The cause and consequences of the new sect

Now that it’s a file Air and Space Army Just celebrated the awards ceremony, under the motto “A look into space” it is appropriate to talk about the new name of our Air Force, why and its consequences.

The change of name from the Air Force to the Air and Space Army, approved by royal decree, recognizes, in the words of its supreme chief, that “the aerospace series constitutes the new space domain, in addition to the tasks that the Air Force has been carrying out for decades, and enhances The importance of outer space for security and defense, and highlights the essential role it plays Armed forces in the protection and control of space and from space.”

Chief of Staff of the Air and Space Army, Air General Javier Salto Martinez Avialthat “our daily life is inconceivable without basic services derived from space capabilities, which give satellites and space infrastructure a strategic nature of the national interest.”

Why

The increasing use of the space sector for commercial, scientific, industrial, geostrategic, security and defense purposes makes it necessary to ensure continuous access to services obtained through space. For this reason, the guarantee of free use is essential to the lives of citizens, since many of the services we use every day come from it. Talk about monitoring Land, necessary for support in the event of natural disasters, necessary for conducting military operations and decision-making; weather forecasting and access to oceanographic information needed to plan land, sea and air operations; obtaining information from space, which is necessary to develop intelligence information on activities in areas of interest; the satellite communications, switches for command and control operations; he Positioning via GPS or Galileo systems the synchronization of time associated with these systems; early warning against the possible launch of long-range missiles, and the growing need in the face of current and future threats; etc.

Thus, the name change responds to the logical evolution that the Spanish Air Force has been making for years, for which it carries out more responsibilities and missions in this space field. At the political-strategic level, the need to confront Aerospace and outer space security in a uniform way. And in the military dimension, the national and international doctrine sets the requirement to adequately coordinate security in both spaces, considering the space domain as a continuous physical domain.

Hence the need for the air and space army to acquire a leading role as a representative of Ministry of Defense In the future Spanish Space AgencyIt aims to ensure the development and implementation of a national space policy.

Consequences: new abilities

All this through spatial experience that grants the abilities available to her: Aerospace Control Systems Centerthe unit that meets the needs Armed forces and government agencies in this field. the transmission squad No. 5, which relates to satellite communications, provides SATCOM capability; And since 2019, it has become Space Control Operations Center (COVE) whose main mission is to monitor and know the space situation, in addition to providing other series of space-related services and cooperating with various civil, military, national and foreign organizations.

To bring them all together, in 2020 the organic structure of the Air and Aerospace Forces is integrated into Headquarters of the flight control and control system (JSVICA), which is responsible for directing, coordinating, and evaluating command and control system functions that enable monitoring and control of airspace and outer space, as well as conducting air operations.

The next steps are intended to provide our Air Force with the ability to lead an operational structure that effectively integrates and manages space capabilities. Armed forcesStrengthen space monitoring and control capacity, enhance the ability to obtain information from space and the ability to command and control space, as a necessary condition for the safe utilization of space as an operational field.

he Air and Space Army It will continue to evolve to lead command and control in the field and integrate those specific and joint capabilities that are considered to fulfill its missions, including associated resource and infrastructure needs.