The Five Military Domains

A Framework for Multi-Domain Operations

The U.S. Department of War recognizes five military domains: space, air, land, sea, and cyberspace. These five domains form the base framework for the division of responsibilities and capability development across the services.

The above visualization shows how the domains layer from space above down to cyberspace, which connects all domains. I have added a littoral subdomain linking land and sea operations, the purview of the United States Marine Corps. Also included is an air assault subdomain, delineating the low-altitude portion of the air domain, which is filled with small- and medium-sized unmanned aerial systems in places like Ukraine.

Understanding this framework is critical for non-defense, expeditionary practitioners who operate in these domains and will be influenced by state and non-state military actors in them.

For educational purposes only. I have found these ideas personally useful in my career. Always do your own research.