Knowledge-Based Warfare: A Security Strategy for the Next Century
Abstract
Supporting a National Security Strategy of Engagement and Enlargement requires that we have robust and versatile forces that can, in the words of the Bottom-Up Review (BUR), "credibly deter and, if required, decisively defeat aggression . . . by projecting and sustaining U.S. power in two nearly simultaneous major regional conflicts (MRCs)." This presents the dilemma of how to sustain the BUR-required capability in the near term while recapitalizing forces for the future in an era of fixed or declining resources and rapidly changing technology. The situation is exacerbated by continuing commitments to operations other than war. In addition to consuming recapitalization resources, such operations test a hedge strategy which is implicit in preparing for major regional conflicts through a pattern of force employment in other types of conflicts. Official and independent studies reveal a mismatch between the size of the BUR force and projected funding levels to recapitalize the Armed Forces for the next century. The $242.6 billion authorization for FY97 continues the ten-year trend in reduced procurement, a 70 percent decline, and an overall budget reduction of 45 percent. Gone is the Cold War strategy that so readily lent itself to quantitative, comparative determinations of force requirements.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 1996
- Accession Number
- ADA525577
Entities
People
- Earl W. Powers
- Irving L. Halter
- Lawrence E. Casper
- Paul J. Selva
- T. L. Willis
- Thomas W. Steffens
Organizations
- National Defense University