The Pentagon has doubled down on plans to establish a forward-deployed area denial and anti-access network along the First Island Chain as part of its 2026 National Defense Strategy (NDS) update, according to a Sept. 22 report to the Senate Armed Services Committee. Defense Under Secretary for Policy Elbridge Colby highlighted the department’s efforts to build a “deterrence by denial” posture in the Indo-Pacific against China, a move that officials say will require expansive logistics and large missile inventories.
The update, detailed in the 2026 NDS, marks the culmination of attempts within the last decade to prepare American forces for a potential conflict against China. Colby’s report emphasized the need for high-end munitions to support the new posture, though specific dollar amounts or quantities were not disclosed in the sources provided.
In a related development, the Space Force is preparing to launch its next batch of satellites for the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture (PWSA), a network designed to provide resilient missile warning and tracking data to warfighters. The launch is scheduled for Oct. 5 at 1:15 a.m. Pacific Time from Vandenberg Space Force Base, California.
The upcoming launch will add 21 Northrop Grumman-built satellites to the constellation. Gurpartap “GP” Sandhoo, director of the Space Development Agency, told reporters that the PWSA will eventually include multiple layers of data transport and missile tracking satellites from various vendors. “We have three planes on orbit, 63 satellites, and with our next one we bring in a third vendor on the transport side,” Sandhoo said.
The PWSA is part of a broader effort to build a resilient satellite architecture that can withstand adversary attacks. Sandhoo noted that “the whole point” of the PWSA is to boost survivability, with persistent regional coverage expected by the end of Tranche 1 and persistent global coverage by the end of Tranche 2.
Separately, the Pentagon is developing a Space Data Network (SDN) featuring military-owned and commercial satellites. In May, the department awarded SpaceX a $2.3 billion contract to deliver an operational prototype for the SDN’s “backbone” by the end of next year. Other agreements have been awarded to Lockheed, Northrop, Rocket Lab, and Amazon LEO for Government to demonstrate ground-to-space and space-to-space data transport between platforms built by disparate vendors.
Sandhoo said the PWSA and SDN will create different “enclaves” of systems that will need to be interconnected. “We are in active risk-reduction activities to make sure we can connect with them,” he said, referring to efforts to link the various satellite networks.
The NDS update and satellite launches come as the Pentagon emphasizes the need for high-end munitions to support its Indo-Pacific strategy. The sources did not specify the exact munitions quantities or funding levels, but the focus on area denial and missile volleys underscores the shift in U.S. defense priorities.
Sources: Air & Space Forces Magazine · USNI News