The Space Force
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| 32 Virtual Reality for Maintainers 38 | Q&A with AETC's Lt. Gen. Webb 10 | The Next Offset Strategy 54 Riding the KC-46 HACKING THE SPACE FORCE Securing Satellites Against Cyber Attack is USSF's Job One | 42 August 2021 $8 Published by the Air Force Association STAFF Publisher Bruce A. Wright Editor in Chief Tobias Naegele Managing Editor Juliette Kelsey Chagnon Editorial Director August 2021. Vol. 104, No. 8 John A. Tirpak Brian Everstine/staff Brian News Editor Amy McCullough DEPARTMENTS FEATURES Air Force Maga- Assistant zine attended the 2 Editorial 10 Q&A: Training the Force Managing Editor Declassify the Lt. Gen. Marshall B. Webb, head of Air Education and Train- waning days of the Chequita Wood Space Force ing Command, spoke with Editor in Chief Tobias Naegele on exercise and is the By Tobias Naegele Senior Designer leveraging technology and a more customized and tailored first independent Dashton Parham 4 Letters approach to educating Airmen. news organization Pentagon Editor to fly on a KC-46. Brian W. Everstine 6 Index to See “Pegasus Digital Editor Advertisers 32 Pegasus Power Power,” p. 32. Greg Hadley By Brian W. Everstine Senior Editor 9 Verbatim What it’s like aboard the new KC-46 tanker. Abraham Mahshie 12 Strategy and Policy Production The players changed, Manager but digital engineer- 38 The Classroom on Your Head Eric Chang Lee ing and modeling is By Amy McCullough Photo Editor here to stay. Air Education and Training Command embraces virtual and Mike Tsukamoto 14 Airframes augmented reality for all. Contributors 20 World 42 Hacking the Space Force John T. Correll, The changing David Deptula character of war; By Shaun Waterman Heather Penney, challenges in space; Critical space capabilities are vulnerable to digital attack. Serhii Plokhy, new plans for ABMS Shaun Waterman and GBSD; and more ... 46 The Future Fighter Force 31 Faces of the Force By John A. Tirpak Fewer types, more rapid refreshes, and a short-term reduc- ON THE COVER 59 AFA in Action tion in purchases are USAF’s latest recipe for modernizing the Nominees for AFA ADVERTISING: National Officers; fighter fleet. Kirk Brown AFA leader honored Director, Media by 90th Missile 50 Dragon Lady Down Solutions Wing; New bylaws By Serhii Plokhy 703.247.5829 for AFA? [email protected] The turning point in the history of the Cuban Missile Crisis. 64 Heroes and Leaders USAF/courtesy;Pixabay Tsukamoto/staff; Mike SUBSCRIBE John Alison 54 Building an Agile Force Enemies are & SAVE threatening U.S. Subscribe to By Lt. Gen. David A. Deptula, USAF (Ret.), and Heather cyber capabilities. Air Force Magazine Penney See “Hacking the Space Force,” p. 42. and save big off Speed, adaptation, and a healthy industry are critical to coun- the cover price, tering China. plus get a free membership to the Air Force Association. 1-800-727-3337 Air Force Magazine (ISSN 0730-6784) August 2021 (Vol. 104, No. 8) is published monthly, except for two double issues in January/February and June/July, by the Air Force As- sociation, 1501 Lee Highway, Arlington, VA 22209-1198. Phone (703) 247-5800. Periodical postage paid at Arlington, Va., and additional mailing offices. Membership Rate: $50 per year; $35 e-Membership; $125 for three-year membership. Subscription Rate: $50 per year; $29 per year additional for postage to foreign addresses (except Canada and Mexico, which are $10 per year additional). Regular issues $8 each. USAF Almanac issue $18 each. Change of address requires four weeks’ notice. Please include mailing label. POST- MASTER: Send changes of address to Air Force Association, 1501 Lee Highway, Arlington, VA 22209-1198. Publisher assumes no responsibility for unsolicited material. Trademark registered by Air Force Association. Copyright 2020 by Air Force Association. AUGUST 2021 AIRFORCEMAG.COM 1 EDITORIAL By Tobias Naegele Declassify the Space Force ecrecy and surprise are to warfare what water and salt are For the Space Force, which operates in the most transparent to survival: You might get by without them, but your chances of all domains, classification bars leaders from fully articulating Sare vastly diminished. threats and capabilities. While Space Force leaders have grown Concealing knowledge, methods, plans, and capabilities keeps more comfortable over the past year describing weaponized space adversaries guessing. It imposes costs and enables deception. But systems belonging to China and Russia, they are unable to indicate U.S. national security strategy is built first on deterrence, rather any counter-offensive capabilities. than intimidation. America follows Teddy Roosevelt’s admonition While the U.S. has long seen space combat as off limits, China to “speak softly and carry a big stick” and invests in military ca- and Russia have no such compunctions. They see U.S. space pability not so it can invade or seize territory, but in order to deter assets as fair game for opening salvos, with the aim of blinding and dissuade others from taking that risk. and disabling the communications, intelligence, and guidance Deterrence depends on two things: the ability to inflict pain capabilities that are America’s signature military advantage. on the adversary and the willingness to do so. To be credible, the Exactly what the U.S. would do—or even could do—in response United States must show at least some of its cards so adversaries is unclear. What is clear is that the U.S. needs to be plainer about understand our capability and readiness to strike when necessary. its capabilities and also its potential response to threats. If the threat isn’t credible, it’s just a bluff. “If we’re going to be a force that is taken seriously and deters Adversaries are aware of the Air Force’s B-2, F-22, and F-35 our adversaries, we need to start showing them things to deter stealth aircraft and how they can evade enemy air defenses. But them,” says Space Force Lt. Gen. Nina M. Armagno, its director of the Air Force holds closely how they work and the tactics and staff. “We need to show them what we have.” techniques pilots use to defeat air defenses. That’s mighty hard to do when space capabil- As the next-generation B-21 emerges from The whole point of a ities and “need to know” are so finely compart- the shadows, the Air Force will continue to Doomsday Machine is lost mentalized across the intelligence and military hide certain features while letting the world if you keep it a secret. communities that there’s not even general know it’s coming. agreement on whether it’s wise to share more Striking this balance between secrecy and fully across agencies, let alone how. Pentagon surprise, on the one hand, and transparency and deterrence on policymakers have wrestled with this issue for years—with little the other, is the challenge. Too often, secrecy wins. to show for it. Over-classification is an open secret in Washington. It’s talked This problem won’t be licked in the Pentagon, however. Donovan, about in Congress. It’s discussed in the Pentagon. Gen. John E. now director of AFA’s Mitchell Institute Space Power Advantage Hyten, the Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, describes it Research Center, has seen this as an Air Force operator, a staffer with a single word: “ridiculous.” on Capitol Hill, and a leader in the Pentagon, and he argues no Knowledge is power, of course. It should surprise no one, then, solution is possible without White House leadership. that the power to classify information—in some cases to hold A bipartisan national security commission on classification, it hostage—is ripe for abuse. Once classified, it’s hard to know appointed by the President and instructed to report recommen- what’s being hidden or whether hiding it was even appropriate. As dations within a year would be a good first step. anyone who has ever worked in the classified world will tell you, “We need a very disciplined, thorough and robust process to classification moves rapidly in one direction—it’s easy to classify decide what to reveal and what to conceal, not only at the DOD something—and hardly at all in the other. level, but also at the National Security Council level,” Donovan Matthew P. Donovan, the former Acting Secretary of the Air Force argues. “We need the same discipline applied to the decision and undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness, says calculus on how that program should be classified, who needs over-classification affects every level of defense, from strategic to know and when, and on [which] levels of warfighting, from the funding decisions to building and executing war plans. “I’ve been strategic to the operational and to the pointy end of the stick at in meetings in the Pentagon when competing for funding, where the tactical execution level.” you can’t talk about the capabilities of programs,” he says. Those capabilities that are revealed must be exercised and How can anyone effectively judge whether an investment is demonstrated to test and inform the opposition. Those that are prudent if its purpose and capability can’t be discussed? They can’t. not, must remain hidden, and may only be exercised in simulators Think that gets better when the budget goes to Congress? It doesn’t. to avoid exposing the secret. Balance must be maintained. Over-classification is responsible for the kinds of seams that The enemy, is not us. It’s not the other agency, the other service, cause intelligence and operational breakdowns, like those that or the other office. Secrets must be shared among friends. But led to 9/11, and contribute to combat deaths when commanders deterrence demands that adversaries know what can happen if lack access to vital intelligence.