APPLYING AN IRREGULAR WARFARE LENS TO OUTER SPACE - Irregular warfare tactics are routinely leveraged in the space domain, and the US military must adapt its doctrine to match this reality or risk ceding its security advantage in outer space. While enemy arsenals of conventional and anti-satellite weapons still pose a threat to the United States in space, counterspace measures below the threshold of armed conflict—otherwise known as irregular or gray zone activities—are likely to cause the most chaos in an era characterized by small and many satellites which are resilient in the face of physical attack.

China and Russia are employing irregular tactics to erode US military edge: conducting cyberattacks to disrupt small-satellite constellations, targeting commercial assets in wartime, and conducting proximity maneuvers to disrupt US and allied space operations. On October 12, we will examine the space security landscape through an irregular framework, considering how the United States can build the capabilities and architectures required to deter and defend against adversarial space forces.

The event features Dr. John Klein’s recently released book, titled Fight for the Final Frontier: Irregular Warfare in Space, which offers a new foundation for competing in an evolving space security landscape. Klein and a distinguished panel of space experts discussed how the United States and its allies and partners can build resiliency, plan for, and combat irregular warfare in space.

ORIGINAL AIRDATE: 10/12/23