92nd Air Refueling Wing demonstrates strategic deterrence readiness for Titan Fury 24-2

KC-135 Stratotankers assigned to the 92nd Air Refueling Wing prepare to take off during exercise Titan Fury 24-2 at Fairchild Air Force Base, Washington, March 22, 2024. During the exercise, Airmen demonstrated how various capabilities at Fairchild AFB enable units to generate and provide, when directed, specially trained and equipped KC-135 Stratotanker aircrews to conduct critical air refueling of U.S. Strategic Command-assigned strategic bomber and command and control aircraft. For decades, the KC-135 has been the backbone of Air Mobility Command’s air refueling capabilities around the world because of its ability to extend global reach and project U.S. air power. This exercise demonstrated how the 92nd Air Refueling Wing is engaged, postured and ready with a credible force to assure, deter and defend in an increasingly complex security environment. (U.S. Air Force Photo by Senior Airman Haiden Morris)

Deterrence in Space

Published May 7, 2026
By 50 OSS

TOPIC SPONSOR: 50 OSS

What potential uses of the latest space technologies can serve as deterrence?

Adams, Lt. Col. Jason M., "Deterrence and Norms of Behavior in Space," AWC West Space Seminar, 2023, 26 pgs.
Adewunmi, Maj. Adekunbi H., "Evolving Deterrence: Preventing Destruction in Outer Space," AFGC thesis, 2025, 48 pgs.
- Adewunmi explains that the integration of modern commercial space technologies, particularly proliferated satellite constellations, serves as a powerful form of deterrence by denial. By leveraging networks of hundreds of commercial satellites to supplement military architectures, the U.S. can achieve a level of redundancy and resilience that makes it nearly impossible for adversaries like the PRC or Russia to successfully degrade U.S. capabilities through a targeted attack, fundamentally removing the incentive for them to initiate hostilities in the space domain.
Baumeister, Maj. D. Harry, "Failure to Launch: Gray Zone Conflict in Space," AFGC thesis, 2026, 50 pgs.
- He asserts that against gray zone aggression, "deterrence by punishment" (like sanctions) often fails because adversaries intentionally avoid red lines; instead, the USSF must rely on "deterrence by denial". Technologically, he highlights proliferated low Earth orbit (pLEO) constellations—networks of hundreds or thousands of satellites—as a prime deterrent mechanism. This technology denies adversaries a tactical advantage because jamming or destroying individual satellites becomes meaningless when there are countless others to immediately replace their functionality.
Goodman, Maj. Brian, "Offensive Dominance in Space," AF Fellows Paper (2024), subsequently published in Aether (Vol. 3, No. 1, Spring 2024): 66-80.
Roche IV, Lt. Col. James Francis, "Laser Weapons and Space Deterrence," AWC PSP, 2020, 32 pgs. Prize Winner: Maj. Gen. Floyd L. Carpenter Award