Expanding Battlespace and the Integration of Air Ground Operations on the Tactical Battlefield

Abstract

United States Army doctrinal developments of the last twenty years, initiated by Airland Battle concepts, along with technological developments have resulted in increased battlespace of the ground force commander. This increase in battlespace encompasses the dimensions of both time and space. Greatly increased detection and engagement ranges allow the commander to see farther and thus attack the enemy at a much greater distance in relation to the friendly maneuver forces. This increase in the dimension of space has been accompanied by a corresponding decrease in the dimension time. The ground commander can now acquire and target the enemy at a much faster rate than previously possible. The Theater Air Control System (TAGS) was designed to synchronize air and ground operations into an integrated scheme of maneuver. Adjusting TAGS procedures is required in order to respond to the current threat environment. This study analyzes the current structure of the TAGS system and makes a recommendation to adjust the emphasis from mass to time. The emerging technologies of the information age combined with a non-hierarchical command and control system allow for a system designed to take advantage of the dimension of time, with the objective to create an operating tempo to which the enemy cannot react. The overall effect is to create a system (TAGS) based on preemptive as opposed to concentration tactics. The significance of this is more than just semantic subtleties. Besides creating a system that allows for the maximization of advanced technologies, a TAGS based on preemptive tactics focuses on a key tenant of warfare: the enemy gets a vote. The importance of this change is it takes into account the probable characteristics of future threats for the next twenty years as well as the direction current force structures are moving.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Dec 17, 1999
Accession Number
ADA394941

Entities

People

  • James W. Danna Iii

Organizations

  • United States Army Command and General Staff College

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms
  • C4I
  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Space
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force
  • Air Power
  • Aircrafts
  • Civil War
  • Combat Operations
  • Contingency Operations (Military)
  • Information Processing
  • Information Systems
  • Intelligence Cycle
  • Military History
  • National Security
  • Operations Research
  • Second World War
  • Tactical Air Support
  • United States Central Command
  • War Colleges
  • Warfare

Readers

  • Maritime Combat Support and Expeditionary Logistics.
  • Sensor Fusion and Tracking Systems.
  • Strategic Security Studies

Technology Areas

  • Fully Networked C3
  • Fully Networked C3 - Command and Control
  • Space