What It Takes to Win: Succeeding In 21st Century Battle Network Competitions
Abstract
Electronic network communications play a large and increasingly important role in modern life. Over the past two decades, the decreasing cost, increasing capability, and wide spread availability of network communications transformed the way many of us work, shop, and maintain contact with friends and loved ones, as well as how, when, and where we access news and information. Widespread use of electronic communications, however, is well over a century old. Successful electrical telegraph systems emerged during the 1840s. The telephone followed in the 1870s, and by 1900 over 1.3 million telephones were in use in the United States.1During the first decade of the twentieth century, radio communication, or wireless telegraphy as it was known at the time, was developed.2 By the beginning of World War I, the armies of the Great Powers used field telephone networks and radios to transmit information and orders to ground and naval forces. The widespread ability to communicate information across great distances almost instantly led to the formation of the first battle networks. For the first time, it was possible to separate the major functions of military units and systems to improve their range, survivability, accuracy, and overall effectiveness. Fundamentally, a battle network is a combination of target acquisition sensors, target localization sensors, command and control (C2) elements, weapons, weapon platforms, and the electronic communications linking them together. Prior to the advent of electronic communications and sensors, C2 and weapons had to be close enough to allow for rapid communication. As this was generally limited to the human voice, bugle calls, and, if weather and lighting conditions permitted, flag signals, dispersal options were constrained by the limits of human hearing and eyesight. Dispersing these functions in a network across a large area has a number of potential advantages and can greatly increase their effectiveness.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 15, 2015
- Accession Number
- AD1138337
Entities
People
- Bryan Clark
- John Stillion