Cyberspace expert briefs AFA conference attendees

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. J.G. Buzanowski
  • Secretary of the Air Force Public Affairs
WASHINGTON (AFPN) --  "The first battle in the wars of the future will be over the control of cyberspace," said Dr. Lani Kass at the Air Force Association's Air & Space Conference and Technology Exposition Sept. 26 in Washington. 

Ms. Kass, a special assistant to the Air Force chief of staff, has long been an expert on cyberspace and regularly advises Air Force leaders on operations in that domain. 

"If we don't dominate cyberspace, we won't be able to dominate air, space, land or sea domains," she said.

Her presentation outlined the importance of cyberspace, how it affects every aspect of military operations and its role in national defense strategy.,

"Our enemies are using cyberspace to challenge us in new ways, such as using modern communications to spread their message" she said. "This is the fight we're in and it's the first time in the history of warfare a domain exists where the desired effects are disproportionate to the investment."

it doesn't take billions of dollars to achieve results in cyberspace. A minimal investment by an adversary potentially allows an enemy to cause a great amount of damage, she said. 

She likened the budding domain of cyberspace to the advent of powered flight as a military option. It took air pioneers years to get airpower recognized as a fighting domain, she said. She continued to describe future possibilities and how the U.S. will likely be challenged through the cyber domain.

Cyberspace doesn't just mean computers, Ms. Kass said. It covers everything from satellite communication to gamma rays to microwave technologies.

"We need to control cyberspace so we have freedom from attack and freedom to attack," she said. "Nonkinetic does not mean nonlethal."

The Air Force's new Cyberspace Command Provisional, based at Barksdale Air Force Base, La., addresses this issue and creates a home for experts to fight at the tactical, operational and strategic level. 

The integration of cyberspace operations with our actions in the air and in space will deliver decisive effects across the entire terrain of future conflict, Ms. Kass said.

"We must control simultaneously air, space and cyberspace, or what we call 'cross domain dominance,'" Dr. Kass said. "If you can't control these domains, the size of the military force employed will be irrelevant."

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