A Perspective on Ukrainian Security: The Changing European Order

01/23/2022

https://sldinfo.com/2022/01/the-nordics-the-uk-and-the-ukrainian-crisis/By Robbin Laird

The current Ukraine situation is part of a chain of events.

And as such, the Russian threat to Ukrainian sovereignty is simply not about Ukraine.

It is about the stability of the current European order.

Of course, those with historical knowledge understand that any European order is an imprint on the dynamics of change which always have affected the European continent and made it such a generator of wars and forceful changes of borders, cultures and nations.

We are here again.

Not surprisingly so as the region cutting through the European continent from the Black Sea north has been an unsettled part of the post-Soviet European order.

To simply take this year, the Black Sea crisis of this summer where we saw significant information war and the “migrant” crisis generated by the Russians through Belarus against the Poles, the Balts, and the European order more generally are all part of the wider challenges which Russia is generating against the post-Soviet European order.

In my co-authored book with Murielle Delaporte, we highlighted Putin’s unwillingness to accept the current European order.

How Europeans and the United States shape their engagement with the Russians going forward will shape the next phase of the European order.

This is not simply a Ukrainian crisis; it is much broader than that.

This is not a static thing but a moving process, whereby Brexit and the Turkish de facto exit from NATO have been key parts of reshaping the European order and the Russian pressure on their former territories is now playing a forcing function to determine who is serious about maintaining the current European order and who is not.

It is also the case that Russia’s challenge to the European order is part of the wider challenge of 21st century authoritarian powers to the global order as shaped by the United States, the European Union, and the democratic powers in Asia.

Whatever transpires in the Ukrainian crisis is not limited to Europe.

As we wrote in our book on the return of direct defense in Europe:

“The leading authoritarian leaders seem to like being ruler for life, as the head of China, in 2019, received parliamentary approval to be able to run beyond the term limits which had been in place. The Parliament approved the removal of the two-term limit on the presidency, effectively allowing Xi Jinping to remain in power for life. Putin has redefined Russia’s place in the post–Cold War period, and shaped a comprehensive narrative which one might call Making Russia Great Again.

“And in reshaping Russia in his authoritarian image, Putin has shaped a narrative which is rooted in Russia being the victim of the West, led by the United States, and in returning to its roots to become a key authoritarian Euro-Asian power. Putin both contributed to and has been abetted by the rise of 21st century authoritarianism.

“With the collapse of the Soviet Union and the Chinese becoming members of the World Trade Organization, globalization and democratization seemed to be evolving hand in hand.

“But rather than globalization leading to democratization, it has been shaped significantly by the 21st century authoritarian powers who have used that process to enhance their ability to operate within and without against the key powers driving the liberal democratic order.”

In short, we have entered a new historical epoch which will be shaped by the concrete actions of key states and what the results of such actions will be both in fact and perceived reality.

History is on the move once again, and with it the shaping of new global anarchy or order.

 

Featured Graphic: Photo 151366060 / Map Ukraine © Chernetskaya | Dreamstime.com

Also, see the following:

Allied Resolve 2022 Exercise: Russia Brings Troops from Far East to Belarus

The Nordics, the UK and the Ukrainian Crisis

The Ukrainian Situation: The Perspective of the UK Minister of Defence

The Czech Republic Rallies Support for Ukraine

Osprey Major Redesign Effort: Modified CV-22s Arrive at Cannon Air Force Base

01/21/2022

According to the USAF: “U.S. Air Force Airmen assigned to the 20th Special Operations Squadron familiarize themselves with the new nacelle improvement modifications on a CV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft at Cannon Air Force Base, N.M., Jan. 7, 2022.

“The improvements should increase aircraft availability and reduce required maintenance actions, leading to increased flying hours.

“The versatility of the CV-22 offers increased speed and range over other rotary-wing aircraft, which enables the 20 SOS to conduct long-range infiltration, exfiltration and personnel recovery missions deep into enemy territory.”

This process started with the award of a contract for a major nacelle redesign effort announced by NAVAIR on January 27, 2021:

The Naval Air Systems Command awarded Bell Boeing an $81 million contract to develop, design and install nacelle modification kits and install conversion area harnesses on the CV-22 Osprey, the Air Force Special Operations Command’s (AFSOC) variant of the tiltrotor aircraft.

“This complex effort will improve both the reliability and maintainability in one of the most critical areas on the aircraft,” said Col. Matthew Kelly, V-22 Joint Program Office (PMA-275) program manager. “This contract implements the most comprehensive maintainability improvement since CV-22 fleet introduction 14 years ago; it will quickly pay readiness dividends for the fleet.”

The V-22 nacelles house the power and propulsion components of the aircraft and the conversion area includes complex wiring bundles routing from each nacelle, feeding power through various elements of the aircraft. Together, the nacelles and harnesses are crucial and complex elements, responsible for giving the V-22 its unique ability to fly vertically and horizontally.

“Approximately 60 percent of maintenance man hours are spent in the nacelles,” said Col. Brian Clifford, the PMA-275 CV-22 program manager. “By refining the design for maintainability in these areas, we will ultimately reduce repair time and improve readiness.”

The planned modifications were designed based on feedback from Air Force and Marine Corps maintainers to improve access to the nacelles.

“We wanted to make sure that the individuals actually doing the hard work, opening up the nacelles, having to replace wires and troubleshoot, reap the benefits of this program,” said MSgt Bryan Sohl, the CV-22 division superintendent.

Initial kit delivery and installs, covered in this contract, are scheduled for completion in late-2021 at Bell’s Amarillo Assembly Center in Amarillo, Texas. The Marine Corps and Navy are also looking to incorporate the nacelle and wiring improvements onto the MV-22 and CMV-22B variants.

“The team’s efforts to get this contract negotiated and awarded were exemplary; the results of this contract will have positive and significant impacts to the AFSOC CV-22 fleet,” said Clifford.

Bell noted in a September 23, 2021 press release that the first CV-22s had arrived at their plant for the nacelle modifications:

The first Air Force CV-22 Osprey designated for nacelle improvement modifications arrived at Bell’s Amarillo Assembly Center on Sept. 21. The aircraft is part of an ongoing process by Bell Textron Inc., a Textron Inc. (NYSE: TXT) company, and Boeing (NYSE: BA) (together referred to as “Bell Boeing”) to further increase the Osprey’s reliability and maintainability for the Department of Defense (DOD).

Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) awarded Bell Boeing an $81 million contract in December 2020 to complete Nacelle Improvements on the CV-22 fleet. The contract covers completion of non-recurring elements, fabrication of nine kits, and installation of one kit. NAVAIR has an option period to cover fabrication and installation through 2025.

“We worked directly with our DOD partners, including servicemen and women who maintain these transformational aircraft, in development of the targeted improvements within the nacelle to increase readiness rates while driving down sustainment costs,” said Kurt Fuller, V-22 program director and Bell vice president. “Bell Boeing engineers developed innovative solutions to support fleet needs and enhance the maintainability of the V-22 using direct customer feedback.”

Approximately 60 percent of maintenance man hours are spent in the nacelles. Bell Boeing successfully engineered more than 1,300 new V-22 part numbers to help improve reliability and maintainability of the nacelles while also reducing repair time. The improvements are predicted to increase aircraft availability and reduce maintenance time.

“Tiltrotors have always brought a new level of capability to aviation,” said Shane Openshaw, V-22 deputy director and Boeing vice president. “No other aircraft can accomplish the unparalleled reach, speed, agility of the V-22, and these upgrades help ensure the Osprey remains a ready and capable aircraft for the DOD for decades to come.”

Bell Boeing works closely with the U.S. Air Force Special Operations Command and other V-22 customers to pursue upgrades, reduce maintenance, and increase reliability.

NAVAIR completed the first flight with nacelle improvements on a Marine Corps MV-22 test aircraft on April 23, 2021. The MV-22 shares the same nacelle structure as the CV-22 and allowed the Bell Boeing team to receive input from NAVAIR and fleet maintainers before the first Air Force aircraft begins modifications. Bell Boeing will perform the CV modifications in Amarillo, Texas, Fort Worth, Texas, and is expected to complete the upgrades on all CV-22 aircraft by 2025.

And in an April 14, 2021, article by Nick Adde published by NDIA, the upgrade paths for the Osprey were highlighted:

With the Osprey now well ensconced as an integral part of the inventory, work continues on current and future upgrades. Earlier this year, NAVAIR awarded an $81 million contract to develop and install modified nacelle kits and conversion harnesses for the CV-22. Situated at the end of each wing, nacelles provide housing for the plane’s key power and propulsion components. They also hold the wiring bundles that feed systems throughout the aircraft and serve the system that converts the Osprey from vertical to horizontal flight and back.

“Approximately 60 percent of maintenance man-hours are spent in the nacelles,” Air Force Col. Brian Clifford, CV-22 program manager, said in a NAVAIR press release.

Refinement of the nacelle design should reduce time spent getting repairs and improve readiness, Clifford said. The work will take place at Bell’s Amarillo, Texas, facility. The Marine Corps and Navy also are considering the same upgrade.

A number of other major sustainment issues are currently on the table, Kelly said. The older Marine aircraft are undergoing a common configuration, readiness and modernization program, which would bring systems on 2010 aircraft up to 2020 standards. The roughly 60 modifications include new mission computers, a better weather radar and scratch-resistant wind screens, he said. The handful of aircraft that have completed the process have demonstrated increases in readiness rates, as well as a decreased need for maintenance man-hours.

Terrain Shaping Ops

Throughout history, forces have attempted to turn, fix, block, disrupt and deter others through ever-evolving scientific and technological solutions. However, current Terrain Shaping Obstacles are fixed and limited to the land domain.

ERDC is working to help develop Terrain Shaping Obstacles that are mobile, adaptive and intelligent, remotely operated and capable of near-, mid- and far-term delivery in partnership with all-service air, space, land and sea assets. In the future, terrain shaping options will be controllable and reversible, embracing emergent scientific discoveries to manipulate the very nature of the multi-domain battlefield.

VICKSBURG, MS.
01.04.2022
Video by Marisa Gaona
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Engineer Research and Development Center

Team Tempest Reinforced by Japanese-UK Engine Agreement

01/20/2022

Both the UK and Japan are working towards their next fighter aircraft. Both are members of the F-35 enterprise and can build on that operational experience as well. The Japanese are looking in their F-X program to replace their F-2 aircraft; and the UK is looking beyond its current generation Eurofighter aircraft.

The UK has launched its Tempest program which is aggregating coalition engagement and support.

This agreement deepens the evolving Japanese-UK defense working relationships.

The UK now no longer part of the European Union has through the tempest program launched a way to work new approaches for defense industrial cooperation post-EU.

The recently announced agreement by the UK and Japan to develop a fighter aircraft engine demonstrator is part of such an effort.

According to a UK Ministry of Defence press release on December 22, 2021:

Work on the joint engine demonstrator will kickstart early next year, with the UK investing an initial £30 million in planning, digital designs and innovative manufacturing developments.

A further £200 million of UK funding is expected to go towards developing a full-scale demonstrator power system, supporting hundreds of highly skilled jobs, including many at Rolls-Royce’s Filton facility in Bristol.

Over the next four years, the UK is investing more than £2 billion into its major national and international endeavour to design a world-leading Future Combat Air System. In parallel, through its F-X programme, Japan is looking to develop a future fighter aircraft to a similar timescale to replace the F-2 aircraft.

UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said:

“Strengthening our partnerships in the Indo-Pacific is a strategic priority and this commitment with Japan, one of our closest security partners in Asia, is a clear example of that.

“Designing a brand-new combat air system with a fighter aircraft at its heart is a highly ambitious project so working with like-minded nations is vital. Building on the technological and industrial strengths of our two countries, we will be exploring a wide-ranging partnership across next-generation combat air technologies.

“Having explored opportunities with Japan on future combat air systems for some time, alongside the UK’s growing partnership with European nations, discussions accelerated following a meeting between UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace and Japan’s Defence Minister Nobuo Kishi in Tokyo in the Summer.”

UK Defence Procurement Minister Jeremy Quin said:

“As I have seen at first hand our partners in Japan have made enormous progress on technologies that can complement our own advanced skills and could help ensure both our Armed Forces remain at the forefront of military innovation.

“We look forward to the continued partnership with a formidable power and close ally.

“International partnership remains at the heart of the UK’s approach to combat air, as set out in the Combat Air Strategy published in 2018.”

UK Director Future Combat Air, Richard Berthon, said:

“This initiative with Japan is a win-win opportunity to develop world-beating power technologies together. Investing and working together with Japan to demonstrate highly advanced engine systems will boost our national industries and design a cutting-edge military capability. We’re looking forward to getting started on this work and continuing our discussions on further collaboration.

The UK and Japan have also agreed a ‘Memorandum of Cooperation’ which enables both nations to pursue joint technologies. Together, the UK and Japanese Defence Ministries will explore the feasibility of further sub-systems collaboration throughout 2022. In the UK, this work will be undertaken by the Team Tempest industry partners: BAE Systems, Leonardo UK, MBDA UK and Rolls-Royce.

Alex Zino, Director of Business Development and Future Programmes at Rolls-Royce, said:

“Across Rolls-Royce we have a longstanding and valued relationship with our customers and industry partners in Japan. The industry teams in both UK and Japan bring complementary technologies that will drive cleaner, next generation power and propulsion for both nations future fighter requirements.

“The joint engine demonstrator programme is an exciting opportunity to bring together some of the best combat air capabilities in the world and will also enable the development of innovative and critical technologies that will be fundamental to the future of the Defence aerospace industry.

This news follows plans announced in the UK’s Defence Command Paper, published in March 2021, to deepen and expand defence industrial relationships in the Indo-Pacific region, including with Japan.

It also comes after HMS Queen Elizabeth and her Carrier Strike Group sailed to Japan on her first operational deployment, and October’s announcementthat the UK and Japan would begin formal negotiations to increase bilateral defence Cooperation.

Background

This work will be led by industry from the two countries, including Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) and IHI in Japan, and Rolls-Royce and BAE Systems in the UK.

The UK MOD is also supporting Japan in the delivery of their Joint New Air-to-Air Missile (JNAAM) programme.

Team Tempest: This summer, the UK signed a £250m contract with BAE Systemson behalf of Team Tempest UK partners to drive forward the concept and assessment phase of its programme. The Future Combat Air System is expected to combine a core aircraft, often referred to as ‘Tempest’, at the heart of a network of wider capabilities such as uncrewed aircraft, sensors, weapons and advanced data systems to form a next-generation capability designed to enter service from the mid-2030s.

Memorandum of Understanding with European partners: In addition to this international partnership with Japan, last year the UK, Italy and Sweden signed a trilateral ‘Memorandum of Understanding’ to collaborate on future combat air systems and technologies. Together, the UK, Italy and Sweden aspire to develop concepts and share workload while maximising national expertise.

There is reported interest by the new German government in acquiring the F-35 for its Tornado replacement program. One wonders if such an acquisition might pave the way for the French-German-Spanish FCAS program to find ways to work with the expanding Tempest program. 

The featured photo is taken from the UK MoD press release.

Cold-Weather Operations Course

01/19/2022

Twenty-seven Soldiers who are participating as students in the Fort McCoy Cold-Weather Operations Course (CWOC) class 22-02 practice building an Artic 10-percent tent Jan. 5, 2022, during course training at Fort McCoy, Wis.

The training took place on a snowy, cold day which may have been idyllic for the training. CWOC students are trained on a variety of cold-weather subjects, including snowshoe training and skiing as well as how to use ahkio sleds and other gear, too.

Training also focuses on terrain and weather analysis, risk management, cold-weather clothing, developing winter fighting positions in the field, camouflage and concealment, and numerous other areas that are important to know in order to survive and operate in a cold-weather environment.

FORT MCCOY, WI,

01.05.2022

Video by Scott Sturkol

The Afghan Winter 2022 and Afghan Sanctions

01/17/2022

By Pierre Tran

Paris – There was perhaps a faint echo of sweeping U.S. sanctions against Vietnam after 1975, as the people of Afghanistan face a winter of starvation due to international restrictions on humanitarian aid and on the Afghan banking system.

News pictures of a chaotic evacuation of Afghan and foreign nationals from Kabul last August prompted media reports to rerun that iconic image of a Huey helicopter on the rooftop of a CIA safe house on April 29 1975 in what was then Saigon.

Beyond the two rushed airlift operations, are there parallels between the dire economic conditions and punitive sanctions after the victories of the Taliban in Afghanistan, and the North Vietnamese forces south of the 17th parallel?

Such is the rising risk of widespread hunger in Afghanistan, former British prime minister Gordon Brown and The New York Times separately called for an easing of strict foreign control of humanitarian aid, and the Afghan central bank and commercial lenders.

“The Gulf states – Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates – have the money and have made offers to provide assistance, but they fear an American backlash,” Brown said in a Jan. 12 op ed in The Guardian, a British daily.

“Realistically, it will require the U.S. to break the logjam and end the cycle of starvation and death.”

Meanwhile, The New York Times said in a Jan. 14 editorial, “The Taliban remain on the U.S. sanctions list, so the international community has refused to give them money.”

The New York Times went on to say, “Even though U.S. Treasury Department officials say that the central bank of Afghanistan is not under sanctions, financial institutions around the world are treating it as if (it) was. Foreign banks are refusing to wire money to Afghanistan, not only because they don’t want to deal with the reputational risk, but also because they fear that the long arm of the U.S.”

There is that perceived risk of upsetting the U.S. authorities over Afghanistan and the very real punitive sanctions Washington imposed on Vietnam after the 1975 evacuation.

The U.S. cut diplomatic ties with Vietnam, and then imposed an economic embargo in 1978 after Vietnamese forces toppled the Khmer Rouge regime led by Pol Pot in Cambodia. That U.S. embargo, which included trade sanctions, was seen back then as punishment of Hanoi, with the victory of North Vietnamese forces fresh in the memory of Washington policy makers.

The U.S. also made sure Vietnam could not receive support from the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, at a time when the southeast Asian nation was struggling with widespread poverty. The Vietnamese economy – and the people – suffered from weak growth for the 1980s and it was only in 1994 the then Clinton administration lifted the trade embargo and normalized relations with Hanoi.

That allowed the two nations to sign a bilateral trade agreement in 2001, which included a lifting of non-tariff barriers.

Vietnam showed interest in ordering second-hand, refurbished Lockheed Martin P-3 and S-3 Orion maritime patrol aircraft, Reuters reported in 2016, after the then Obama administration lifted the arms embargo.

That lifting of the arms embargo came despite what broadcaster CNN reported in 2016 as Vietnam’s “dismal” record in human rights, which included  the jailing of dissidents.

Vietnam operates a fleet of Airbus C-212 maritime patrol aircraft.

The U.S. handed over of six Metal Shark coastal patrol boats to the Vietnamese coast guard, the American embassy reported in May 2017.

With normalization of trade relations, the U.S. became the leading destination for Vietnamese exports, with shipments of textiles, electronics, and seafood, the Council on Foreign Relations reported in 2019. The U.S. exports to Vietnam included cotton, computer chips, and soya beans. Bilateral trade rose to more than $60 billion in 2018 from $451 million in 1995.

On the human rights front, the Vietnamese authorities sentenced on Dec. 14 2021, Pham Doan Trang, a journalist and author, to nine years of prison, with the indictment citing her giving interviews to Radio Free Asia and the BBC.

In the wake of the 1975 victory, there were re-education camps, which saw South Vietnamese officials and personnel being lectured where they had gone wrong.

In Afghanistan, the Taliban have re-opened schools for secondary education for boys but effectively banned girls from the class room.

Concern over such measures lay behind the U.S. limiting the release of humanitarian aid. But Washington has eased those restrictions and backed a U.N. security council resolution which exempted most aid from sanctions aimed at the Taliban.

The U.S. Treasury agreed to widen the definition of humanitarian aid by including education,  allowing a broader use of funds by aid organizations in Afghanistan. That U.S. agreement meant Afghan teachers could get paid.

The U.N. security council adopted the resolution Dec. 22 2021.

Aid organizations had been pushing the U.S. to ease restrictions, intended to deter the Taliban from weakening women’s rights. Those U.S. restrictions were seen by the aid agencies as increasing the prospect of starvation across the country.

The U.S. backing for the U.N. resolution required a review of the mechanism in a year and full reporting requirements.

Washington has frozen some $9 billion of reserves the Afghan central bank held in the U.S., on the grounds that it was unclear who should have access to the funds. That has led to a severe lack of liquidity for the Afghan banking system and scarce cash for the people of Afghanistan.

Featured Graphic: Photo 23407126 / Afghanistan © Juan Camilo Bernal | Dreamstime.com

All Domain Warfighting Center

Located in Northern Michigan, the National All Domain Warfighting Center is changing the way we train to fight.

The NADWC boasts two extensive maneuver training centers, Camp Grayling Joint Maneuver Training Center and the Alpena Combat Readiness Training Center, and possesses the largest overland special-use military airspace east of the Mississippi.

Since its inception in 2020, the NADWC has played host to multiple large-scale training exercises and experiments. Iterations of the Northern Strike exercise series, Mobility Guardian, Exercise Spartan, and the revolutionary Global Information Dominance Experiment 3 have all been supported by the NADWC.

Leveraging 148,000 acres of maneuver training space and 17,000 square miles of special-use air space to
hone our warfighting skills, the NADWC is the premiere all domain warfighting center in The Michigan National Guard’s ever-evolving defense game plan.

12.31.2021

Video by Staff Sgt. Jacob Cessna

Michigan National Guard

Final Report: Australia and Shaping a Sovereign Space Strategy

On 1 December 2021, the Williams Foundation held its second 2021 seminar, this one focused on shaping a way ahead for a sovereign Australian space strategy.

That report can be found on the Williams Foundation website as well as on Second Line of Defense and Defense.info.

Since 2018, the focus of the seminars has been increasingly with regard to how to extend the reach of the ADF given the changing nature of the challenges facing Australia in the Indo-Pacific region. The discussions really began with a 2018 seminar which focused on the importance of long-range strike and was followed by seminars which focused on ways to enhance Australian resilience and sovereign capabilities.

The first seminar of 2021 focused on next generation autonomous systems, and the December 1, 2021, seminar on where autonomous systems, namely satellites, have been a regular feature for both military and commercial purposes for many decades.

The first point made throughout the presentations by speakers was that Australia has a long involvement in space activities through its working relationships with its core allies, first Britain, and then the United States. The Australians have been engaged in several support activities for the American space enterprise and that domain knowledge and engagement will continue to be critical in shaping Australia’s own efforts for enhanced sovereignty In space.

The second point is the need to indeed enhance Australian independent space capabilities.

As AIRCDRE Phil Gordon, Director General Air Defence and Space put it: “I would compare our position in space with being a frequent flyer who uses that service. And as we in defense are on the journey from being a consumer of other people’s space products to a contributor owner and operator in our own right.”

The need for shaping sovereign capabilities comes not only from the enhanced importance of space payloads for both commercial and military activities, but from the nature of crises and the nature of allies. Gordon put it succinctly: “It’s relatively easy to have access to space capabilities from allies when there’s plenty to go around.

“But if times are tough, if assets are under attack, if bandwidth is reduced, if satellites and ground stations are targeted and there’s just not enough capacity to do all the things we want to do, then where are those priorities going to lie?” This then means for Gordon: “we have to be able to have control and access of our space capabilities without needing to ask someone else’s permission.”

The third point was embedded in various presentations but put most directly by BRIG Ian Langford. Director General Future Land Warfare. Even though space clearly has its own specific requirements, skill sets and capabilities, it is part of the overall transformation of the ADF and of the next round of the revolution in military affairs, or perhaps we could go back to the term used throughout the Williams Foundation Seminars, namely, a fifth-generation force but now with greater reach.

Langford put it this way: “ Two years ago, I was talking to a US Air Force retired four-star general, and we were talking about the revolution of military affairs, which was demonstrated in 1991 during the first Gulf War. And that was demonstrated in that context through the effectiveness of GPS and the use in application of precision strike and advanced munitions, as it related to the ability of US-led coalition forces to be so effective and so profound in the context of that capability overmatch. Now we are on the edge of a significant defence recapitalization are we now on the edge of the next round of the RMA? And what are we to do about it?”

The fourth point is that shaping of a new Australian space enterprise which started with the 2018 standup of the Australian Space Agency and will see a new ADF command to be stood up in January 2022 is occurring in the context of evolving strategic environment.

And that environment as I noted in a recent discussion with Dr. Paul Bracken, the well-known strategist, is characterized by ongoing limited war with the authoritarian powers and the challenge of escalation control and management.

Space assets are crucial to be able for Australia to shape effective crisis management in the ongoing conflicts with the authoritarian powers. Several speakers spoke about the militarization of space and space war. The challenge is to know when it starts. Both the cyber and space domains are domains within which conflict is ongoing, signaling difficult, but the need to be resilient crucial.

Dougal Robertson of the Williams Foundation highlighted the interaction between space and the various dimensions of the evolving strategic environment. And he underscored this crucial point: “Gray-zone traditionally means we are not at war, but we’re not at peace. The gray-zone actor might be pursuing national objectives, certainly in relation to nation states, and when we talk about gray-zone activity, they’re often pursuing objectives that are linked to military advantage or political or strategic advantage.” If this is the case then, Australia certainly needs space capability which can give the ADF and the government decision making tools to evolute conflicts and crisis management options, occurring in space and cascading out to the entire combat force.

The fifth point, and a major part of the day’s discussion, was on the nature of the space eco-system which Australia needs to shape going forward to have enough sovereignty to have decision making capabilities for both security and defense needs.

Space is expensive and payloads are dynamically changing under the impacts of new initiative sand capabilities generated by the major space powers.

So, what can Australia realistically do and how best to do it?

One approach is to leverage the dynamics of change with regard to new versus old space, which means new ways to launch space payloads, and to leverage the various ways to shape new satellite payloads and constellations.

That effort will be generated as the major space powers refigure how they are working GEO, MEO and LEO payloads, and as they shape various kinetic and non-kinetic ways to shape warfare in space capabilities.

That is why working with the United States and enhancing working relationship with the UK as they have launched a new space command, or with India, or Japan or ESA all will become parts of shaping the space ecosystem for the Australian space enterprise going forward.

Malcolm Davis of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute provided a particularly robust and clear discussion of what Australia’s way ahead in space might look like.

“We need to think about space resilience, and we need to think about space deterrence, and they should complement the existing projects in space. Sovereign launch is clearly going to happen, and I’ve always been an advocate for a high, low mix, where Australia contributes a low end in terms of small satellites that can complement the large geo birds. These small satellite systems could contribute new types of capability and new missions for the Australian defense force.”

The sixth point is the central role which Australia’s geography has and will play going forward.

The cooperation between the United States and Australia in part is based on Australia’s location and its extensive geography. The establishment of Pine Gap is a case in point. This location is strategically significant because of the ability of the facilitates there to work various high value satellites as they pass over one-third of the globe, including China, the Asian parts of Russia and the Middle East. And going forward launch locations and ground-based space capabilities will grow in importance as Australia builds out its own capabilities and works with partners and allies in the liberal democratic world going forward.

In the panel, the former air attaché to the United States, Terry Van Herren noted: “If I was a Chinese general, I’d be worried about three things from Australia. First, I would be worried about nuclear powered submarines. Second, I would be quite concerned about long range replenishable strike. The third thing that would worry me would be a robust counter space capability developed and supported in Australia. Why? Because Perth and Beijing are on the same longitude. They would hate to see us develop real space power in this country.”

The report can be read in e-book format below: