Schriever Spacepower Series: Lt Gen DeAnna Burt
5 January, 2024
On Growth and Development in Space Capabilities:
-We just finished our fourth birthday heading out into our fifth year of the United States Space Force. It’s been really exciting to be a guardian from the beginning and there’s been a lot of growth.
-We’ve stood up, we’ve established, we’re in a good place and I think the force is ready and we’re moving out in a very positive direction.
Readiness and Responsiveness of Space Forces:
-We are continuing to grow as a service only 4 years old. We’ve got to continue.
-Is there a certain level of protective and responsibility that will be extended to [commercial partners] and conversely are there any standards and policies that we would expect as a government customer.
Resilience and Endurance in Space Operations:
-Competitive endurance and has three pillars to that one is exquisite awareness.
-Competitive endurance is if required we can take a punch but if required or asked to offer options to the National command Authority.
Collaboration with Allies and Commercial Partners:
-Working with our commercial and Allied Partners to build Brazilian capabilities working together in similar Mission sets.
-As we talk about our commercial partners we’ve seen a lot of growth in the joint commercial office US space command.
Adaptation to New Threats and Technologies:
-If you look at the airspace over Ukraine you can see a very large hole where because fighting is going on they’ve cleared the airspace and no aircraft are flying into that area you can’t really do that in space.
-If you chose to action those targets and it’s not just the space-on-space threat system or if they have a transportable direct descent ASAP system these folks would be identifying them.
Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance Advancements:
-The stand up of a new squatter, the 75th intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance Squadron, this is a new operation.
-By making the data discoverable folks are able to much more quickly build their own translators to pull that information.
Integration of Civil and Commercial Space Activities:
-This also helps us as we work closer with the Department of Commerce as they bring on their civil flight safety capabilities.
-So now as the sun goes, so will the joint commercial office and we’ll be able to have a 24/7 capability working with our allies on that.
Importance of Missile Warning Systems in National Security:
-Just National Security with regard to our peer competitors the Russians and the Chinese how important missile warning is at the Strategic level.
-Certainly, I think we learned even back as far as Desert Storm how important it is at the Tactical level when we started seeing [missiles] shot into our bases in Saudi Arabia.
Transition and Integration of Space Missions:
-We have absorbed both the mission and the authorities and the acquisition through one October last year.
-We stood up the 5th Space Warning Squadron which oversees those four operational detachments overseas that were in this Mission.
Collaboration and Partnership in Space Operations:
-The Army has been an incredible partner as we’ve done this transition to seamlessly bring it over.
-They transition out in April and this will be fully Guardian lead now why that’s important in the space forces as you said that is a tactical theater Mission.
Resilience and Responsiveness in Space Technology:
-Victus Nox, This resilient launch I think what’s unique about Victus Nox was a demonstration to look at how we could look at our processes and how we do business.
-It’s about speed to be able to quickly get that capability reconstituted.
Space Force Readiness and Capability Development:
-What is our Readiness model to force present to a combatant command.
-So now as we’ve become a service we’ve established our own space force input tool which is now our tool to report to Congress by law to change your Readiness generation planning.
Expansion and Establishment of Command Structures:
-The first year we stood up as you mentioned INDOPACOM how we set up Central Command, we also stood up Korea and then this just last December we stood up space in Africa Command.
-I want everyone to understand the process to become a service component. It’s not a willy-nilly thing, it has to be a want on both sides.
Resource Allocation and Mission Expansion:
-Yes, we are proposing how do we grow those [billets]… continue to fill out those service components that will also impact how quickly we can establish more.
-It’s a balance thereof how many we can take on and how fast but definitely want to grow as you said to all the cocomms over time.
Integrated Mission Readiness and Unified Command:
-Mission Delta’s really revolves around unified Mission readiness… to be able to control all the levers of that Readiness.
-We’re getting this pilot going… operators working together for the same boss in your rowing together.
Transition to Guardian Leadership and Operational Control:
-This will be fully Guardian lead now why that’s important in the space forces as you said that is a tactical theater mission.
-Once you say it’s at a certain point… you get not only the people but you get the budget and the things that are part of that sustainment to now action that capability.
Cybersecurity and Domain Resilience:
-What that really requires is cyber professionals sitting side by side with operators intelligence professionals getting after a particular Mission set.
-We’ve developed tools that we put onto our Weapons Systems to be able to detect cyber intrusions and when things are going wrong with the system.
Collaboration with Other Services and Agencies:
-We’re included in through our Delta 6 who is our cyber lead for working on all these things across the Enterprise.
-There’s an exchange of data… Here’s what we saw in your system. Here’s what we see.
Future Considerations and Capability Enhancements:
-We always worry about fuel consumption in space because there are no gas stations up there and if you want a maneuver you get to weigh that satellite mission life versus that maneuver.
-As you think about refueling capabilities for the future to allow for a little more flexibility or perhaps new sources of energy ideas.
Necessity of Maneuverability and Refueling in Space:
-Being able to maneuver without regret… gas for geo and below is good to have and it would be as the threats grow and ability to maneuver without regret but gas Beyond Geo will be absolutely required.
-If I can reach out and touch you, historically we’ve said those are all things that can hurt you… is there a perception that I am something else nefarious and how I operate?
Targeting and Intelligence Gathering for Space Operations:
-What is our adversary capability so I want you to think about is the ground, the satellite or the receiver and the connections either through the electromagnetic spectrum or through cyber or Fiber connections.
-The 75th is focused on doing that for space targets… how they would best target it and they could nominate those targets to a targeting board at the combatant command.
Commercial and Military Integration in Space:
-I also truly believe the commercial companies are going to want that gas too so it’s not just yet to continue to look and we’ve got to figure out how to resource to review.
-We’ve had commercial Partners playing in these war games with us and interacting over the years.
Contractual and Operational Considerations for Space Entities:
-How do you write contracts that say Hey if I have capability very responsibility from 100 km to Infinity, so in that area responsibility, what the US space command Commander determine is the critical asset list.
-It’s hard for me to imagine that a US company wouldn’t want to be defended… I understand business but I also understand Warfare and it’s an asset is critical to US Department of Defense.