US Marines operating in the Arctic will need space-based secure communications.

WASHINGTON: The biggest focus of collaboration between US Northern Command and US Space Command will be on secure communication capabilities in the Arctic, according to the leader of NORTHCOM/NORAD.

Responding to a question as the annual Space and Missile Defense conference in Huntsville, Ala., earlier this month about how his team and SPACECOM are integrating, Gen. Glen VanHerck noted that secure comms will be particularly vital for the Arctic area — itself becoming a more prominent part of the NORTHCOM/NORAD mission to defense the homeland.

“Limited communications north of 65 latitude, and the ability to command and control in our homeland — when you’re under attack in the electromagnetic spectrum secure, reliable communications will be something that we have to maintain,” VanHerck said, noting he’s “working with SPACECOM on that.”

The general noted that proliferated Low Earth Orbit (below 2,000 kilometers in altitude) constellations will be “crucial” for the future mission — something he previewed earlier in the year, when he discussed a series of tests being run through Air Force Research Laboratory.

The Air Force has also been running a series of wargames to flesh out its year-old Arctic Strategy, with the far north seen as critical in any future conflict with Russia or China. The Navy too has been doubling down on DoD concerns that the warming environment is upping the ante in competition for Arctic resources, including oil.

In February, during a press conference with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, President Joe Biden noted the importance of the Arctic to the two NATO allies.

The two leaders “agreed to modernize the North American Aerospace Defense Command — NORAD — which is still the only bi-national military command of its kind,” Biden told reporters. “And we will launch an expanded U.S-Canadian Arctic dialogue to cover issues related to continental security, economic and social development, and Arctic governance.”

Further, Congress has raised red flags about increased Russian military activity in the Arctic region, as well as China’s attempts to position itself as an Arctic nation despite the facts of geography.

The 2021 National Defense Authorization Act authorized $46 million for the Space Force to begin developing an initial satellite capability for the region, focused on “low- and medium-earth orbit communications that could support additional satellite capability to begin to establish more robust communications at these northern latitudes.” Congressional appropriators bumped that sum up to $50 million in the 2021 defense appropriations bill.

Something else that is crucial for NORTHCOM in space? Getting rid of stovepiped information.

“The biggest challenge with [using] space layer data right now is over-classification and sharing of information,” VanHerck said. “The fact of the matter is, we can’t live with that data and information in stovepipes, it must be shared to take action on, in real time or near real time, for decision making or actual execution of deterrence or defense options.”

On that regard, VanHerck fits into a broader push seen among top US officers dealing with space issues in calling for greater declassification, including Gen. John Hyten, the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who has made a public call for cutting classification overall.

“In space, we over-classify everything,” Hyten told the National Security Space Association on Jan. 22. “Deterrence does not happen in the classified world. Deterrence does not happen in the black; deterrence happens in the white.”