Retired Air Force Lt. Gen. David Deptula pulls no punches. Data is no longer merely a tool of commerce. It is a strategic asset. The former commander warns that a shortfall in data storage and computing capacity could prove catastrophic. Success in future warfare will depend on whether a belligerent has the capability to sense, decide and act faster than an adversary. That speed demands enormous quantities of intelligence, reconnaissance, cyber, logistics, targeting and operational data. It requires computing capacity to train AI on all of it. Without it, even the most advanced weapons systems sit idle. Deptula, now dean of the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies, made the case in a recent Washington Post opinion piece . His timing could not be more pointed. Americans push back hard against new data centers and the power plants needed to run them. They cite higher electricity bills, strained water supplies and altered skylines. Yet these facilities have become extensions of national power.…