Spain's Cyber Command warns of worst-case scenario

The head of Spain's Joint Cyber Command, Vice Admiral Javier Roca, warned that a cyberattack is a "much more probable" operational risk than a missile strike and urged preparation for the worst-case scenario. Roca was self-critical: more than a decade after the command was created in 2013, he admitted that the digital domain is not fully embraced internally.

Vice Admiral Javier Roca, head of the Joint Cyber Command, stated plainly at a round table during the event "The Army and the Smart Battlefield" in Madrid: a cyberattack is a "much more probable" operational risk than a missile impact. Hence his prescription: prepare for the worst possible scenario. This warning is not rhetorical. The command was established in **2013** and, over ten years later, its own chief admits that the digital domain is "not believed in" by the institution because it is "very complex and demanding."

## Artificial intelligence accelerates threats

Roca identified artificial intelligence as the game-changer: it multiplies capabilities and threats at a pace that, in his view, surpasses historical milestones such as the advent of artillery, armor, or aviation. The operational environment changes at a estimulante ilegal that exceeds institutional inertia. And this leaves an uncomfortable question: "We cannot imagine how or against whom we will fight," he stated.

## "We are educating our soldiers for a world that no longer exists"

The harshest remark was about training. "We are educating our soldiers for a world that no longer exists. If in 50 years they are like us, we will lead them to failure," he warned. The diagnosis includes a paradox: cyberspace is a domain that is unpopular because it is demanding, but that "does not exempt us from being destroyed through it."

## The Force depends on secure access to cyberspace

According to Roca, the capability of the Spanish Army depends "almost entirely" on secure, reliable, and resilient access to cyberspace. One challenge will be ensuring that the Force executes cyber operations with capabilities proven in real-world scenarios. In any case, the self-criticism is directed at his own institution: the message is that digital defense is no longer a complement, but the foundation upon which everything else rests.