Space Warfighting Analysis Center (SWAC)
Abstract
As part of the continuing organizational development of the United States Space Force (USSF), a number of analytic functions and missions were aligned under a dedicated Service Force Design activity. To lead Force Design analysis for the Service, USSF established the Space Warfighting Analysis Center (SWAC), aligned under Space Operations Command, in mid-FY 2021, and programmed/budgeted FY 2022 funding to begin their analytic efforts, leveraging an existing USSF Program Element (PE) line tied to architecture/ capability analysis functions. Starting in FY 2023, the SWAC will continue its force design analysis efforts from a dedicated PE (PE 1203622SF Space Warfighting Analysis) and the 3620 Research, Development, Test, & Evaluation (RDT&E) appropriation. This FY2023 request provides funding for the USSF's SWAC to conduct on-site and off-site analysis, modeling, wargaming, and experimentation to create operational concepts and force design guidance for existing and emerging USSF missions that are realistic, affordable, and resilient. Informed by strategic guidance, SWAC force design analysis identifies the integrated suite of operational capabilities that fulfills USSF imperatives to preserve the United States' freedom of action in space; enable Joint Force lethality and effectiveness; and provide the Department options for developing capabilities operating in, from, and to space. The SWAC will lead physics-based and data-driven analysis, teaming with relevant stakeholders from across the National Security Space enterprise from an independent, "clean slate” perspective, and will provide analytic insight to the Service to inform and/or validate operational requirements and provide a basis for future capability development programs. USSF force design analyses are organized in mission areas aligned to USSF priorities, and follow a disciplined approach to discover, analyze, and validate concepts and the associated family of systems required to satisfy current/future mission needs. The resulting force design products will help define and inform future USSF mission requirements, capabilities/architectures, funding needs and priorities, and interface standards for USSF developed systems, Allied capabilities, and leveraged commercial services. Additionally, USSF intends to rely on these analyses to inform corporate decision making processes for resourcing, policy development, and Joint operational planning. Evaluation of potential force design options includes testing through wargaming and simulation activities; such efforts also support development and maturation of rigorously tested USSF tactics, techniques and procedures (TTP). SWAC's force design activities are organized in three specific focus areas; Multi-Domain Awareness (MDA), Spectrum Warfare (SW), and Force Design Integration (FDI). Multi-Domain Awareness includes terrestrial sensing from space. This focus area will develop concepts, perform analysis, and conduct validation activities involving Missile Warning/Missile Tracking (MW/MT), Multi-Spectral Sensing (MSS) (including Tactical Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (T-ISR)), and Space Based Environmental Monitoring (SBEM) mission areas. The Spectrum Warfare focus area will develop concepts, perform analysis, and conduct validation activities in Space Data Transport (SDT) (includes traditional Satellite Communications), Navigational Warfare (includes Position, Navigation, and Timing (PNT), and space Command and Control (C2)). The Spectrum Warfare focus area will also conduct Space Logistics force design analysis efforts (including space launch and On-orbit Servicing). The Force Design Integration focus area involves the integrated assessment of all space capabilities operating collectively. Specifically, this area creates integrated modeling and simulation environments, assesses combined operational and strategic employment, wargames force design options, provides initial cost effectiveness trades, and evaluates integration of the space and ground capabilities in a joint fight. These rigorous analyses across all three SWAC focus areas will provide detailed and physics-based force design recommendations to USSF leadership which incorporate factors of capability performance, system resilience, and program cost. The collective force design analytic results of SWAC activities are integrated across the Services and with mission partners, and are a foundational element of the USSF's strategy for building capabilities that are technologically feasible, affordable, and resilient. Ultimately, the SWAC supports a position of strategic stability, United States advantage in space, and a space warfighting posture that deters aggression and ensures Joint and Coalition warfighters can employ forces in the time, place, manner, and domain of their choosing; ultimately fostering a continued posture enabling the United States to fight and win in space. It is important to note that this PE is distinctly different and intentionally separate from the Space Security and Defense Program (SSDP) PE. The SWAC's mission is aligned with Service authorities and focuses on USSF-specific priorities, while SSDP, by charter, focuses its efforts on Space Control and related mission areas on behalf of the National Security Space (NSS) enterprise (including DoD and Intelligence Community stakeholders). The SWAC leverages SSDP modeling, simulation, research, and analytic findings for counter-space threats and space control force designs and will execute the non-space control force design activities under this PE. This program element may include necessary emergent/unanticipated civilian pay expenses required to manage and execute the Force Design mission assigned to the SWAC and/or deliver products for evolving weapon system capabilities. This effort is in Budget Activity 4, Advanced Component Development and Prototypes (ACD&P), because efforts are necessary to evaluate integrated technologies, representative modes or prototype systems in a high fidelity and realistic operating environment.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Project
- Publication Date
- Oct 01, 2023
- Source ID
- 646021_1203622SF_4_3620F_PB_2023
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- Root: Space Warfighting Analysis
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