DVIDS – News – DEL 6 Commander on AI and Cyberspace

Space Delta 6 – U.S. Space Force Col. Christopher A. Kennedy, commander of Space Access and Cyberspace Operations, recently spoke at the 39th Space Symposium's “From Space to Cyberspace” lunch in Colorado Springs on Tuesday. Participated in the panel.
The panel, comprised of members from USSF and NASA, focused on the benefits and challenges of emerging technologies related to space and cyberspace operations. Artificial intelligence is the key to this.
“What innovative things did the industry do and how quickly did they implement them? [AI] It offers great things for us to learn,” Kennedy said. “We want to focus more on data so that we can run deltas on large datasets and reduce the time it takes to track down issues. But we really need to get it right to be ready for that future.”
In 2023, Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall made it clear that the Air Force and Space Force are committed to developing and deploying AI as a key element in meeting security challenges.
“The critical parameter on the battlefield is time,” Kendall said at the Reagan National Defense Forum on Dec. 2, 2023. “AI will be able to perform much more complex tasks, much more accurately, and much faster than humans. The difference in time is the important difference.”
Investments in emerging technologies such as AI expand defense opportunities and expand the U.S. Space Force's ability to build the industrial base of the 21st century. However, this investment will require deeper engagement with commercial partners.
“Recognizing Congressional directives that the military should not rely solely on commercial systems for specific operational requirements whenever possible, the USSF will leverage the availability of commercial space solutions and incorporate them into its architecture and force offerings. “Integrate to enable the joint force to maintain superiority over strategic competitors,” according to the U.S. Space Force Commercial Space Strategy.
These deeper-rooted commercial partnerships will further leverage innovative capabilities, scalable production, and rapid technology update rates to strengthen the resiliency of our national security space infrastructure.
“People generally want to work with us,” Kennedy said. “On the cyber defense side, I think we need to partner more on data engineering and data science.”
One of the Department of Defense's main priorities is to focus on how AI activities aim to augment human intelligence, rather than eliminate it. Human oversight will always be present.
For more information about AI, please visit www.ai.mil.