Department of the Air Force leaders reinforced the importance of allies and partners during their recent trip to the United Kingdom July 17-23.
Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall, Chief of Space Operations Gen. Chance Saltzman, and Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Allvin reemphasized the importance of interoperability in the air and space domains during engagements at the Global Air and Space Chiefs' Conference, Royal International Air Tattoo and Farnborough International Air Show.
Throughout the trip, Kendall, Saltzman and Allvin participated in more than a dozen bilateral and multilateral engagements to deepen and expand relationships with allies and partners from Europe, the Middle East and the Indo-Pacific.
"Integration starts with us," Allvin penned in a primer submitted to GASCC for publication. "Common values like respect for sovereignty, liberty, and the rule of law form the foundation of our relationships. These relationships translate into strategic real-time intelligence sharing and culminate in integrated battlespace activities."
Kendall met with a range of U.K. defense and military officials, including the Minister for Defence Procurement and Industry Maria Eagle, and Royal Air Force Chief of the Air Staff Air Chief Marshal Sir Rich Knighton. Additionally, he met with the new chief of the Royal Australian Air Force, Air Marshal Stephen Chappell, to discuss the recent Department of the Air Force reoptimization for Great Power Competition initiative and reaffirm bilateral strategic alignment, and Royal Netherlands Navy Vice Adm. Jan Willem Hartman, Materiel and IT Command commander, to explore opportunities to deepen collaboration.
A key aspect Kendall highlighted throughout each of his engagements was the need for the Department of the Air Force to intentionally and efficiently drive modernization efforts to contend with challenging strategic competitors.
"We're in a situation today where it's really important for the Department of the Air Force to modernize as effectively and quickly as we can," Kendall said during his keynote address at the Farnborough International Air Show. "We need to make good choices, partner closely with our allies, and develop and field cutting-edge capabilities together."
Among Allvin's engagements were meetings with the Royal Australian Air Force Chief of Air Force Air Marshal Stephen Chappell and the Japan Air Self-Defense Force Chief of Staff Gen. Hiroaki Uchikura. These discussions focused on the importance of the trilateral strategic relationship and reassuring the strength of shared commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific.
Allvin also met with counterparts from Finland, Sweden, and Norway to discuss the regional security environment and support to NATO's deterrence and defense mission.
Additionally, Allvin, Saltzman and Knighton signed a shared vision statement at the Global Air and Space Chiefs' Conference. This statement underscores the focus on collaboration with the RAF across three lines of effort: operational harmonization, capability integration, and system resilience.
"Among great powers, space is the linchpin," Saltzman said. "We're part of a growing group of allies and partners that enhance our collective security through resiliency, redundancy and interoperability. Collaboration between the U.S. and the U.K. is essential to maintaining our combined force's competitive advantage across all domains."
Allvin emphasized collaboration is key to success in addressing rapidly evolving threats.
"No nation can successfully confront today's dynamic security environment alone," Allvin said. "By increasing our integration with the Royal Air Force, we are enhancing our collective ability to address the threats we face. We will continue to invest in partnerships like this to build enduring advantages while simultaneously strengthening deterrence."
Part of Saltzman's engagements included meeting with U.K. Royal Air Force Air and Space Commander Air Marshal Allan Marshall and Australian Army Maj. Gen. Gregory Novak, Australian Defence Space Command commander, to discuss the ongoing AUKUS security partnership. He also met with British Army Maj. Gen. Paul Tedman, U.K. Space Command commander, discussing U.K. space power priorities and U.S. Space Force efforts to reoptimize for GPC.
"This theory's viability rests on our ability to build a coalition to uphold and strengthen a rules-based international order for space," Saltzman wrote about the U.S. Space Force's theory of success in an article for the GASCC publication. "Given the inherently global nature of space activities and the interconnectedness of space systems, collaboration among space-faring nations is indispensable for enhancing space situational awareness, promoting responsible behavior, and establishing norms of behavior in space."
During keynote remarks at GASCC, Saltzman also advocated for a shift in perspective regarding the current military deterrence model in a time where aggressors are developing new methods, asymmetric, and hybrid warfare to try and erode the established international order - including the space domain. At the same time, he emphasized the importance of effective deterrence.
"I believe Integrated Deterrence is a valuable and worthy approach in the U.S.'s National Defense Strategy," Saltzman said. "Our NDS describes it as a weaving together of capabilities and concepts with those of our international and interagency partners to dissuade aggression."
To do this effectively, Saltzman said, "I propose we design our forces and orchestrate our activities around military functions like 'protect' and 'defend,' which we can more tangibly pursue, rather than 'deterrence,' which is a more nebulous and complex concept."
Together with NATO allies and European partners, the U.S. continues to transform and modernize its military forces to enable alliance and coalition operations and improve speed, posture, transparency and alignment across all domains - air, sea, land, cyber and space.
