Contemplating Military Innovation.

Abstract

Military innovation has recently become an important topic in both civilian and military circles. This document, completed under IDA's Central Research Program, is meant to provide the reader with a basic understanding of some of the key issues pertaining to military innovation. The topic was researched through the collection and analysis of open source materials. Military innovation represents both a process and a product. The current debate seems to be characterized by miscommunication; miscommunication that stems from the participants use of intuitive (as opposed to universal) definitions. Military innovation, as a process, is influenced by several internal and external factors. Assessing the products of military innovation requires that the decision-maker not only consider the degree of change from current capabilities (evolutionary innovations versus revolutionary innovations), but the context in which the innovation occurs (i.e., the relative effect of the innovation).

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Aug 01, 1998
Accession Number
ADA360738

Entities

People

  • Dennis J. Gleeson Jr.

Organizations

  • Institute for Defense Analyses

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • C4I
  • Counter WMD
  • Ground and Sea Platforms
  • Human Systems
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force
  • Command And Control
  • Contingency Operations (Military)
  • Defense Planning
  • Department Of Defense
  • First World War
  • Law
  • Military Acquisition
  • Military Applications
  • Military Operations
  • Military Organizations
  • Military Science
  • National Security
  • Navy
  • Submarine Warfare
  • United States
  • Warfare

Readers

  • Military History of the United States in the 20th Century.
  • Systems Analysis and Design
  • Team-Based Human-Centered Cognitive Task Decision Making and Information Performance.