As the New Year begins, many people see it as a chance for a fresh start. However, the challenges that existed in 2024 are likely to persist in 2025, especially in the realm of national defense.
Each branch of the U.S. Department of Defense is working to modernize its forces to address these ongoing issues.
At the Air, Space and Cyber Conference, hosted by the Air Force Association in Fall 2024, commanders from NORAD, U.S. Cyber Command, U.S. Space Command and U.S. Transportation Command gathered to discuss the current dangers.
As 2025 begins, America’s national defense faces a range of evolving threats. Rising tensions with China and Russia, along with challenges posed by non-state actors, present numerous problems to prepare for. Gen. Greg Guillot, commander of NORAD, explained that these threats have expanded from regional concerns to global ones.
“What we face today is a variety of threats in all domains, from multiple adversaries and from all avenues of approach, not just from the north,” Guillot said. “And these threats can threaten us from much further away than even just a couple of years ago.”
Former U.S. Transportation Command leader, the newly retired Gen. Jackie Van Ovost, highlighted cyber vulnerabilities both at home and abroad.
“What we are talking about is winning without fighting,” Van Ovost said. “Sound familiar? And then finally, we talk about the long-range threat, the long-range threat to mobility missions specifically designed to touch us. And these are the risks we see playing out today on an active basis around the globe.”
The panel identified the People’s Republic of China as America’s biggest threat across all spectrums. The PRC is heavily invested in a military build-up, and is intensely focused on cyber warfare. Gen. Timothy Haugh, commander of U.S. Cyber Command, pointed out that it is a multi-pronged offensive.
“We want to expose this threat first is where PRC has been targeting, the intellectual property of our industry, which is really the foundation of our economy and the underpinnings of our department’s security,” Haugh said. “Also how they look at, over time, the critical infrastructure of the United States, we have exposed how they target our critical infrastructure and what that means for us as a nation, that we have a competitor that is willing to use those types of tactics to target not only the department but our citizens.”
Gen. Stephen Whiting, commander of U.S. Space Command, explained that the U.S. is also working to defend the nation from threats that may not necessarily be land-based. Both China and Russia continue to develop ways to disrupt America’s space-based communications systems.
“The PRC in particular has gone to space for the same advantages that we have, not because it is cool,” Whiting said. “I mean, it is, but that is not why they have gone to space. It is to give themselves the ability to operate on ocean-wide, on continental-wide, on global scales. And so they have gone to space to enable their air force, their army, their navy, their marine corps, to be more precise, more lethal, and more far-ranging. And we have got to deal with that fact to make sure that we help protect the joint force from the space-enabled attack of others.”
Another area of growing concern for U.S. military leadership is the Arctic. Increasing collaboration between Russia and China has America’s attention. The two adversaries exercised together in the Bering Strait in the summer of 2023.
“But it shows on a daily basis that the Arctic is an area where a number of nations are showing interest, not only for military purposes but also for scientific purposes,” Guillot said. “And it takes up 52% of our AOR, so we spent a lot of time looking at that, how we are adapting to pursuing sensors that go from sea floor all the way up to space in multiple layers and domains, to make sure that we can detect all of those adversaries, not at the ranges that we did 5-10 years ago, but much further away. Because of the increased complexity and capability of their weapons.”
The generals pointed out that these capabilities will only continue to grow. While those charged with defending the U.S. may not yet have all the answers they are looking for, they believe they are on the right track. They acknowledged that prioritizing investments in secure communications and accelerating the adoption of artificial intelligence within U.S. Cyber Command, and its components, will enhance cybersecurity, and their ability to respond to AI-enabled cyber attacks.
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