Intro:

Some have called Desert Storm the first "space war," but the real difference between Desert Storm and previous conflicts was the breadth and scale in which space, military and Gray Space, was used. Every space mission played a part, in fact, the most satellite ground stations and pieces of user equipment in history were deployed to the theater of operations-all to enable the warfighter on the ground to reach out and touch space.....

"GRAY SPACE" and the Warfighter
"Today, the ultimate high ground is space."
http://www.au.af.mil/au/database/projects/ay1997/acsc/97-0563/

Intro:

Almost simultaneously as man put artificial satellites into orbit around the earth, he began exploiting them for commercial, military and national security purposes. As civilian use of space has grown along with the military's, the recent pace of civilian technological sophistication has quickly narrowed the US military's lead. These space services now "for hire," are in direct competition with the military and may pose a considerable threat to future military operations against even non-space powers, who can buy satellite services, often simply using the Internet. Military forces have traditionally been labeled blue for friendly and red for adversary, but these satellite systems do not fit into either category. We thus define "Gray Space" to reflect these systems available to the general populace that could potentially be used against the US and its allies for hostile purposes. Gray Space systems pose unique military, political, diplomatic and informational challenges to conflicts and the war planners who must prepare for them.....

SPACE: A NEW STRATEGIC FRONTIER
http://www.airpower.maxwell.af.mil/airchronicles/apj/moor.html

Excerpt:

Despite some of their shortcomings, the operations in Grenada, Libya, Grenada, and Panama were key milestones for space operations and contributed to our knowledge of the employment of space capabilities. The real test, however, was Operation Desert Storm. Air Force Chief of Staff Gen Merrill A. McPeak has described Desert Storm as "the first space war." This war was a watershed event in military space applications because for the first time, space systems were both integral to the conduct of terrestrial conflict and crucial to the outcome of the war. During the five-month period of Operation Desert Shield, while the terrestrial logistic tail was being established to support the coming Desert Storm operation, the space infrastructure was also being created in-theater. A robust mix of user sets, mobile terminals, and portable receivers for receiving and disseminating space-based surveillance, weather, communications, and navigational data was deployed. Other major commands also began considering space solutions to improve their mission effectiveness. Once hostilities began, space systems were ready and made vital contributions.

Technology and Air War
http://www.afa.org/magazine/21_century/technology_air_war/

Excerpt:

Precision Weapons. Precision guided munitions (PGMs) largely swung the outcome of the Gulf War by quickly shutting down Iraq's air defenses. Such munitions already have provided a thousandfold increase in destructive power, compared to unguided bombs. As the US approaches near-zero-miss-distance accuracies, it can design and build smaller munitions and perhaps maintain fewer stocks.

Near-term systems include PGM upgrades and the Joint Direct Attack Munition. Next-generation sensor-fuzed smart weapons will be able recognize, identify, and sort targets even as their sensors guide them, achieving accuracies measured in centimeters rather than meters.

The march of technology is taking the United States away from primary reliance on the time-tested means of attack--putting iron on a target. US forces also will use disruptive measures, such as energy (lasers and high-power microwave bursts), electrons (directed radio-frequency energy), and deception.

Also in development are "information munitions" to attack, destroy, confuse, or fool information systems. This portends capabilities for entering a command's computers and destroying or distorting files. Information warfare techniques could enable a warfighter to sift through an enemy's e-mail, discover locations of his weapons, and scramble his air defense computers.