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"Air Force basic doctrine asserts that the precise application of force can reliably generate desired, discriminate effects at the strategic level of war. A deconstruction of that assertion reveals three necessary assumptions: the ability to clearly define desired discriminate effects at the strategic level of war, the ability to trace the desired discriminate effects back to a triggering action, and the ability to ensure that the actual effects generated by the triggering action are only the discriminate ones being sought. This paper presents evidence that these assumptions suffer from important conceptual weaknesses that are amplified when examined from the perspective of nonlinear and complex systems. Further evidence suggests that technological fixes are not likely to resolve these weaknesses nor produce the strategic efficiencies implied by the doctrinal concept. In fact, such fixes could increase the potential for small errors to combine in unexpected ways to create a system accident, where outcomes diverge in significant and undesirable ways from the intended discriminate strategic effect. This paper cautions against using the term "precision" in ways that imply congruency between technology and war, and recommends that doctrine clearly differentiate technical exactness from strategic correctness. It concludes that effect-based approaches can foreclose adversary option sets with far more reliability than compelling specific, predetermined behaviors, and it emphasizes the need to ensure that adaptation remains a fundamental feature of any effects-based concept."--Abstract.
This second edition of Military Strategy, Joint Operations, and Airpower introduces contemporary strategy at the operational level of war. Developed as foundational reading for all US Air Force Academy cadets, this textbook is designed to close the gap between military theory and practice.
The Art of Maneuver is an important theoretical study of an issue that is currently the subject of much discussion in professional military journals and symposia.
Several nations are engaging in development and production of directed energy weapons. Recent scientific advances now enable the production of lethal lasers and high-powered microwaves. The current growth and development in this emerging area strongly suggests that directed energy weapons of lethal power will reach the battlefield before 2010. Since proliferation of lower power laser weapons has already happened, it is likely that proliferation of high power or high energy weapons will occur as well. This paper expands on this development and posits potential impacts on a plausible future battlefield, developed in part from the Alternate Futures of AF 2025, where all comers deploy lethal directed energy technologies. From these impacts, which span doctrine, organization, force structure, and systems design, this paper recommends changes to better posture the United States for this potential future.
During the Cold War the United States developed the Trident class ballistic missile submarine (SSBN) to replace the aging fleet of forty-one Poseidon ballistic missile submarines. Each of the eighteen Trident class submarines built to carry the mantle of strategic nuclear deterrence was extremely large and quiet with tubes for twenty-four ballistic missiles. Following the breakup of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War, the United States conducted a review of its nuclear posture, which determined that only fourteen of these submarines were necessary to meet the needs of U.S. national security. Since these submarines are due for nuclear core refueling and overhaul and thus are no longer required to support U.S. nuclear policy, these submarines will be deactivated or refueled and converted to other purposes. These submarines are only halfway through their design life of forty-two years, and once refueled could be used for other missions. Furthermore, their large size makes these ships a prime candidate for conversion to a large variety of missions that require space, stealth, and endurance, This excess capability has convinced the U.S. Navy that it should develop a concept for converting the first four Trident class ballistic missile submarines into guided missile submarines (SSGN). This program would equip these submarines both for cruise missile operations and as special operations force insertion platforms. Each submarine could carry more than 100 Tomahawk cruise missiles and up to sixty-six special operations personnel with dual Dry Deck Shelter or two Advanced SEAL Delivery System mini-submarines for SEAL deployment.
Hyperspectral Imagery, or HSI, is a sophisticated, versatile intelligence gathering technology that could potentially enable the US military to make significant strides towards improving the preparation for and execution of its missions. Many of the difficulties in bringing the promise of HSI to fruition have very little to do with the technology itself. As will be discussed shortly, HSI technology has been successfully demonstrated in a variety of diverse applications. In point of fact, it is the versatility of HSI that may be hindering its implementation into the mainstream of the U.S. military's intelligence gathering capability. The objective of this paper is threefold. The first goal is to introduce the reader to both the technology itself and the myriad potential applications of Hyperspectral Imagery. The second goal is to realistically examine the challenges that HSI must overcome, specifically in the areas of how HSI fits into the world of joint vision, intelligence doctrine, and the intelligence cycle. Finally, the paper will provide a series of recommendations some focused on organizational issues and others on acquisition issues that will address the majority of the challenges faced by the intelligence community as they endeavor to incorporate an HSI capability into the U.S. intelligence community.
Hyperspectral Imagery, or HSI, is a sophisticated, versatile intelligence gathering technology that could potentially enable the US military to make significant strides towards improving the preparation for and execution of its missions. Many of the difficulties in bringing the promise of HSI to fruition have very little to do with the technology itself. As will be discussed shortly, HSI technology has been successfully demonstrated in a variety of diverse applications. In point of fact, it is the versatility of HSI that may be hindering its implementation into the mainstream of the U.S. military's intelligence gathering capability. The objective of this paper is threefold. The first goal is to introduce the reader to both the technology itself and the myriad potential applications of Hyperspectral Imagery. The second goal is to realistically examine the challenges that HSI must overcome, specifically in the areas of how HSI fits into the world of joint vision, intelligence doctrine, and the intelligence cycle. Finally, the paper will provide a series of recommendations some focused on organizational issues and others on acquisition issues that will address the majority of the challenges faced by the intelligence community as they endeavor to incorporate an HSI capability into the U.S. intelligence community.