environments and bandwidths, counter-space capabilities, long-range and more accurate ballistic and cruise missiles, improved undersea warfare capabilities, and cyber and information operations.

“We’re trying to find effective, innovative low-cost solutions against low-cost targets,” she said.

Time Not Recoverable

“Time is not recoverable,” McFarland said, citing historical military solutions and noting that DoD focused on GPS to give the military “locations, precision-guided munitions and stealth aircraft [technology] that we relied on from the Gulf War to today.”

And now, she added, DoD must figure out a “new offset strategy.”

Research and Development

And with research and development not being a variable cost, McFarland said, “the combined effects of increased technology challenges with the current budget challenges have led us to a very uncomfortable place.”

History shows that when research and development investments have declined, those programs that had forethought are the ones that survived. “The people who think carefully about what we have to face in our future are the ones who will position us, and that is you,” she told the audience.

Better Buying Power Initiative

A few years ago, when DoD officials saw an economic decline in its future, the department developed the Better Buying Power initiative.

BBP 1.0 prepared the acquisition community and services to improve spending and get as much from less money as possible. Building on 1.0, BBP 2.0 focused on addressing challenges to national security that exist today and are likely to exist in the future, as well as affordability in the existing and future systems and developing technology.

Better Buying Power 3.0, now in a draft stage, takes the lessons of 1.0 and 2.0 and focuses on technological superiority, McFarland said, encouraging audience members to read the 3.0 draft and submit input to help in finalizing it.

The main topics of Better Buying Power 3.0 are:

-- Achieve affordable programs;

-- Achieve dominant capabilities while controlling lifecycle costs;

-- Incentivize productivity in industry and government;

-- Incentivize innovation in industry and government;

-- Eliminate unproductive processes and bureaucracy;

-- Promote effective competition;

-- Improve tradecraft in acquisition of services; and

-- Improve the professionalism of the total acquisition workforce.

“Our goal is to achieve dominant capabilities through technical excellence and innovation,” McFarland said. “And the purpose is to continue strengthening our culture of cost-consciousness, professionalism and technical excellence.”

Threat Mitigations

McFarland said DoD is focused on four specific mitigations to existing and emerging threats.

“Our enhanced emphasis is on countering weapons of mass destruction, electronic warfare, delivering space-based capabilities with or without a space layer, and cyber,” she said

To mitigate such issues, DoD will make program improvements rather than start new ones, McFarland explained. The department also will work on how it does business to stay ready for threats, and to be able to insert new technology quickly and efficiently, she added.

“That’s what we need from industry,” she said.

McFarland noted that this isn’t the first time the Defense Department and industry have faced fiscal challenges. “We know we’re going through troubled times,” she said. “We’ve done it before and succeeded. … Take that energy [and] focus on things that bring what’s naturally inside of you to the front.”

Greenert: Science, Technology Put Navy on Bow Wave of Innovation

By Claudette Roulo

DoD News, Defense Media Activity

WASHINGTON, Feb. 4, 2015 – It wasn’t long ago that unmanned vehicles such as aerial drones were the stuff of science fiction, and now they’re turning up under the Christmas tree, Navy Adm. Jonathan W. Greenert said here today.

Delivering the keynote address at the Naval Future Force Science and Technology Expo, Greenert, the chief of naval operations, warned of the erosion of the nation’s technological lead.

Until recently, satellite communications and imagery were accessible only to a very few, he said. Satellites were expensive and required infrared cameras, the admiral said. Now, the technology is available commercially, and it’s cheap, Greenert noted.

The result is that some of the United States’ long-standing technological advantages are starting to be challenged, he said.

The department recognizes this situation, the admiral said, and Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel recently called for innovations to support the department’s new offset strategy.

Science, Technology as Force Enablers

Science and technology serve as force enablers, Greenert said. Today’s innovations allow the Navy to set its course for tomorrow, he said, by enabling a bold, relevant and capable force.

The Navy’s research and development programs operate on two basic time scales, the admiral said. In the long term, scientists and engineers conduct basic research, Greenert said, while short-term programs are intended to “get wet quick,” to meet current war fighter needs.

These programs have a long history of delivering game-changing technology for the Navy, he said, noting examples such as quiet propulsion, GPS and the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System.

Future Weapons Systems

And the Navy will continue to rely on science and technology into the future, particularly as it looks to divest itself from gunpowder and rocket propellant, the admiral said.

Laser weapons systems and electromagnetic railguns are the future of naval weaponry, Greenert said. By moving away from volatile chemical propellants, he explained, ships can carry more ammunition, operate more safely and decrease their dependence on the logistical chain.

Both platforms can also shift the cost curve, the admiral said.

Laser weapons systems cost about $1.00 per shot to operate, he said, and following several months of testing aboard the USS Ponce, in December the weapon was authorized for self-defense.

While railguns are slightly more expensive to operate, Greenert acknowledged, at about $25,000 per round they are still significantly less expensive than the missiles they are intended to supplement or replace. With a range of more than 100 nautical miles, railguns have the potential to conduct precise naval surface fire support or land strikes.

Unmanned Underwater Vehicles

The Navy also seeks to improve the stamina of its unmanned underwater vehicles, the admiral said.

As the size of the submarine fleet decreases, opportunities and requirements for smarter, more reliable and more compact UUV’s will increase, he said.

The vehicles face threats not just from the enemy, Greenert noted, but from the operating environment. Advances in range, autonomy and endurance will translate to an increase in mission scope, the admiral added.

Lock Your Cyber Doors

Cyber security is Greenert’s biggest worry, he said. It is a key requirement for all systems and weapons, the admiral noted, and can’t just be bolted on after the fact.

Intellectual property theft means that the nation is hemorrhaging its best technology, he said, creating strategic vulnerabilities and giving adversaries years to develop countermeasures.

The Navy is counting on science and technology professionals to keep it on the bow wave of innovation, Greenert said. And not just in the digital realm, he added. There are unlimited opportunities to reuse or repurpose existing technology, the admiral said.