Lt. Gen. John Braga, leader of U.S. Army Special Operations Command, emphasized the importance of space communications, cyber effects, and influence operations in winning or preventing future conflicts. Drawing lessons from Ukraine, Braga illustrated the critical role of these elements, highlighting how 16,000 Russian soldiers were taken off the battlefield without the use of kinetic force. The need to develop these capabilities jointly to make them more powerful and effective was stressed, and the importance of these strategies in scenarios like the deterrence of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan was also noted.
Key Points:
- Triad of Space, Cyber, and Special Operations: These three elements are identified as crucial for future military success, and must be developed and deployed together. Lessons from Ukraine serve as a model for these efforts.
- Effects on the Battlefield: The new approach has shown real results, such as the desertion of 16,000 Russian soldiers, achieved without traditional warfare. It’s emphasized that this could have been assisted by space capability, cyber capability, and information operations.
- Information and Cyber Operations Synergy: The importance of information ops is highlighted as the most vital lesson from Ukraine, and the synergy between Information Operations and cyber is discussed, including denying adversaries the opportunity to use their networks.
- Holistic Approach and Strategic Deterrence: Emphasizing the importance of a converged effort rather than disparate efforts, the U.S. Army is focused on the holistic use of the triad to provide policymakers with tools to decide how to use them for deterrence before conflicts begin.
- Defeating Enemy Swarming Drones: The U.S. is also focused on combining multiple intelligence threads and capabilities to counter small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) without using expensive measures, with Ukraine providing a clear example of the challenges that could be faced.
