The First Salvo: Implications of Standing Rules of Engagement for U.S. Forces in Network-Centric Warfare
Abstract
Network-centric warfare (NCW) will create distinct advantages in the operational factors of space, time, force, and their interrelationships. Information superiority, the capability for cooperatively engaged precision effects, and a responsive command and control architecture will enable commanders operating in NCW to preempt enemy forces, negating an adversary's options before they can be executed. Though the technical challenges in NCW are significant, they are incrementally proving surmountable through war gaming and experimentation. The true limit of NCW's operational capability however, may not be technology, but law and politics. Standing Rules of Engagement for U.S. Forces provides the base-line guidance and authorization for the use of military force in concert with international law and national policy. This paper examines the implications for NCW under Standing Rules of Engagement for self-defense, revealing several potential vulnerabilities and ambiguities that could significantly impact its operational capability. Operational concepts, structure, doctrine, and planning must anticipate the reality that military operations will be constrained by law and political imperatives. Though NCW provides unprecedented levels of battlespace knowledge and speed of command, the initiative that it avails U.S. forces could be significantly undermined if it fails to adequately coalesce with rules of engagement (ROE).
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Feb 04, 2002
- Accession Number
- ADA400936
Entities
People
- Michael P. Donnelly
Organizations
- Naval War College