Vipin Narang, who was tapped as acting assistant secretary following Plumb's departure, is due to exit back to MIT within a few months; Travis Langster, who has been shepherding the transition of DoD's commercial space monitoring mission to the Commerce Department, has joined DoD's acquisition office.
"The United States has been aware of Russia's pursuit of this sort of capability dating back years, but only recently have we been able to make a more precise assessment of their progress," said Mallory Stewart, State Department assistant secretary for the Bureau of Arms Control, Deterrence, and Stability.
Breaking Defense Europe will launch May 4 with Tim Martin and Elisabeth Gosselin-Malo as co-editors.
MDA Chief Lt. Gen. Heath Collins said more maneuverable missiles and drones have changed the missile defense game: Instead of just preparing to hit “fastballs,” he said, “now we’re hitting sliders and curveballs.”
“Just the idea of this being more available and so people can find it and try to exploit it, that's something we just have to bake in and understand,” Assistant Secretary of Defense for Space Policy John Plumb said of commercial services like SpaceX’s Starlink constellation.
"The question is, how do you manage what you might call the transition from the legacy systems to modern systems?” John Plumb, assistant secretary of Defense for Space Policy, told reporters.
The strategy notes that contracts with commercial space providers could, if deemed necessary, "enable prioritization of Department requirements and capability needs over other commercial clients in specific situations."
As “dirty” RF and contested environments proliferate, autonomy increasingly depends on resilient positioning.
Plumb has been assistant secretary of Defense for Space Policy since March 2022.
Chief of Space Operations Gen. Chance Saltzman said the new Futures Command will not just be looking at what new capabilities the Space Force should build, own and operate, but also at how commercial tech, systems and services can fill some needs.
Under the new approach, there must be a technical rationale for stamping a space program as special access, not simply because of a service policy decision, said DoD space policy czar John Plumb.
The unclassified strategy communicates "our commitment to protect the Joint Force from adversary hostile uses of space," said DoD Space Policy czar John Plumb.
Government can’t stop to update systems, so modernization has to happen without interruptions.
When it comes to leveraging commercial space tech, one analyst said, "The old adage holds — show me your budget and I’ll show you your priorities."
“I’m confident that the Senate is ready to rapidly confirm a nominee,” Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Wisc., said. “I’ve had many conversations to that effect.”
STRATCOM's Joint Electromagnetic Spectrum Operations Center is focused primarily on repelling threats from Russia and China, but DoD also faces a potentially crippling spectrum grab by US commercial 5G wireless giants.
John Plumb, DoD assistant secretary for space policy, suggested overuse of SAPs is hindering information sharing across programs and, more importantly, to allies.