Space Force ups aggressive language with Space Warfighting framework

The U.S. Space Force released its Space Warfighting structure on Thursday, providing servicemembers and partners with an outline on how the service wants to reach and maintain military dominance in space. 

The newly released document explains a host of new terms to be used by the Space Force and its partners in the pursuit of space security. The Space Force hopes the new lexicon will streamline communication.

The document lays out acceptable offensive and defensive space actions. Offensive options include Orbital and Terrestrial Strikes, along with Space Link Interdiction. The paper also supports active and passive space defense strategies. Active defense includes escort and counterattack measures, while passive defense consists of threat warning and military deception.

“It is the formative purpose of the Space Force to achieve space superiority — to ensure freedom of movement in space for our forces while denying the same to our adversaries,” Gen. Chance Saltzman, chief of Space Operations, said in a statement. “We must be prepared to employ capabilities for offensive and defensive purposes to deter and, if necessary, defeat aggressors that threaten our vital national interests.”

The Space Force added that the line between active and passive strategies will sometimes mix. For example, the document says that attacking an enemy satellite may be considered a defensive action if the target was destroyed as part of a counterattack. 

The framework also details three major categories for counterspace missions: orbital warfare, electromagnetic warfare and cyberspace warfare. These missions could single out space-based targets or space-enabling assets on the ground, like launch facilities. 

The framework comes as the Space Force transitions into a service focused on lethality, with a clear interest in improving its warfighting ability. 

“This document builds on the Military Space Operations terms of reference and Space Force Doctrine Document 1 to increase U.S. lethality and deter would-be aggressors in space,” Lt. Gen. Shawn Bratton, deputy chief of Space Operations, Strategy, Plans, Programs and Requirements, said in a statement. “We developed Space Warfighting to expand on the tenets of Competitive Endurance and the Space Force Truths. With Space Warfighting, we establish the counterspace framework necessary for Guardians to achieve space superiority, a precondition for Joint Force success.”

The Space Force, established in 2019, has been critiqued in the past for its lack of warfighting ethos, with experts urging the service to develop a more aggressive culture among its members and to better inform U.S. citizens about its efforts to safeguard national security.