Wargaming Outer Space

Wargames have long been used by military leaders to improve decision making. They are a highly effective pedagogical tool to explore and reinforce legal and ethical decision making, especially in contested operational environments. In the context of space where the rules of warfare remain largely untested, wargaming presents a viable tool for the development of a professional warfighting ethos and the combat readiness required to avoid operational surprises, in a safe-to-fail environment. Planners trying to build wargaming and experimentation infrastructure, however, must contend with a scarcity of empirical data on how conflict might unfold in space.

In this episode, Ms. Wanyana Racheal hosts Dr. ⁠David Banks⁠, a senior lecturer in Wargaming at the Department of War Studies, King’s College London, and Mr. ⁠Paul Szymanski⁠, a noted expert in space defence theory, policy, doctrine, strategies, and tactics, and president, Space Strategies Center to discuss wargaming conflict in space. They explore the challenges, limitations, emerging approaches, and lessons from terrestrial domains, for wargaming space.