Limits of Space Power: Terrestrial Superiority Still Requires Terrestrial Power, but Space makes Winning it Efficient

摘要

A time-honored battle of ideas is being waged among and within the military Services. Over the centuries the relative importance of sea power, land power, and more recently air power have been debated and then proven in various wartime and battlefield venues. Over the last 50 years, and particularly in the last 15, Space has become an additional topic of the debate. Born into DoD by the Army, now shepherded mainly by the Air Force but heavily used by all the Services, Space holds a prominent place in the battle of ideas. As Space capabilities and importance grows, we find several historical lessons from the development of airpower that teach us to get as much from Space as possible - and to stop right there. To prevent expecting the unreasonable, a carefully directed development approach is required. I believe the right approach is to use architectures.