Finding the Middle Ground: The U.S. Air Force, Space Weaponization, and Arms Control

Abstract

Abstract : This paper discusses problems associated with the current US approach to developing and deploying space weapons. Recommendations center around an alternative strategy for realizing US space control and space force application capabilities based on deployable (vice orbiting) systems. US development of an Expeditionary Space Force (ESF) would be one element of a comprehensive strategy that would include changes to US space architecture and cooperative measures with other countries. US adherence to a space sanctuary policy dates to the earliest years of missile development and space exploration. The US determined during this time that the benefits of a secure environment within which space-based intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) assets could operate outweighed those that might derive from the development and deployment of space-based weapons. Recent changes in the economic, geopolitical, and technical context have caused the US to reconsider its space weaponization policy. The debate regarding changed US policy has led to the emergence of various camps with divergent views about the best US course of action. These camps inability to arrive at consensus continues to impede US efforts to deploy a dominant space capability. Halting US progress will encourage and allow other states to deploy their own space weapons. The commingling of US and adversary weapons in space will create conditions that encourage preemptive strategies and undermine crisis stability. The recommendations offered within this paper are intended to prevent these conditions from emerging. They include that the US (1) adapt an expeditionary approach to space control