{"id":6136,"date":"2023-04-19T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-04-19T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=6136"},"modified":"2023-04-20T06:48:03","modified_gmt":"2023-04-20T06:48:03","slug":"kendall-explains-why-success-in-space-requires-transformational-change","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=6136","title":{"rendered":"Kendall explains why success in space requires \u2018transformational change\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

WASHINGTON (AFNS) — \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Emphasizing that space capabilities are \u201cimportant to our strategy of integrated deterrence\u201d and the reason U.S. Space Force<\/a><\/strong> must drive \u201ctransformational\u201d change, Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall<\/a><\/strong> offered a blunt assessment April 19\u00a0of the challenges today in space but also optimism that the United States would maintain its dominance in that domain.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

In a keynote address to the 2023 Space Symposium in Colorado Springs, Colorado, he noted the critical role space plays today in every aspect of national security and that maintaining a functional, assured presence is essential, especially given China\u2019s activity in space.<\/p>\n

Unlike the recent past when the United States had virtually free reign in space, today the domain is crowded and dangerous, home to thousands of satellites operated by dozens of nations, widespread space debris, and most importantly, several aggressive and capable space-faring nations who consider space a warfighting domain.<\/p>\n

Foremost among them, Kendall said, is China.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAmong China\u2019s military priorities, space ranks very high,\u201d Kendall said, emphasizing a theme he has been voicing frequently since becoming Secretary. \u201cChina views space as a military operational domain and is developing and fielding forces intended to dominate in that domain.”\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cSecond, China does not seem to be constrained by concerns about debris generation or strategic stability. This is the environment in which the Space Force must deter and prevail,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Countering these developments is why the Space Force was created, and why it must be nimble and focused, Kendall suggested.\u00a0<\/p>\n

China\u2019s advances \u201care particularly worrisome in light of the Chinese Communist Party\u2019s lack of transparency regarding military space doctrine, its failure to adhere to or advance global norms, its reluctance to allow open communication between military leaders, and the corresponding risk of miscalculation,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Kendall spent most of the balance of his remarks outlining in detail the budgetary and programmatic response managed by the Space Force to confront the new reality in space and ensure capabilities such as GPS, communications and missile warning remain failsafe and reliable in a more hostile and contested domain.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe United States and its allies and partners have some significant military advantages.\u00a0One of those is experience,\u201d he said, adding: \u201cI believe that deterrence can succeed.\u00a0Our strategy of integrated deterrence is built on that premise and on the strengths of our partnerships with like-minded nations that share our values.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Space Force\u2019s budget request for fiscal year 2024, which begins Oct.\u00a01, is 15%\u00a0more than the budget it has this year. (The current budget is 30%\u00a0greater than the year before.)\u00a0<\/p>\n

But benefits from that increase are diminished, Kendall said, if Congress fails to pass the budget on time.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cMy deepest fear today isn\u2019t China; it is the loss of the only unrecoverable asset \u2013 time \u2013 and what that could imply,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m afraid that we face an unpredictable political situation in the U.S. in which a yearlong continuing resolution is a real possibility. I don\u2019t know anyone on Capitol Hill who wants to see a yearlong CR, but I also don\u2019t know anyone on Capitol Hill who has defined a likely route to avoid[ing]\u00a0one.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

A CR has become a common device that prevents the government from shutting down while lawmakers work out differences on a new spending plan. A CR simply extends most, if not all, the rules for how money is spent from the previous – and expiring \u2013 budget year to the next with insufficient allowance for how conditions or circumstances change. Kendall and other senior leaders\u00a0worry, however, because a CR would prohibit new programs from starting while continuing to fund programs that are past their prime or those delivering capability that is no longer relevant.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In response, Kendall pointed to a legislative proposal endorsed by the Department of Defense and the White House that, if approved by Congress, would give Kendall and the other service secretaries new \u2013 the limited \u2013 power to divert already appropriated funds to new technologies. That ability is now prohibited under rules governing the way money can be spent when the government is funded by a temporary, stop-gap mechanism known as a \u201ccontinuing resolution.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Restricting how money is spent costs valuable time, Kendall said, and keeps promising technologies from being developed and deployed at the fastest rate possible.\u00a0<\/p>\n

That is a problem given China\u2019s focus on space. Since China declared space a \u201cwarfighting domain\u201d in 2015, Kendall said, \u201cits on-orbit presence has grown by well over 300%\u00a0with more than 700 satellites now in orbit.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

It \u201chas developed and tested anti-satellite weapons” and \u201cdeveloped ground-based laser weapons and jammers to disrupt, degrade, and damage satellite sensors, communication, and navigation systems,\u201d he said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are all united in our goal of providing Air and Space forces that can deter and, if needed, prevail against any opponent, anytime, anywhere, including when we project power with our partners wherever it is needed, on or around the planet,\u201d Kendall said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are seeing success in these efforts. The Space Force is in the midst of a transformation.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

All of the focus and activity, Kendall said, reflects the central role space plays today in national security and critical functions of everyday life that includes banking, commerce, and communication.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Because of that, Kendall acknowledged that he had to reassess \u2013 and change \u2013 his thinking for how best to respond to space and deal with the rapidly changing dynamics.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThroughout most of my career, I\u2019ve focused on step-by-step evolutionary change, which I think has been effective at maintaining the military superiority that has allowed security, prosperity, and democracy to flourish across the globe,\u201d Kendall said, reflecting on his 50-year career in government service, often at senior levels in the Department of Defense.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cHowever, during my time as secretary of the Air Force, it has become increasingly clear that deeper transformation is essential for our Space Force,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

WASHINGTON (AFNS) — \u00a0 Emphasizing that space capabilities are \u201cimportant to our strategy of integrated deterrence\u201d and the reason U.S. Space Force must drive \u201ctransformational\u201d change, Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall offered a blunt assessment April 19\u00a0of the challenges today in space but also optimism that the United States would maintain its dominance […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":6138,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6136","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6136","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6136"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6136\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6139,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6136\/revisions\/6139"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6138"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6136"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6136"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6136"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}