Dear Tomorrow: CMSAF’s Perspective on the Air Force of 2030

April 22, 2022 | By Chief Master Sgt. of the Air Force JoAnne S. Bass

It’s always a bit of a risky undertaking to sit down and write about the future.

If your predictions are overly positive, you’re an optimist; overly negative, you’re a pessimist. If they come true, then they are facts. If they don’t, they are metaphors.

Time, as always, will have the final say in the success of the steps we take today to ensure our continued success tomorrow. Unfortunately, time is not a luxury we have—the world, as we know it, is changing at an accelerated pace.

It was actually in 1982 when, American futurist, Richard Buckminster Fuller first proposed the “Knowledge Doubling Curve.” He noted that up until 1900, the sum total of human knowledge doubled about every 100 years. By the end of World War II, that rate had accelerated to every 25 years. Today, we double our knowledge roughly every year.

That’s an amazing, and somewhat terrifying, accomplishment—especially when seen through a military lens. Our adversaries are modernizing fast, and looking to replace us on the world stage. As technology advances, our adversaries are taking ideation to execution faster and faster—and training their people how to employ these new systems in a high-end fight.

To that end, we are also modernizing to ensure that our air dominance remains uncontested. However, in contrast, we aren’t just training our Airmen to use these systems, we are developing them to be the leaders our Air Force will need to win a strategic competition.

That will be the one competitive advantage we will always have over our adversaries—our people. The more deliberately we develop them today, the more successful they will be tomorrow. We don’t need Airmen to simply execute tasks off a checklist. We need Airmen who can think critically, strategically, and operate with an innovative mindset. Future conflict will never look like it has in the past, and we need our Airmen to be adaptive at speed and scale.

The Airmen we are building today will be the innovative problem solvers of 2030, and beyond. When we look at projections of what a strategic competition with a near-peer adversary could involve, it becomes clear that the Airmen of 2030 will need to have an innate ability to critically think through myriad situations, develop innovative ideas and solutions to address complex challenges, and maximize a teaming concept to ensure success across the entire enterprise.

These skills will weigh heavily on future operations, as we build an Air Force that requires a deeper understanding of the digital environment from its Airmen. When looking out to 2030, the Airmen who will be serving will not only be digital natives, but they will have to be digitally literate on a level we have yet to experience.

And given the speed and scale at which information will flow in the coming years, we have to take steps today to ensure our Airmen are resilient enough to handle the complex and adaptive systems of the future. Our people must have a sense of personal and professional grit to tackle the kinetic and non-kinetic environments that will no doubt play a role in future conflict.

All of these things are integral to who we are today, and who we need to be, tomorrow. Regardless of what challenges we face in the future, taking the time today to invest in our Airmen and provide them with a Blueprint of their development is a strategy that will continue to net positive results.

Our most competitive, most strategic, and most effective advantage against any adversary will always be our people. I am immensely proud of how far we have come as an Air Force, and genuinely optimistic about where we are headed.

Congress’ Nuclear Adviser Wonders Whether Russia Is Stoking WW3

April 21, 2022 | By Amanda Miller

The whole point of Russia’s war in Ukraine could be to drag the West into World War 3, said the executive director of Congress’ Task Force on National and Homeland Security.

Peter Pry, who is also director of Congress’ U.S. Nuclear Strategy Forum, spoke to retired Lt. Gen. David A. Deptula, dean of AFA’s Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies, during a livestreamed Nuclear Deterrence and Missile Defense Forum on April 21.

The discussion took place just one day after Russia’s military said it tested its new nuclear-capable Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile, which, according to The Associated Press, Putin said would give the West pause. Pentagon Press Secretary John F. Kirby said April 20 that the test was “routine and not a surprise,” confirming that Russia had “properly notified the United States under its New START treaty obligations.”

“We did not deem the test to be a threat to the United States or its allies,” Kirby said.

During the Mitchell event, however, Pry questioned whether Russia’s President Vladimir Putin may have become emboldened by the direction of the U.S.’s nuclear posture over the past 30 years: Whereas the U.S. has positioned itself to deter a nuclear war, Russia has prepared to wage a surprise attack.

Pry was skeptical that Putin’s subordinates would balk at a nuclear strike. He said the U.S. should raise its readiness level in response to Russia’s doing so and argued that such a move could even spell the end of the war in Ukraine.

Peter Pry, director of Congress’ U.S. Nuclear Strategy Forum, and retired Lt. Gen. David A. Deptula, dean of AFA’s Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies, participate in a livestreamed Nuclear Deterrence and Missile Defense Forum on April 21.

DEFCON 3

The involvement of three nuclear superpowers in the war in Ukraine—with China supporting Russia and the U.S. supplying arms to Ukraine—is “extremely alarming” and represents a “classical situation where we would have been concerned about the possibility of nuclear war,” Pry said.

“I think the administration and the Intelligence Community are either lying or have misconstrued the strategic situation,” Pry said, referring to dismissals of Russia’s heightened nuclear readiness level “as basically bluster or bluffing.

“And this has been used to justify keeping U.S. strategic nuclear forces at their lowest readiness level, DEFCON 5, which potentially makes them much more vulnerable to the surprise nuclear attack,” Pry said.

He doesn’t believe the U.S. would know an attack was about to happen.

Russia’s “ICBM command and control arrangement is such that we can’t see those forces mobilizing because they are on a condition the Russians call ‘constant combat readiness.’ All the time, they’re ready to launch … Twenty-four/seven, 365 days a year, Vladimir Putin could push a button and launch most of his nuclear weapons in just a few minutes without any advanced preparation.”

Pry said he thinks “the Intelligence Community is smart enough to know that. I hope they are. When I served in the CIA, we knew that the Russian strategic posture is very different from ours,” Pry said.

“Most Americans think of the Russian triad and the U.S. traid as basically the same, and they are not,” he continued. “Our strategic triad of bombers, missiles, and submarines is designed to deter nuclear war. Their nuclear triad of ballistic missiles, submarines, ICBMs, and bombers is designed to fight and win a nuclear war—particularly to achieve a surprise attack. To be able to beat us to the draw and strike us.

“That’s why, for example, most of their warheads [are for] ICBMs” which can carry up to 10 warheads, Pry said. On the other hand, the U.S. has the fewest warheads for its intercontinental ballistic missiles out of all three legs of the nuclear triad—400 total for its 400 Minuteman IIIs.

A “crippling blow to the United States” is possible by aiming just five nuclear warheads at the U.S., Pry said. “You could destroy the three bomber bases and the two ballistic missile submarine ports where most of our submarines are located on a day-to-day basis.”

Raising U.S. readiness could be a chance to end the war in Ukraine on peaceful terms, Pry argued.

“Going up at least to DEFCON 3 would put [U.S. forces] in a more survivable posture and then communicate to Moscow, ‘Look, we’re mobilizing our forces because you guys have mobilized your forces. Neither of us wants to get in a nuclear war, so stand down your forces, and we’ll stand down ours,’” he said,

Space-Based Interceptors

Of course, that solution relies on the assumption that Russia doesn’t want to get into a nuclear war, of which Pry isn’t convinced.

“When I look at what the Russians are doing, you know, it’s almost like they are taking steps that are calculated to be provocative to the West and to get us to intervene in that war,” Pry said. “I keep thinking of the Battle of Austerlitz in 1805—Napoleon’s greatest victory where he managed to get the combined armies of Austria and Russia to attack him by feigning weakness. [He] had whole regiments run away from the Russians to lure them into attacking him on the Austerlitz battlefield, and then he dropped the hammer.

“Does Russia want Ukraine to become the bloodlands of a World War 3—[to] have NATO and the United States come in there and then use [Putin’s] 10-to-1 advantage in tactical nuclear weapons as a final solution to the problem with NATO and the United States?” Pry said in reply to an audience question.

“I mean, we might already be there in terms of Russia taking advantage of the correlation of forces that flavors it in terms of nuclear firepower.”

The U.S.’s increase to 64 ground-based ICBM interceptors amount to “a joke” against foreign arsenals, Pry said: “North Korea even can challenge the 64 GBIs. We’ve got to get serious about that. I think the space-based defenses are the way of technologically moving forward to a place where we may be able to better defend the homeland.

“We’ve got a U.S. Space Force. It ought to be about that—building a missile shield for the United States. Not just about anti-satellite activity, which seems to be what its chief function is now.”

Russia Sanctions 29 Americans, Including Mitchell Institute Dean

April 21, 2022 | By Amy Hudson

The Russian government sanctioned 29 Americans on April 21, including Vice President Kamala Harris, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, and the dean of AFA’s Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies retired Lt. Gen. David A. Deptula.

The official announcement, released in Russian by the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and translated for the Air & Space Forces Association, reads: “In response to the constantly escalating anti-Russian sanctions implemented by the Biden Administration … we have created a stop list of 29 Americans, of which there are senior government representatives, business leaders, experts, and journalists, who together form an anti-Russian cabal.”

Specifically, the sanctions limit the ability of the individuals to travel in Russia and would place any assets held in that country at risk.

“The actions undertaken by [Russian President Vladimir] Putin and his military in Ukraine are beyond despicable … ,” said Deptula. “The community of peace-loving nations need to do everything in their power to support Ukraine in repelling the invading Russian forces, and to stop the atrocities they are committing against innocent men, women, and children.”

Deptula has repeatedly urged the United States to provide more weapons to Ukraine, saying the Biden administration should not be deterred by Putin’s threats.

In a March 22 Mitchell Institute discussion with former NATO Supreme Allied Commander, Europe, retired Air Force Gen. Philip M. Breedlove, both leaders said missteps by the West emboldened Putin ahead of the Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine, but they emphasized it’s not too late to provide the weapons needed to overcome Russian air power.

The sanctions come as the Biden Administration, also on April 21, pledged another $800 million in aid to Ukraine, including a new drone developed by the U.S. Air Force, vowing to ask Congress for even more funds as fighting continues.

F-15 and F-16 Jointly Test Legion Pod Infrared Tracker

April 21, 2022 | By John A. Tirpak

An F-15 and an F-16 jointly and passively detected, tracked, and triangulated an aerial target using the infrared search-and-track Legion Pod on April 7, the Air Force’s 53rd test wing announced.

This capability will be useful as U.S. fighters go up against adversary aircraft having low-observable features that reduce their radar cross-section, making them hard to track and target using radar alone.

In the test, an F-15 and an F-16, each equipped with a Legion Pod, detected a target and then used the pod’s advanced datalink to “passively triangulate target position without the use of radar or other active ranging sources,” the 53rd Wing said in a press release. It was the first “multi-platform use” of the IRST pod, the unit said.

Infrared search-and-track technology “provides a key enabler in the long-range kill chain as well as the ability to locate targets in a multispectral domain,” said Lt. Col. Jeremy Castor, sensors program manager with the F-16 Operational Flight Program combined test force.

Any large-force scenario, he said, “includes multiple aircraft types, each with different viewpoints of the battlespace. The ability to share data” provides information “they would not be able to get, otherwise.”

The Legion Pod has a common interface that allows it to be mounted on any aircraft with minimum impact on that jet’s core software. This open-systems capability “opens the door for integration, with minimal effort, onto other fighter aircraft,” like the F-15EX, the 53rd Wing said.

Continued testing will explore “operationally relevant capabilities” with an advanced datalink, Castor said. The eventual goal is for any USAF aircraft to be able to carry and employ the Legion Pod.

The advanced datalink was first tested successfully during the Northern Edge exercise in April 2021, with a two-ship of F-15s. It was tested on a two-ship of F-16s at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., in December 2021. The April 2022 test was the first using dissimilar aircraft types and represents “a milestone in the program’s ongoing progress,” the wing said.

The two-week evaluation was collaboratively run by the Combined Test Force, the 85th Test and Evaluation Squadron, the 40th Flight Test Squadron, Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control, and the Air National Guard/Air Force Reserve Command Test Center.

Pentagon Reveals Secretive New Drone the Air Force is Giving to Ukraine: Phoenix Ghost

April 21, 2022 | By Greg Hadley

Editor’s note: This story was updated at 6:30 p.m. to include clarifying comments from the Pentagon press secretary on when the Phoenix Ghost was developed.

The Pentagon is giving Ukraine a secretive new drone that the U.S. Air Force has developed—one that “very nicely” suits the needs of the Ukrainian military, the Pentagon revealed April 21.

The U.S. will deliver at least 121 of the new Phoenix Ghost tactical unmanned aerial systems to Ukraine as part of a new $800 million assistance package announced by Pentagon Press Secretary John F. Kirby. But, what is the Phoenix Ghost?

“This is a drone that had been in development before the invasion, clearly,” Kirby said during an afternoon press briefing. “The Air Force was working this, and in discussions with the Ukrainians about their requirements, we believed that this particular system would very nicely suit their needs, particularly in eastern Ukraine.”

Kirby’s comments mark a slight change from those made by a senior defense official earlier in the day. In a background briefing, the official said the Phoenix Ghost was “rapidly developed by the Air Force, in response, specifically, to Ukrainian requirements.”

Kirby said he did not have an exact date for when Phoenix Ghost started development. But given that the Air Force had at least 120 to send from its inventory, “You’re not going to have 120 on your shelves if you just started buying them on the 24th of February,” the day Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began.

“What probably wasn’t as well worded as it should have been [is] it was developed for a set of requirements that very closely match what Ukrainians need right now in Donbas,” Kirby said, referring to the eastern region of Ukraine where Russia has focused its attack in recent days.

The exact capabilities that Phoenix Ghost will offer to Ukraine are being kept under wraps, as Kirby declined to comment. But he did say the drone is “akin” to the Switchblade drone that the U.S. has already delivered to Ukraine.

Switchblades are often referred to as “kamikaze drones” or “loitering munitions” because they are capable of flying over a target before crashing and detonating in a precision strike. Different versions of the Switchblade can fly between 15 and 40 minutes, with a range from 10 to 40 kilometers.

The Phoenix Ghost is “designed for tactical operations,” Kirby said. “In other words, largely but not exclusively to attack targets. It, like almost all unmanned aerial systems, of course, has optics. So it can also be used to give you a sight picture of what it’s seeing, of course, but its principal focus is attack.”

Kirby later added that the drone is a one-way system, meaning it is not meant to be recovered.

Air Force public affairs declined all comment on Phoenix Ghost to Air Force Magazine, referring questions to the Pentagon. An employee of Aevex Aerospace, the California company producing the drone, also declined comment to Air Force Magazine.

While the drone is currently being delivered to Ukraine, Kirby said he expected that the Air Force would use it in the future for itself.

Since Russia launched its invasion, the Department of Defense has provided $3.4 billion worth of military aid to Ukraine, including another $800 million package in mid-March, followed by another $100 million in early April. Kirby previously said the contents of those packages would be fully delivered by mid-April.

In addition to Switchblades and the new Phoenix Ghost, DOD has also provided Stinger anti-aircraft missiles, Javelin anti-tank missiles, Mi-17 helicopters, Humvees, artillery, and millions of rounds of small arms ammunition and grenades, among other items.

Some B-21 Bomber Facilities at Ellsworth to be Ready for 2024

April 21, 2022 | By John A. Tirpak

Some facilities supporting the first B-21 Raider unit at Ellsworth Air Force Base, S.D., are to be ready by 2024, according to Air Force budget request documents, indicating the service anticipates a swift test and evaluation program for the new aircraft.

The Air Force announced last year that Ellsworth is to be the initial B-21 operating base and the formal training unit, or “schoolhouse,” for the bomber. The base now hosts the B-1B Lancer.

According to justifications (the so-called “J-Books”) in the Air Force’s fiscal 2023 budget, just released, three military construction projects at Ellsworth are requested for a collective $328 million, including a Low Observables Restoration Facility, a Weapons Generation Facility, and a Radio Frequency Facility.

The two-bay LO restoration facility, which is to be climate-controlled and have filtration gear to support spray-on stealth treatments, is to be finished by September 2024, according to the documents. The weapons generating facility—which will assemble bombs and missiles and get them ready to be loaded onto aircraft—is to be complete by February 2026. No completion date was given for the Radio Frequency Facility, which will test the B-21’s stealth prior to missions.

The Air Force has maintained since the B-21 program began that the program would yield at least one “usable asset” by the “mid-2020s.” Lt. Gen. James C. Dawkins, deputy chief of staff for strategic deterrence and nuclear integration, said last year that the B-21 will be available for missions “around 2026 or 2027.”

At least six B-21s are in some stage of construction, said Randy Walden, Rapid Capabilities Office director. Last year, Walden predicted that the first B-21 would roll out and fly in “mid-2022,” although in March of this year he declined to be more specific, saying only that the rollout will be event-driven, not calendar-driven.

The first B-21 is undergoing calibration tests and will soon need to be moved outside Northrop Grumman’s Palmdale, Calif., production plant for engine runs and taxi tests prior to first flight, Walden reported. There was a public rollout for the B-2 Spirit bomber in 1988 ahead of such outdoor pre-flight testing. Walden said he expected a similar ceremony for the B-21, as the beginning of powered tests will be a “historical event.” After slow- and high-speed taxi tests, the B-21 will make its first flight, likely to be a short hop to nearby Edwards Air Force Base, Calif.

Having some of the Ellsworth facilities ready in 2024 suggests an aggressive program for flight testing the B-21. The B-2 was tested for four years between 1989 and 1993, when the first operational example was delivered to Whiteman Air Force Base, Mo., the sole B-2 operating base and schoolhouse.

Air Force leaders have emphasized in recent months that the B-21 is the centerpiece of a strategic “family of systems” that will include uncrewed escort aircraft providing sensory data, suppressing air defenses, providing communications links, and conducting electronic warfare, among other tasks. The B-21 itself was intended from the beginning of the program to be an “optionally manned” platform and capable of deploying either conventional or nuclear weapons. Besides direct-attack weapons, the B-21 is to be capable of employing stand-off missiles such as the Long-Range Standoff weapon, or LRSO. It was also designed from the outset with an “open architecture” to reduce integration risk and allow competition for future upgrades.

The Air Force plans to acquire “at least” 100 B-21s, but comments from senior leaders in recent years indicate the service is leaning toward a buy of 145 or more.

After Ellsworth, the “preferred locations” for B-21 basing include Whiteman and Dyess Air Force Base, Texas, which now operate the B-2 and B-1B, respectively. The Air Force has said it expects to retire the B-2 circa 2031 and the last B-1Bs around 2032. The B-21 depot is to be at Tinker Air Force Base, Okla.

The Air Force is also asking for $30 million to acquire acreage adjacent to the air logistics center at Tinker to house B-21 depot activities. The Air Force envisions a 133-acre campus with “21 docks and environmental shelters with associated facilities and infrastructure.” The docks will handle maintenance, “de-paint, wash, fuel, radio frequency diagnostic, and parts storage” for the Raider. The facilities will be built “in phases.” The Air Force would add 80 acres to the 53 acres it already has in the vicinity to create the campus. Consolidating all these activities in a single place will save $500 million over the life of the B-21 program, the Air Force said, and it needs to acquire the land by the end of fiscal 2023 to have the depot available when needed.

B-1 Bomber Catches Fire on Flight Line at Dyess

April 21, 2022 | By Greg Hadley

A B-1B bomber caught fire on the flight line at Dyess Air Force Base, Texas, on April 20, the base announced.

The fire started around 10 p.m. during “routine engine maintenance” while the B-1 Lancer was parked, according to a Dyess press release.

Two individuals were injured during the fire and transported to a local medical facility with “non-life-threatening injuries,” according to the release. They were later released.

A Dyess Air Force Base public affairs official told Air Force Magazine that the cause of the fire and whether the aircraft can be salvaged are still being investigated. Information on the injured individuals, including whether they were members of the aircrew or maintainers, is not being released at this time.

A 39-second video posted to the popular unofficial “Air Force amn/nco/snco” Facebook page purports to show the B-1 engulfed in massive flames. An individual can be seen running to and away from the aircraft before an emergency vehicle arrives and the video ends.

The Dyess official said the base is aware of the video and is currently investigating. She could not confirm the video’s veracity.

Air Force Global Strike Command did not immediately respond to an Air Force Magazine query as to whether the B-1 fleet has been grounded in response to the incident, but in a statement, Col. Joseph Kramer, commander of the 7th Bomb Wing at Dyess, said, “our B-1 fleet and warfighters remain ready to execute any long-range strike mission.”

“We are so grateful that all members of Team Dyess involved have been treated and are now safely back at home,” Kramer added. “Thank you to our first responders who arrived immediately on scene and executed a real-world emergency response with the same level of professionalism and proficiency as they do in training.”

Operations at Dyess are proceeding as usual, the official told Air Force Magazine, “except for that one area of the flight line.” Clean-up operations are underway.

As of September 2021, only 45 B-1Bs were left in the Air Force fleet. Air Force Global Strike Command retired 17 B-1s last year, however, the rest of the fleet is expected to remain in service until the new B-21 Raider comes online.

Defense Execs: Industry Should Collaborate to Jumpstart JADC2

April 20, 2022 | By Amanda Miller

Companies in the defense industry believe they’re better positioned than the military services to help the Defense Department link its data together as part of the joint all-domain command and control concept.

The chief technology officers of Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman pointed out how their companies already work with all the services and the Intelligence Community. In an event livestreamed April 19 by the American Enterprise Institute, they said their own internal research and development to link their two companies’ platforms could pay off for the government.

Northrop Grumman’s Scott Stapp thinks of JADC2 as “the internet of warfighting,” akin to how people command and control their day-to-day lives via smartphone.

“The idea is, ‘How do you connect all your pieces so that the data flows seamlessly from any element to anything else,’” Stapp said. “They used to talk about [it being] ‘any sensor to any shooter.’ And we’ve kind of started morphing that. It’s really about the right data to the right shooter. … Weapons don’t care where the data comes from. What they need is guidance on where to go.”

Over the short term, between now and DOD’s initial time horizon of 2027, Stapp said getting JADC2 to work “means duct-taping and Band-aiding the systems you have today, tying them together so they have much better data flow, so you can get much better decision authority out of that.” Then comes “looking at how future programs will then go back and tie into that architecture.”

“If you hear [Air Force] Secretary [Frank] Kendall talk, it’s really a now-to-’27 kind of timeframe when they look at China,” Stapp said. “And then ’27 and beyond. Well, now to ’27 means there are probably no new programs of record. What you’ve got, you’re going to take to the fight.”

The two CTOs acknowledged meeting regularly with other defense industry counterparts to talk about situations in which they want to compete or collaborate.

“Setting this fabric and this architecture for JADC2 is an area that we actually really need to collaborate on,” Stapp said.

Steve Walker of Lockheed Martin estimated that the military already has 80 percent of the weapons it will have 10 years from now.

“But if you can build more of a system-of-systems approach to warfighting, the chance you’re going to be able to add effectors—say, unmanned systems—to that mix is greater. The ability to upgrade technology at the pace of technology is greater.”

Walker mentioned how the two companies “have talked about how to use your assets with our assets and provide that full picture.

“We just need to get that story, I think, more over to the DOD side,” he said.

Stapp of Northrop Grumman commended the Joint Staff’s work on the JADC2 implementation plan, announced in March, saying, “They’ve set the vision of what JADC2 really needs to look like.

“The real question is can the services pick that ball up and roll tin to actually fulfill that vision. [But] the services don’t really understand the tools in all the other services.”

However, if the industry starts “doing that on our own dime, … [then] you’ve started to connect the services together whether they knew it or not,” Stapp said.

Space Force Has No Plans to Divest Legacy Assets, SSC Boss Says

April 20, 2022 | By Greg Hadley

While the Air Force is looking to retire hundreds of old assets to free up money for new systems, don’t expect the Space Force to follow suit, the head of Space Systems Command said April 20.

Lt. Gen. Michael A. Guetlein oversees the “research, design, development, acquisition, launch, and sustainment” of the Space Force’s satellites as the commander of SSC. And in that role, he is set to help oversee the deployment of a new resilient space architecture defined by proliferated and integrated systems.

But even as the Space Development Agency—soon to transitio n to be part of the Space Force—proceeds with plans to procure dozens of new satellites, rolling them out on a regular two-year cycle, the service is not looking to divest anything, Guetlein said during a virtual discussion at the C4ISRNET Conference.

“Space is really a startup, and space is really large. So based on that, we’re really not seeing the need to divest ourselves of any legacy assets,” Guetlein said. “Additionally, satellites are on orbit for a very finite amount of time, and they will replenish themselves over time, just due to loss of fuel or loss of redundancy, etc. So we’re really not seeing the need to retire any of our legacy assets.”

Indeed, those legacy assets will still be crucial in the next few years, Guetlein said, as Space Systems Command looks to bridge the gap to 2026—the date Guetlein has set as the field command’s goal for fielding newer, more resilient systems.

“That resiliency is going to take some time to build in, and we’ll start delivering in the 2028-and-beyond timeframe,” Guetlein said. “So what do we do between now and 2028? And that’s really where we’ve been sounding the alarm on 2026” because of China‘s and Russia‘s capabilities and intent to disrupt access to space.

Should a conflict arise before 2028, the Space Force will need its legacy systems to be as resilient as possible. That’s why Guetlein has tasked SSC with more than just buying new systems.

“What we’ve asked our [program executive offices] to do, is to deliver as much capability as they possibly can from our current architecture, to support the warfighter and the nation in case we need those systems in time of crisis or conflict,” Guetlein said.

In pursuit of that, the field command has adopted a mantra, said Guetlein: “Exploit what we have; buy what we can; and only build what I must.”

With that 2026 timeline in mind, there are two main ways SSC is using that mantra to guide its approach.

“When I look at our metrics going into 2026, it’s first and foremost, how have I integrated and networked the current capabilities that I have in new and imaginative ways. And then under ‘Buy what I can,’ it’s how have I partnered with our allies, and how have I partnered with commercial to buy what commercial services and international services are available?” Guetlein said. “And then going back to ‘Exploit what we have,’ how I have integrated that better into the current networks that we have today?”

The rise of commercial services in space that the Pentagon could potentially leverage has been highlighted in recent weeks by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Satellite imagery has shown troop movements and provided evidence of potential war crimes, while satellite internet has helped to keep Ukrainians connected.

Watching all this, Guetlein said, is a reminder that the Space Force and SSC don’t necessarily have to field everything by themselves.

“I think what we’re seeing around the globe is an enormous amount of value and capability that the commercial industry is bringing to the table. With that capability, they’re building in redundancy; they’re building in resilience; and we are able to now fill gaps or even change our focus on the mission areas that the government was traditionally focused on, to allow industry to take a piece of it, while we focus on the more exquisite capabilities in the denied areas going forward,” said Guetlein.

At the same time, given the vastness of space, it’s not as though DOD can afford to cut back on any systems that provide it with situational awareness.

“Space is huge,” said Guetlein. “We will never, never have enough space domain awareness. And in order to be successful in space, we really need to understand what’s going on in our environment, both manmade as well as environmental.”

Between building new systems, acquiring commercial capabilities, and looking to use the current satellites in new and innovative ways, the amount of funding needed isn’t likely to go down anytime soon. The tension between sustaining old systems and developing new ones with limited funds is what led to the Air Force’s strategy of divesting legacy platforms.

But Guetlein sounded confident that Congress will continue to pay for the Space Force to sustain and modernize at the same time.

“We’ve experienced an enormous amount of bipartisan congressional support across the Space Force,” Guetlein said. “As we’re going into the next generation of space capabilities, we’re having very, very transparent dialogue with our congressional stakeholders to explain to them what the current vulnerabilities are of our current systems, how we are going to fill those gaps in the future, … and how we’re going to transition from the extremely capable systems that we have today, that are world class, to this new, more proliferated, resilient, redundant, integrated network architecture going forward. And through that transparency, we’re seeing an enormous amount of cooperation and collaboration on the Hill.”