Schriever Wargame 2010 - Air Force Space Command

Senior Leader Perspective
Flight Suits and Sport Coats:
The Role of Industry in Military Space Operations
Air Cdre Mark L. Roberts, RAF
Air Commodore Air Staff
United Kingdom Ministry of Defence
Whitehall, London
There exist limitless opportunities in every industry. Where
there is an open mind, there will always be a frontier.
~ Charles Kettering, american inventor
For the United Kingdom (UK), the Schriever Wargame series
represents a unique opportunity for us to strengthen
our long-standing relationship with the US and the wider allied
space community. This year, we fielded a team of 20 personnel
from across a range of policy, strategy, operational, legal, and
scientific disciplines, which included among their number representatives
from both the Royal Navy and the British Army.
Also included this year, for the first time, were two cyber specialists
in recognition of the emerging synergies between the
space and cyberspace domains; and two industry representatives,
which reflected the shifting emphasis of SW 10 towards a
‘whole of nations approach’ [‘comprehensive approach’ in UK
parlance].
The pace of globalization has surpassed the capacity of the
system to adjust to new realities of a more interdependent and
integrated world. ~ Anna Lindh, swedish politician
Language is just one aspect of the human condition that
connects one person with another, although our perception
of any interconnectedness is often blurred by the geographical,
political, societal, ethnic, or religious divides that we have
imposed upon ourselves. As military personnel, we are often
the worst offenders when it comes to imposing divisions upon
ourselves and the wider world. Armed forces are often divided
into distinct services, each with their own hierarchical organizations,
rank structures, and professional specializations; and
our military understanding of the outside world (broken down
by region) is often viewed through the lens of the intelligence
community. However, the advent of globalization (enabled by
human exploitation of the ubiquitous air, space, and cyberspace
domains) is slowly bringing our interconnectedness back into
focus—bringing with it both opportunity and potential threat.
As the SW 10 scenario highlighted, the globalized world is
a complex ‘matrix’ of inter-relationships that often transcends
sovereign borders. Within this ‘matrix’ we will need to use
every available avenue of influence in pursuit of our national
or shared multi-national objectives; this is where industry (in
all its forms) may provide a conduit for the military into our
interconnected world.
In the UK, our thriving space industry contributes over £5.6
($8.8) billion to the national economy, supports over 68,000
jobs, 1 and last year saw over £1 ($1.58) billion worth of satellite
systems shipped from UK shores to countries around the globe.
Our civil space industry is also supported by a cutting-edge
scientific research community and an engaging academia. But
how does this enable industry to contribute to military space
operations within a whole of nations approach
The first and most significant contribution that industry
could make pertains to its global links, which often have fewer
constraints than those placed on military forces acting overseas.
For example, military forces never (intentionally) cross
the sovereign borders of another country without explicit government
approval; the same is not true of industry. Industry
continuously looks to overseas markets to attract new customers
and to create new outposts for their commercial activities.
Company representatives are able to move freely amongst the
global community, developing relationships as they go—and
with relationships comes influence. With the right mechanisms
in place, industry could act as a vehicle for the military to apply
influence across international borders more subtly, and perhaps
more anonymously, than conventional weapon effects.
Similarly, industry may be able to provide warfighters with an
extended range of options in their development of courses of
action.
The utility of this industrial ‘Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon’
was dramatically but simply demonstrated during the gameplay.
A group of military officers hatched a detailed plan to
gain insight into the activities of a particular foreign commercial
entity. As the developing plan was proudly briefed to the
assembled masses, one of the industry representatives interjected
‘I could always phone and ask them.’ While there may
be some poetic license in my recounting of this incident, the
point is clear: industry is able to influence across international
boundaries in ways that would be inconceivable for the military.
These valuable industrial linkages may not only be with
foreign companies but perhaps also with foreign governments.
Where an overseas outpost of a company is contributing to the
local economy or employing the indigenous population, that
company may be able to apply both economic and political influence,
and may even be able to shape public opinion. Similarly,
where companies have multiple capability-based divisions,
these relationships with governments and commercial partners
may run deeper than just space-related applications. For example,
many aerospace companies span a number of technical
disciplines ranging from satellites, to airframes, to avionics, to
information systems, and may support a number of downstream
services that result from these activities. However, influence
is a two-way street so we will need to be mindful that foreign
High Frontier 26