Christopher Stone
An upgraded Ground Based Interceptor with a Capability Enhanced-II Block 1 Exo-Atmospheric Kill Vehicle (EKV) is launched from Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, during Flight Test Ground-based Midcourse Defense Weapon System-12, or FTG-12, on December 11, 2023
Recently, senior Space Force commanders have been articulating support for the use of maneuver warfare in space deterrence and warfighting operations. While laudable, upon further review, it appears that these statements are not speaking about maneuver warfare as much as they are about rapid movement of spacecraft to avoid intercept by an enemy spacecraft or ground-based threats.
These passive defensive actions are not true maneuver warfare. And if the Space Force wants to get serious about being able to defeat enemy nations in space, it needs to stop tip-toeing around the issue. It’s time for America to put real investments into space weapons capable of targeting earth-bound targets.
As defined by Robert Leonhard in his book, The Art of Maneuver, “maneuver warfare” as “the means of defeat[ing] … the enemy.” The objective is to achieve victory, not the sustainment of competition. To achieve this victory requires an aggressiveness that under current DoD space policy and strategy, is considered irresponsible. As Leonhard proclaims, “maneuver warfare is, to put it simply, a kick in the groin, a poke in the eye, a stab in the back. It is quick, violent for a moment and unfair. It is decisive, even pre-emptive, at the expense of protocol and posturing.” To use Chinese military terms in their strategy document, The Science of Strategy, this type of attack should be “rapid and destructive.”
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