The decisions made by senior leaders of the US defence department and the manner in which they are implemented, utilised and match threat to capabilities will determine if the world will be dominated by the US or China, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said.
Speaking at the Department of the Air Force Summit — a gathering of senior leadership from across the force—Hegseth said, "The future of deterrence...It is our airpower, the next generation of it and our ability to project it that will be the decisive factor in whether or not we truly deter our peer (adversaries) of the 21st century.
Highlighting the importance of space warfare, he said nobody can ignore the fact that the next and the most important domain of warfare will be the space domain and added that more investment will be pumped into this domain.
He pointed out that in war gaming simulations, the results have often been affected by space domain-related capabilities each side of the competition had at their disposal, according to a statement by the department website.
"There are strategic things that can be done that change the entire (warfighting) calculus that no one else is paying attention to, and I would anticipate that (the space domain) is one of those for us," the defence secretary said.
