WASHINGTON — The four-star Air Force general who oversees Pentagon efforts in cyberspace acknowledged Tuesday that the Defense Department had more work to do in clarifying the military’s doctrine for waging offensive computer warfare and setting up rules of engagement to guide specific cyberattacks.

The officer, Gen. C. Robert Kehler, who is in charge of the military’s Strategic Command, said these discussions were becoming ever more timely as American interests were challenged by “a number of very sophisticated actors who operate in cyberspace.”

But, he noted, “I believe that the United States still has an edge in cyberspace.”

As the Obama administration has focused on developing the nation’s capabilities for computer-network operations, civilian and military officials have been reluctant to discuss offensive digital capabilities — computerized attacks targeting an adversary’s networks — preferring instead to focus their public statements on advances in defending America’s own computer networks.

“I think we are looking at what an offensive component would be: What does that look like? What kind of options would we want to be able to offer?” General Kehler said. “I think that we have always said that there needs to be an offense and defense mix.”