Air Force Advances Toward Cyber Resilience Strategy
In a recent article titled “Air Force Cyber Resilience in Focus,” published by Breaking Defense, the Department of the Air Force’s intensified efforts to bolster its cyber defense infrastructure were brought into sharp relief. The report underscores a growing recognition within the military that cybersecurity must evolve as a core element of operational readiness, rather than a secondary concern.
As near-peer adversaries grow increasingly agile in cyberspace, the Air Force is shifting from reactive cyber strategies to proactive, coherent resilience architectures. According to Breaking Defense, this transition is being driven in part by lessons learned from exercises and real-world incidents that exposed critical vulnerabilities across weapon systems, data networks, and enterprise IT.
Lt. Gen. Kevin Kennedy, commander of Sixteenth Air Force, emphasized in the report that cyber resilience is not merely about building digital fortresses but integrating cyber defense into every facet of mission planning and execution. “In order to operate with confidence in contested environments,” Kennedy told Breaking Defense, “we must assume persistent engagement by our adversaries.”
A key node in the Air Force’s revamped approach is the “Cyber Resiliency Office for Weapons Systems” (CROWS), originally established in 2016. CROWS has taken on a more prominent role as the military racing against time to retroactively harden legacy systems while also embedding resilience in new acquisitions from the design phase onward. The article notes that CROWS is working more closely with the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center and platform stakeholders to identify software patches, improve supply chain security, and enhance the cybersecurity of embedded systems.
The Air Force’s renewed focus comes amid a broader Department of Defense shift. Cybersecurity requirements are increasingly becoming integral to procurement policy, with program managers and acquisition officials now expected to align early and often with cyber experts. To that end, Defense Department initiatives such as Zero Trust architecture and Cyber Survivability Endorsements are being accelerated.
Nevertheless, challenges remain. Integrating resilience across the Air Force’s sprawling digital ecosystem — including satellites, aircraft, and ground communications — is a demanding endeavor. The report from Breaking Defense points to looming gaps in both funding and specialized personnel, raising concerns about whether implementation timelines can match the urgency of threats.
The wider implication, as articulated in the piece, is that adversaries such as China and Russia are not waiting on formal declarations of war to conduct digital attacks. Cyber intrusions and surveillance campaigns have become persistent features of the modern battlespace. As such, the Air Force’s movement toward continuous monitoring, mission-level threat modeling, and red-teaming exercises represents not just a prudent modernization effort but a strategic imperative.
With cyber terrain now as critical as air or space, the U.S. Air Force’s pivot to resilience may ultimately determine its ability to project power and maintain deterrence in the face of 21st-century threats. The Breaking Defense article makes clear that success will depend not just on technology, but on an organizational culture that treats cybersecurity as a foundation of mission assurance.
