The U.S. Air Force Transformation Flight Plan 2004
Abstract
There have been two separate but related transformations of the U.S. military over the past decade that will continue for the foreseeable future. The first is the transformation from an industrial age force to an information age force. Vase leaps to information technology in the areas of intelligence, surveillance, and command and control, as well as precision kinetic and non-kinetic weapons, are dramatically reshaping warfare. Before long, Joint Force Commanders will be able to select the precise targets necessary to achieve desired effects and focus on the quality, rather than the quantity, of targets attacked. They will be able to identify an adversary's key centers of gravity and relay that information to combat forces in near real-time to attack and destroy the centers gravity in the particular sequence that will be the most devastating to the adversary. Put another way, the joint commander will swiftly defeat an adversary effort by disabling its ability to operate rather than destroying it through mass attrition producing the effects of mass without having to mass forces (air, ground, or naval). In turn, this will require the deployment of fewer forces (which would also enhance rapid global mobility), reduce the length of the conflict, and limit collateral damage and casualties. Some refer to this as the ongoing "revolution in military affairs." In the context of air and space operations, the keys to threat avoidance and applying the right force to the right place at the right time are the closely related concepts of parallel warfare and effects-based operations (EBO).
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jul 01, 2004
- Accession Number
- ADA440807
Entities
People
- John Pemot
- Mort Rolleston
- Tim Keeports
Organizations
- United States Department of the Air Force