The United States sees a war in space as inevitable and has established the Joint Interagency Combined Space Operations Center in Colorado to command and control U.S. warfighting operations in space.

An op-ed in a U.S. military website by the two ranking U.S. Air Force generals in charge of the effort to make certain the U.S. wins the world's first space war, whether against Russia and China, reveals the U.S.' plans to fight in a war where no man has fought before.

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Gen. David Goldfein, Chief of Staff of the U.S. Air Force, and Gen. John Raymond, Commander of U.S. Air Force Space Command, together wrote the op-ed, saying "the Air Force is focused intensely on making sure that if and when conflict comes, the United States is prepared to protect our interests and, in a larger sense, our way of life."

They noted that for the past 25 years the Air Force has led the integration of real-time, global information from space into the way it conducts military operations. And when the U.S. military goes to fight, it does so backed by key space technologies such as over-the-horizon communications and remote tracking.

They revealed that in 2018, the Air Force will talk a lot about space and how it works closely with the Army, Navy, Marines and Coast Guard.

"We believe it is imperative that Americans understand the nature of what is at stake as we rapidly prepare to defend our satellites and networks from attack and develop capabilities that will deter future adversaries from trying."

But the clear distinction both generals want to get across is "There is no such thing as a war in space. There is just war. It's with an adversary and if it extends into space we have to figure out how to fight it."

They said the Air Force needs "to treat space just like the land, sea and air warfighting domains."

They pointed out the Air Force is "now leading the effort to preserve our use of space by preparing for the war that extends into space -- which we hope never comes."

But whether or not a war in space erupts means the Air Force will continue along the path its chosen. That path involves developing a "warfighting construct" to prepare for a conflict that extends to space and enhancing the Air Force's ability to see threats, and to command and control space assets in a contested environment.

The U.S. is also building a more survivable space infrastructure and strengthening partnerships across the Department of Defense and intelligence community to protect, defend and operate critical national security space systems.

TagsUnited States, war in space, Joint Interagency Combined Space Operations Center, Gen. David Goldfein, Gen. John Raymond, U.S. Air Force