Network Centric Warfare - Transforming the U.S. Army
Abstract
The old paradigms of U.S. military operations in the industrial age are dead. Military relevance in the information-dominated 21st Century no longer comes from the industrial age concept of massing forces or attrition warfare. Rather, it comes from a new information age paradigm in which access to information enables the rapid employment of the right force at the right place and time to achieve strategic objectives, while preventing any adversary from doing the same. To achieve this position of dominance, the Department of Defense has embraced the concepts of Network Centric Warfare (NCW) as a way to transform the force and achieve Joint Vision 2020 objectives. This information age concept provides a systems view of the battle space that can radically compress the strategic, operational, and tactical levels of war and dramatically increase combat power through shared awareness and self-synchronization. The concept will not take hold in the U.S. Army, however, without a substantial effort to overcome impediments and a corresponding co-evolution of processes, organizations, and technology infrastructure. This research paper provides a summary of network centric warfare concepts and highlights some of the challenges of applying them throughout a transformed Army force. (4 tables, 2 figures, 69 refs.)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Mar 19, 2004
- Accession Number
- ADA423794
Entities
People
- Carl D. Porter
Organizations
- United States Army War College