The Department of Air Force is focused on handling the coronavirus pandemic, and they are also concentrating efforts in refining the doctrine of the US Space Force and Air Force. The Air Force has an unprecedented chance of building the service “from the ground up, to start with a clean shit of paper,” as Chief of Space Operations General Jay Raymond put it.
In other words, the new doctrine doesn’t have to take into consideration former beliefs unless those creating it consider it fit. General Jay Raymond is considering a new defense strategy that is bolder than the former one. The deterrence theory is being re-examined and might go through some changes.
The deterrence theory was a strategy that gained popularity during the Cold War regarding the use of nuclear weapons. The approach said that a less powerful force that has powerful weapons (such as a nuclear weapon) to deter a more powerful effect, could be stopped with a surprise attack.
The new doctrine of the US Space Force
Space is considered to be unsafe, filled with threatening entities with which the US should communicate to understand their intentions. The deterrence theory needs some adjustments so that the Space Force could warn of potential alien attackers. It has something to do with declassifying operations.
“Hopefully, we’ll be able to publish this in the next two or three months going forward. It will be the capstone document if you will, and then there will be other document volumes that will fall under that,” said Gen. Raymond.
The coronavirus pandemic made the Air Force decide to postpone the launch of the GPS III satellite until June 30, with the possibility to delay it even more. The launch was already postponed once due to the pandemic.
Part of the Global Positioning System, GPS III, has the next military applications: target tracking, missile and projectile guidance, and carries a set of nuclear detonation detectors. Lt. Gen. John Thompson, Space and Missile Systems Center boss, reassured the public that the delay does not threaten the GPS constellation. The US is safe from if an alien invasion occurs, thanks to the US Space Force.
