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Cyber is now considered a key warfighting domain and the era of cyber conflicts in space is already here. These were two of the key takeaways from two panels featuring top speakers from the French and German governments at the recent Space Defense and Security Summit (SDSS) in Paris.

Secure military operations was a key theme of the discussions. French Navy Captain Paul Merveilleux du Vignaux, head of the Operations Division Organization, French Cyber Defence Command (COMCYBER) said that cyber operations now have a dual role to play, both in offensive and defensive operations. France’s Cyber Defence Command is in charge of protecting the French Ministry of Defence’s (MoD) communication systems, and has to identify attacks, and relies on quick response teams to counter these threats. However, its cyber strategies are now multi-faceted.

“Our second mission is offensive cyber operations. Cyber now has a dual role in operations. Cyber will support kinetic operations. You have to be prepared to operate in a cyber environment. When looking at the support for kinetic operations, this requires a lot of planning,” he said.

Merveilleux du Vignaux says that French Cyber Defence Command sees the threats today coming from a variety of actors, and not just state actors. He says that actors are increasingly active in cyberspace, and that militaries must adapt to this. “We must not wait to be attacked. The war in cyberspace has already started. If you are wondering you are going to a victim of a cyber attack, you are too late. Firstly, don’t wait to be attacked and have an active posture. The easiest way to get attacked is through subcontractors.”

Col. (GS) Michael Fraas, Chief Strategy German Cyber and Information Domain Service Organization, German Federal Ministry of Defence said that space plays a central role in protecting multi-domain operations, and that right now we are seeing the “digitalization of the kill chain.” The central theme of the panel was that cyber is now front and center of military operations.

“This sense of what multi-domain operations is to vastly increase firepower. This can only be down by machines now. It is an information capability of modern military. They depend on cyber and space. Modern military strategies put cyber and space at the top of the chain,” said Fraas.

Fraas talked about how the German military space systems are being created for international crisis management, and that Germany is wanting to put together a new comprehensive space architecture. “We will create a comprehensive space architecture ready for wartime. The ground segment threat is rarely talked about. But, on a Russian target list, I would say the ground segment is a prime target for Russia,” he added. “Multi-domain or joint domain operations are the ultimate goal of militaries, it would be extremely promising to break into the enemies digital kill chain. We should not forget there are many kinetic means to impact an enemy’s cyber operations.”

In another panel looking at secure space environment, more officials from France and Germany looked at how the space environment is changing.

Brig. Gen. Jurgen Schrodl, Chief of Division III, Directorate-General for Military Strategy and Operations, German Federal Ministry of Defence said that Germany is seeing a lot of incidents happening on German satellites. “We see incidents involving Russia. We have to react to this.”

Schrodl acknowledged that that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has ramped up activities here. He talked of Ukraine Armed Forces launching cyber attacks on Russian satellites. However, the threats from Russia are significant. He says, “Russia possesses anti-satellite weapons. They have an enormous amount of potential. Nuclear missions from Russia are very worrying. We need to make it clear to the global community what is going on in space.”

It was clear from all of these speakers that they believe the cyber wars in space have already started. “We need space superiority. We have to build redundancy and resiliency. We have to prepare with active defence measures. Time is against us. We have to act quickly. We can invest in space technology. International co-operation and combined projects will be needed. One nation alone can’t do it,” Schrodl says.

Lt. Gen. Bertrand Le Meur, head of the Directorate for Defence Strategy, Counter Proliferation and Strategic Foresight, French Ministry of Armed Forces said we are now in an era where we are seeing “a symmetry” between the price of offense and defense. “Space is no longer limited to a few nations. We have to be aware that there will be an escalation of activities. There is not one single strategy to counter that. We need to integrate into our mindsets answers for space are not in space. There is a sense of urgency. We will require more political will to have the capabilities we need,” he added.