Denial and Deception: A Serious Threat to Information Superiority?
Abstract
Today's military vision of the future, embodied in the Chairman's Joint Vision documents, paints an impressive picture of the future battlespace where US forces are superior in every dimension largely because of two critical enabling factors: technological innovation and information superiority. Information superiority, in fact, underpins each of the four new concepts of future warfare: dominant maneuver, precision engagement, focused logistics and full-dimensional protection. Achieving information superiority, however, will be difficult, if not impossible, due to a host of issues, the most pernicious of which is the enemy's ability to conduct successful denial and deception (D&D) operations. Foreign actors increasingly are using D&D as an important part of an asymmetric strategy to counter overwhelming US military superiority, and many of the reasons for their success are the result of US vulnerabilities. These include: ignorance of the foreign D&D threat, security negligence that provides foreign actors with a wealth of information vital to their D&D efforts, intentional release of information to foreign governments that compromises US collection assets, and American hubris that discounts the viability of such a threat. The results of these vulnerabilities can range from costly military campaigns, to future surprise, to outright defeat in a worst-case scenario. The Departments of Defense and State, together with the intelligence community, need to address these shortfalls in order to limit future opportunities for foreign D&D exploitation and to ensure information superiority in a JV2010 or 2020 environment.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Apr 19, 2000
- Accession Number
- ADA431704
Entities
People
- Jennifer Lasley
Organizations
- National War College