The biennial wargame will explore strategic challenges in a fictional space conflict set a decade into the future, testing policies, strategies and emerging technologies in a coalition context. Unlike live exercises, which focus on current capabilities and threats, wargames provide decisionmakers with an opportunity to stress-test future concepts and cooperative frameworks before they are needed.
“This wargame allows the air and space forces from the US and nine international partners to see the impacts of their decisions in a fast-paced scenario and ask, ‘Do our policies and proposed capabilities hold up in a fight? What would we need to change if scenario X or Y happens?’” said Colonel Shannon DaSilva, Commander of Space Delta 10.
Led by Space Delta 1, the Space Force’s wargaming and doctrine development unit based at Patrick Space Force Base, Florida, SW 25 will incorporate five advanced conceptual technologies to prompt discussion on future capability needs and investment priorities.
Participants will include personnel from across the US armed services, commercial space industry, and nine partner nations under the Combined Space Operations initiative, which seeks to improve shared concepts, interoperability and mutual security in orbit.
“Wargames like Schriever help like-minded nations work together to stay ahead of potential threats,” Col DaSilva said. “The goal isn’t just to win on the table – it’s to make smarter decisions today that prevent real-world conflict tomorrow.”
First staged in 2001, the Schriever Wargame series has shaped numerous US and allied space policies, with lessons learned feeding directly into capability development and force design.