Space Warfighting: Can the West Stay Competitive?

[00:00:00]Why is space now so important in modern warfare?

[00:00:05]I think what's happened is a kind of a historic trend that you would see across the globe, where space has become such a key part of of everything we do, whether it's where there's public, whether it's the military, it's just a key part.

[00:00:17]And because of that, you have to protect those, those capabilities.

[00:00:21]Um, and that's, that's why has become part of warfare.

[00:00:24]I think if you look, historically, we've used space to support, you know, for terrestrial activities here on Earth. Now we're using space for for activities in space. So it's changed the dynamic.

[00:00:36]It's a domain that continues to grow. And I think it's an area that, um, every, every nation is looking at. It's a global trend we're seeing.

[00:00:44]So as part of this global trend, I mean, Lockheed Martin are involved in the UK's plan to build this so-called integrated air, space and missile defence operations center in the coming years. Is there a risk with these kinds of new big projects, that the technology becomes redundant as it's being developed because there is such a pace of change in the sector?

[00:01:03]I think we just have to stay on the front end of the leading edge of that at all times. That's kind of what we do in every, every part of our technology that we have.

[00:01:10]I mean, Lockheed Martin, we're constantly evolving the tech.

[00:01:13]Um, and we, we on ramp it into the systems that we need, whether they're in space or whether they're here on Earth. And so I think that's just a that's just the way we have to do business, uh, in the future because tech is changing quickly. And how do we adapt it?

[00:01:24]And how do we make sure that our systems have what we call modular open system architecture? So you can bring those capabilities in when you need them? What does the new Burnham government need to do in Britain to regain credibility for the UK?

[00:01:39]That's been criticized by various people in terms of military spending, the dip, the defense investment, um, uh, plan has talked about access to operating in, from and through space, uh, you know, underpinning UK security.

[00:01:54]What does the new Burnham government have to do to deliver that?

[00:01:58]I think it's just like everyone else. They have to look at space as a strategic domain, um, and how space, how space plays out to all the systems that they have, uh, here terrestrially, but also as we look at how we are going to use space as a warfighting domain in the future.

[00:02:12]And I think that's the same as everyone else is doing across the globe.

[00:02:15]And, uh, just continue to to focus on that as we move forward.

[00:02:19]Okay. In terms of delivering on the money, there is this, you know, it's still not really understood whether the UK is going to be able to deliver 3% of GDP spending on defense by 2030 and three and a half by 2035. What happens if it doesn't do that?

[00:02:35]What does it mean for Lockheed? Well, I think for us we're here.

[00:02:38]We've been we've been in the UK for 85 years.

[00:02:41]Uh, well, we're going to be here as long as we can with the UK is a great partner for us. We've, we've we helped them strategically across multiple domains, not just space.

[00:02:49]And I think um, you know, we're going to we're going to be a supporter and be part of this team. Uh, because UK is a strategic partner for us and for frankly, for all the world in terms of the capabilities that they do have here that they can bring forward.

[00:03:03]I want to talk a bit about the global supply chains on defence here, Robert.

[00:03:09]You know, space is such a big endeavor, and it's maybe it's you have to be a big player to get this kind of kit, to get the kind of dominance that you want in it. How much of a threat is it to your business? The EU is kind of made in Europe push.

[00:03:21]I mean, Europe seems to be giving the signal that it wants to be moving away from us. Defense companies are more towards building its own personal, independent kind of projects.

[00:03:32]Is that going to change how you do business?

[00:03:35]I think for us the key is Europe. Everybody needs a global supply chain.

[00:03:39]And so for us, whether we're supporting countries or companies in the in Europe, in the UK or whether we're being supported by that, you know, the more they can get into this defense industrial base, the better off we're going to be. I think we saw during Covid how fragile the industrial base is for defense and aerospace.

[00:03:56]And now the more that come to that, to that opportunity, the better off we're all going to be. So I don't I don't see it affecting us other than maybe helping us actually deliver the missions and the systems we need to deliver. How do you see space based espionage developing? We've seen, um, this is a kind of new area of warfare from NATO's perspective, particularly on the eastern flank in the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Um, how do you see space based espionage at the minute? Well, I think I mean, I'll just here's the way I I'll answer that. If you look at history, um, just in general, uh, I think what you'll find is what's happening in space is no different than what's happened terrestrially for for forever.

[00:04:39]Uh, things start with exploration. Uh, you explore, you find a reason to push out, push your. Put your limits out.

[00:04:46]Think about, you know, the West Indies and spices in the in the US.

[00:04:50]Think about going from one inch of the country to the gold rush on the West Coast. Space is the same way.

[00:04:55]You explore. You find something when you explore that has a that provides a commercial opportunity, a business opportunity.

[00:05:03]And then of course, that creates conflict.

[00:05:05]And the conflict requires us to actually pay attention where there's defensive opportunities, offensive opportunities, or even, um, as you said, espionage.

[00:05:12]I mean, that's the history of, of the world has happened that way.

[00:05:15]And I think to me, that's what we're seeing in space is just now becoming a more important domain to all of us every day.

[00:05:21]And I think all those things are going to continue to happen.

[00:05:23]And, um, that's why we have the systems that we have, and that's how we try to protect those systems as we move forward.

[00:05:29]Well, like you say, there's exploration, there's innovation, and there is so much innovation in the space space right now. But then there's security.

[00:05:36]Ukraine is, for example, it's so reliant on these Starlink systems.

[00:05:39]But Bloomberg's been reporting on the susceptibility to Chinese spies.

[00:05:42]How do you make this new kit reliable and secure while you continue to work on your cyber security? Uh, all the systems that we put in place have to have you have to have the protections in place.

[00:05:54]Again, this is something we didn't worry about 20, 30 years ago when we put systems in space. And now again, because it's become a contested domain, these are the kind of systems we have to put in place to protect them. Uh, we have a lot of cyber capabilities.

[00:06:07]We have a lot of other capabilities on the ground that allow us to do that.

[00:06:09]So, again, it's no different than the terrestrial or the earth systems that we deal with on a daily basis. It's just in space.

[00:06:16]And so it's a little bit more a little more complicated maybe than what we're used to.