Strategic Forum, Number 11. The Revolution in Military Affairs.
Abstract
The Conference Conclusions were: The most fundamental strategic challenge to the U.S. military is to convert the Military-Technological Revolution, the impact of information technologies on warfare into a Revolution in Military Affairs the subsequent transformation of operations and organizations. Although the U.S. military's grasp of the MTR is unquestioned, optimism that the United States will lead others in converting the MTR to an RMA is premature. The core debate at the Conference was over the relative importance of today's small but irksome military tasks compared to potentially more critical but totally unknown tasks that may face the nation two decades from now. Although information technologies going into military systems have generally been no better, and often less current, than those of commercial systems available for military use, converting data into information remains a highly sophisticated art at which the United States excels. Other nations with clearer strategic purpose and less sunk capital at risk from an RMA could be the leaders in this new race. The United States would be better off it those nations were to waste decades trying to copy what they thought we could do in the 1990s rather than seeking to leapfrog us by grasping thru RMA before we do
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Nov 01, 1994
- Accession Number
- ADA286195
Entities
Organizations
- National Defense University