A robotic vehicle can be far smaller, therefore stealthier, and manuever more robustly than a manned vehicle. What contingency do you see for a Marine rifle platoon in orbit a la James Bond?
I recall a comment from a high-ranking USAF officer of the US Space Command to the effect that, "We must not only be prepared to fight in space, but to fight our way
into space."
'Some indication of what they...and we are thinking.