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Potts, David S. the Big Issue Command and Combat in the Information Age

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Potts, David S. the Big Issue Command and Combat in the Information Age About the CCRP The Command and Control Research Program (CCRP) has the mission of improving DoD’s understanding of the national security implications of the Information Age. Focusing upon improving both the state of the art and the state of the practice of command and control, the CCRP helps DoD take full advantage of the opportunities afforded by emerging technologies. The CCRP pursues a broad program of research and analysis in information superiority, information operations, command and control theory, and associated operational concepts that enable us to leverage shared awareness to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of assigned missions. An important aspect of the CCRP program is its ability to serve as a bridge between the operational, technical, analytical, and educational communities. The CCRP provides leadership for the command and control research community by: • articulating critical research issues; • working to strengthen command and control research infrastructure; • sponsoring a series of workshops and symposia; • serving as a clearing house for command and control related research funding; and • disseminating outreach initiatives that include the CCRP Publication Series. This is a continuation in the series of publications produced by the Center for Advanced Concepts and Technology (ACT), which was created as a “skunk works” with funding provided by the CCRP under the auspices of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (C3I). This program has demonstrated the importance of having a research program focused on the national security implications of the Information Age. It develops the theoretical foundations to provide DoD with information superiority and highlights the importance of active outreach and dissemination initiatives designed to acquaint senior military personnel and civilians with these emerging issues. The CCRP Publication Series is a key element of this effort. Check our Web site for the latest CCRP activities and publications. www.dodccrp.org DoD Command and Control Research Program ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF DEFENSE (C3I) & CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICER Mr. John P. Stenbit PRINCIPAL DEPUTY ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF DEFENSE (C3I) Dr. Linton Wells, II SPECIAL ASSISTANT TO THE ASD(C3I) & DIRECTOR, RESEARCH AND STRATEGIC PLANNING Dr. David S. Alberts Opinions, conclusions, and recommendations expressed or implied within are solely those of the authors. They do not necessarily represent the views of the Department of Defense, or any other U.S. Government agency. Cleared for public release; distribution unlimited. Portions of this publication may be quoted or reprinted without further permission, with credit to the DoD Command and Control Research Program, Washington, D.C. Courtesy copies of reviews would be appreciated. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data The Big Issue : Command and Combat in the Information Age (A View from Upavon) / edited by David Potts. p. cm. ISBN 1-893723-10-0 (pbk.) 1. Great Britain. Army. 2. Military doctrine--Great Britain. 3. Operational art (Military science) 4. Military art and science--Great Britain. 5. Information warfare. 6. Command and control systems--Great Britain. I. Potts, David. II. Title. UA649.B49 2003 355.02--dc21 2003000263 February 2003 Information Age Transformation Series THE BIG ISSUE: COMMAND AND COMBAT IN THE INFORMATION AGE EDITED BY DAVID POTTS Photographs All of the photographs used in this publication were drawn from the Royal Navy, Army, and Royal Air Force picture libraries, or were provided courtesy of UK Joint Force Headquarters, or the Media Operations Group in Headquarters Land Command. * * * Reprint Information This work was originally developed and released as SCSI Occasional Paper Number 45 (March 2002) and was designed and typeset by The British Army Review, Published by the Strategic and Combat Studies Institute, Printed in the United Kingdom under arrangements of Astron Document Services. Table of Contents 1. Introduction .......................................................1 Part One: Philosophy 2. Tomorrow’s War - an analysis of the nature of future conflict. David Potts.........................................................9 3. No Revolutions Please, We’re British - a consideration of the nature of the contemporary Revolution in Military Affairs and the innate British reluctance to embrace it. David Potts and Jake Thackray .......................29 4. The Holy Grail - the anticipated benefits of the application of information age technology to military command and control systems. Jake Thackray..................................................43 5. Neo Heroic Command - the ‘mask of command’ in the information age. David Potts.......................................................59 6. A Command Philosophy for the Information Age - the continuing relevence of mission command. Jim Storr...........................................................77 7. The Commander as Expert - harnessing intuitive judgement. Jim Storr...........................................................95 i Part Two: Possibilities 8. The Commander-Centric Approach - philosophical principles for command structures fit for the information age. Jake Thackray ................................................115 9. Beyond Interoperability: Part 1 - new imperatives and challenges at the tactical level. Tim Blad and David Potts ..............................139 10. Beyond Interoperability: Part 2 - information sharing post 11 September. Paul Lefever .................................................151 11. The Divine Threads - the intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance ‘system of systems’. Graham Le Fevre .........................................167 12. 3D Vision - exploiting the third dimension. Graham Le Fevre .........................................177 13. The Case for Manned Reconnaissance. Graham Le Fevre and John Thornton .........189 14. The Delilah Factor – new vulnerabilities in the information age. David Potts...................................................199 ii Part Three: Prognosis 15. Tactical Combat with the New C4ISTAR. David Potts ...................................................211 16. Whither the Close Battle? Richard Cousens..........................................229 17. Asymmetric Warfare - the new face of warfare in the 21st Century. John Russell.................................................243 18. Once Upon a Time in the Future - a fictional account of a possible future conflict. Jake Thackray..............................................267 * * * Afterword - the Imperative for new thinking. David Potts ....................................................315 Glossary of Acronyms .....................................321 About the Authors............................................329 iii CHAPTER 1 Introduction By David Potts his Occasional considers command and combat Tin the information age. It is an issue that takes us into the realms of the unknown. Defence thinkers everywhere are searching forward for the science and alchemy that will deliver operational success. They must reconcile the tantalising possibilities of technology with the enduring nature of the most demanding aspects of combat, framed by post-Cold War strategic realities. A small team in the British Army's conceptual 'think tank', the Directorate General Development and Doctrine, located at Upavon on Salisbury Plain, has been working together on this issue for some 18 months. Whilst nobody has any certain answers, their views represent some of the current forward thinking within the British Army. They argue that the information age will be defined as much by the blossoming of regional conflict and global terrorism as by the technology. However, the technology offers us the potential to change the way we choose to fight and this notion lies at the core of the so-called Revolution in Military Affairs. But, by delivering a military hegemony to the United States, the RMA may have acted as a catalyst for even deeper and more fundamental change. Stronger 1 2 The Big Issue forces may be at work, which will, in a genuinely revolutionary way, redefine the nature of war and consequently the capabilities required to wage it. Either way, the facts are inescapable - the age we live in demands Armed Forces characterised by new thinking, new concepts, new doctrine, new tactics and new organisations, fired by committed leadership and enabled by state of the art information age technology. Part One addresses a range of philosophical issues. in the opening scene, Tomorrow's War, the editor explores the nature of future conflict and the fragility of many of our current assumptions. He also provides some insights into the nature of tactical engagements in the information age. In No Revolution Please, We're British, he and Jake Thackray analyse the nature of RMAs and the innate British reluctance to acknowledge or embrace them. This has a potentially incalculable opportunity cost that we have paid dearly once or twice in our military history. Jake then goes on to describe The Holy Grail of a fully digitised and networked command system and the potential benefits it could yield. John Keegan argued that the 'mask of command' in the Cold War, nuclear age was 'Post-heroic', in Neo- heroic Command the editor picks up on this theme and examines the mask of command in the information age. Jim Storr then rounds off this section with two pieces. The first on Command Philosophy argues that Mission Command is enduring and is indeed a pre-requisite for the successful exploitation of
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