General Philippe Lavigne addressed officer-cadets at the French Air and Space Force Academy in Salon-De-Provence, France, as part of the 2023 Space and Defence Seminar taking place from June 14-16, 2023.
Allied Command Transformation is raising awareness about the importance of the space domain to the Alliance by enhancing Space Domain Awareness and improving common understanding of the space environment, including threats and risks. It also seeks to enhance engagement and cooperation with space-focused industry and academia to help NATO remain at the forefront of current developments. These efforts will further Allied Command Transformation’s efforts to transform NATO into a Multi-Domain Operations-enabled Alliance by facilitating the integration of Space as an operational domain.
Supreme Allied Commander Transformation, General Philippe Lavigne, addressed officer-cadets at the French Air and Space Force Academy on June 14, 2023, at the 2023 Space and Defense Seminar. This three-day seminar includes a number of military and civilian speakers from across the Alliance, and seeks to educate officer cadets about space-related issues. General Lavigne provided the final speech to the officer-cadets for the first day of the seminar, offering an overview of NATO’s role and capabilities in Space and highlighting how Allied Command Transformation enhances the Alliance’s understanding of this domain.
Speaking on NATO’s role in space, General Lavigne noted that while the Alliance’s current approach to Space is limited, there is a growing recognition that the Space domain is critical to enabling Multi-Domain Operations. “Space is key to achieving this ambitious but essential… objective,” said General Lavigne. “Whether for situation awareness, for the credibility of our Deterrence and Defence posture, or simply to conduct operations, continuous and secure access to space capabilities, services, and products is essential.”
Allied Command Transformation, as NATO’s strategic warfare development command, is uniquely situated to ensure a coherent approach to the integration of space into the Alliance’s overall posture, from concept to action. This work is vital, as “[Warfighters] need to understand the specifics of the space environment and the requirements that flow from it,” General Lavigne underscored. Emphasizing this point, General Lavigne highlighted the Command’s use and development of Space-related wargames that provide senior NATO officials with an opportunity to explore space-related threats in a ‘safe-to-fail’ environment. He also highlighted the forthcoming programme of work from the NATO Space Centre of Excellence in Toulouse, France, that will serve as a hub of expertise for education, training, concept and doctrine development, and lessons learned.
Allied Command Transformation is currently engaging in multiple space-related initiatives in support of the broader Warfare Development Agenda, emphasizing the importance of space capabilities to Multi-Domain Operations and Digital Transformation efforts. In particular, it is working in conjunction with relevant stakeholders from across the NATO enterprise to develop space situational awareness, coordinate space policy, and encourage interoperability. While NATO does not seek to become an autonomous space actor, Allied Command Transformation also assists national and NATO-led efforts to procure space-related assets by helping to determine capability requirements and supporting the NATO Defense Planning Process. In addition, Allied Command Transformation is raising awareness within the Alliance about the benefits of continuous and secure access to space services, capabilities, and effects, as well as understanding the vulnerabilities to these posed by adversaries.