Referencing a classic story of the American Revolutionary War, the Air Force Chief of Staff asked “One, if by land, two, if by sea, three, if by air, four, if by space, five, if by cyber…How many lanterns does our adversary have to purchase if we can use all the domains we have dominance in to bring capabilities together in ways they could never counter?” By adding domains and layers to U.S. capabilities, adversaries must also build and maintain the same capabilities to maintain competitive and achieve what the Chief of Staff refers to as “21st century deterrence,” which includes space and cyber in the concept that is traditionally the domain of nuclear weapons theory. Knowledge of complex multi-domain operations that are able to overwhelm an opponent would change the cost-benefit calculation of an opponent seeking to weigh possible gains.
Source: Air Force chief lays out future fight against peer-level adversaries
