Air Force Space Command on July 16 issued its list of space and cyberspace priorities. The command’s 15 prioritized space capabilities are: nuclear, survivable communications; launch detection/missile tracking; position, navigation, and timing; space situational awareness and battlespace awareness; defensive space control; assured space access/spacelift; space command and control; satellite operations; protected, tactical communications; offensive space control; unprotected communications; space-to-surface intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance; terrestrial environmental monitoring; nuclear detonation detection; and responsive spacelift. The command’s nine prioritized cyberspace capabilities are: proactive defense; defensive counter-cyberspace (recon/counter-recon); cyberspace ISR and situational awareness; persistent network operations; data confidentiality and integrity systems; cyberspace operations center; offensive counter-cyberspace for global reach and access; net extension and resiliency; and influence operations. The AFSPC commander is the Air Force’s core function lead integrator for space and cyberspace superiority core functions. In this role, he is responsible for defining service-wide investments supporting these functions.
An important U.S. Air Force E-3 Sentry AWACS command and control plane was among the aircraft damaged in a March 27 Iranian missile and drone attack on Prince Sultan Air Base, Saudi Arabia, people familiar with the matter told Air & Space Forces Magazine.