Please join the Atlantic Council’s Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security and its  Forward  Defense program for “Applying an Irregular Warfare Lens to Outer Space,” on Thursday, October 12 from 9:00 – 10:15 a.m. ET via Zoom. To attend virtually please REGISTER.

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 will feature 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. We will be joined by Klein, alongside a distinguished panel of space experts, to assess how the United States and its allies and partners can build resiliency, plan for, and combat irregular warfare in space. To receive the virtual Zoom link, please complete the form on the right. 

Discussion featuring

Dean Cheng
Senior Fellow
Potomac Institute for Policy Studies

Col El Gardner, USSF
Director, Strategy, Policy, and Plans
US Space Force

John Klein
Faculty, Space Policy Institute
George Washington University

Franco Ongaro
Chief Space Business Officer
Leonardo S.p.A.

Audrey Schaffer
Vice President, Strategy and Policy, Slingshot Aerospace; Former Director, Space Policy, US National Security Council

Moderated by

Theresa Hitchens
Reporter, Space and Air Force
Breaking Defense

Forward Defense

Forward Defense, housed within the Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security, generates ideas and connects stakeholders in the defense ecosystem to promote an enduring military advantage for the United States, its allies, and partners. Our work identifies the defense strategies, capabilities, and resources the United States needs to deter and, if necessary, prevail in future conflict.

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