An Inflection Point is Coming in UK-U.S. Military Space Relations
23rd Jul 2024
There are no doldrums of summer this year. The U.S. and UK governments have been busy over the past few weeks, with political bombshells bursting on both sides of the Atlantic. The effects on the defence postures of both countries will only start to be understood once the next American president is elected, but the departures of Sunak and Biden mark the end of eras. Within the military, and in terms of security and space, new arrangements augur tighter integration no matter who becomes president.
Shared Vision Statement sets the tone
On 17th July, the RAF, USAF, and USSF signed a document called the Shared Vision Statement on Combined Air and Space Power in the 21st Century. The underlying thought is that given the changing threat environment, there needs to be even greater emphasis on, as af.mil reported, Operational Harmonization, Capability Integration, and System Resilience.
The signing is important, but there are actions taken already that show the statement as more than just words. Air Marshall Paul Godfrey was seconded to U. S. Space Force as the first non-U.S. member of Space Force’s command staff. In particular, AM Godfrey’s position will be as assistant chief of Space Operations for Future Concepts and Partnerships, according to spaceforce.mil.
And then there’s the threats
To paraphrase Bricktop, “In the quiet words of Ghengis Khan, come again?”
The nature of threats in space are likely to vary to some degree depending on the hawkishness of the American administration that comes in over the course of 2025. However, the sides have been drawn overall, with the Artemis Accords being an excellent separator. The lines and abilities of each party are not static, however, with major players such as India emerging and the UK’s own launch capacity expected to come online this year.
With this in mind, the pieces are falling together to create a new environment against which military issues in space – and on the ground as affected by space – will play out.
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