The New Maskirovka Countering US Rapid Decisive Operations in the 21st Century

Abstract

By attacking American knowledge through deliberate, broad based misinformation (Maskirovka), future enemies can counter US attempts at RDO and achieve victory through a prolonged campaign. Current visions that will shape the US military over the next twenty years indicate that the future force will consist of lighter, rapidly deployable forces that will leverage precision and stealth as force multipliers. Using the new information technologies as an enabler, future joint forces will be tailored to specific contingencies and will employ the doctrinal concepts of precision engagement, dominant maneuver, focused logistics and full dimensional protection to accomplish its objectives under an overarching warfighting concept: Rapid Decisive Operations (RDO). The key enabler of this overarching concept is the achievement of decision superiority gained through knowledge attained in a cognitive process. This study proposes that such a warfighting construct can be effectively countered through a deliberate, long-term effort to attack the cognitive process and manipulate knowledge. Portraying western-style information operations as limited and inadequate, the analysis suggests that an effort reminiscent of Soviet style maskirovka would be necessary to be effective against a future US RDO effort. Though by no means easy to implement comprehensively, the study contends that a maskirovka effort, imbedded within an appropriate warfighting strategy, could counter the future US military with devastating success. Future US forces must be flexible enough to contend with unexpected circumstances. As such, the concepts of information superiority and decision superiority should be considered useful tools for a future joint force, not the cornerstone upon which the force is designed

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
May 01, 2002
Accession Number
ADA508744

Entities

People

  • R. M. Janiczek

Organizations

  • Marine Corps University

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • C4I
  • Cyber
  • Human Systems
  • Materials and Manufacturing Processes
  • Space

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force
  • Casualties
  • Civil War
  • Cognition
  • Collateral Damage
  • Command And Control
  • Deception
  • Force Structure
  • Information Operations
  • Information Systems
  • Information Warfare
  • Maneuvers
  • Marine Corps
  • Military Operations
  • Military Organizations
  • United States
  • Warfare

Readers

  • Joint Military Operations and Doctrine.
  • Strategic Security Studies
  • Systems Analysis and Design