STAR 21 Strategic Technologies for the Army of the Twenty-First Century (1992) / Chapter Skim
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1 Introduction
1 Introduction
Pages 24-41
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From page 24... ...
The initiating request delineated three specific objectives of the study: · Identify the advanced technologies most likely to be important to ground warfare in the twenty-first century. · Suggest strategies for the Army to consider in developing the full potential of these technologies.
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From page 25... ...
Chapter 5 responds to the second point of the STAR request by suggesting a technology management strategy for the Army. The strategy calls for focusing on technology implementations in each of the five high-impact functions from Chapter 2.
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From page 26... ...
armed forces recently completed one of the most successful campaigns in military history. After 40 days of air war, the 100hour ground campaign that climaxed Operation Desert Storm liberated Kuwait by defeating a heavily armored and well-entrenched opponent.
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From page 27... ...
Some of the defenserelated implications of this political and economic interdependence can already be glimpsed in the joint coalition operations and cost sharing that accompanied Desert Shield and Desert Storm. Another highly relevant element of this new order is the continuing and burgeoning reach of technology into every facet of civilian life.
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From page 28... ...
These options will build on the advances of the past few decades in such areas as microelectronic devices, new kinds of materials and their fabrication techniques, computer hardware and software, data storage and display techniques, medical science applications based on biotechnology and radically improved instrumentation, and understanding of social behavior and learning. The 1970s were the decade of the simple microcircuit chip and the large central processors, or mainframes, it made possible.
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From page 29... ...
The Changing Military Obligations of the Army To the members of the STAR Committee, military operations in the Persian Gulf war, Panama, and Grenada represent remarkably well the wide gamut of rapid-response contingency operations to be expected for the next decades. In addition, of course, the Army must be prepared to expand its capability to meet the potential resurgence of an adversarial major power.
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From page 30... ...
The shift of attention from a large central war to limited contingency operations also brings a change in acceptance of casualties, within the military itself and in political support from the country at large. The Army must arm itself and plan for fighting limited combat missions with predictably low casualties to U.S.
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From page 31... ...
The explicit use of technology to achieve cost containment (and thus be able to field more equipment per scarce dollar) may be one of the most important considerations for Army technology management.
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From page 32... ...
The use of the Civil Reserve Air Fleet during Desert Shield operations indicates but does not fully realize this potential. Were new systems to be more oriented toward air transport in wartime, the STAR Committee believes Army capability could be greatly increased at a substantially decreased cost.
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From page 33... ...
The designs of major platforms, for example, must allow retrofit with newer, more advanced components and subsystems, rather than delaying all improvement until the next-generation platform is fielded. · To augment the Army's own funding for technology R&D, seek sponsorship from the Strategic Defense Initiative Organization (SDIO)
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From page 34... ...
Project Reliance implements a greater degree of interservice dependence when requirements of the various services are at all similar. The less coordinated efforts by the services to exploit directed energy for antisensor weapons provide an excellent current example of a case in which all the services would benefit from consolidated technology development and coherent central direction.
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From page 35... ...
However, it is up to the Army to set its own sights on the future and, in particular, to have a program that responds to the globalization of the technology base on which it depends. CHARACTERISTICS OF THE THREATS To prepare for its task, the STAR Technology Management and Development Planning Subcommittee began by evaluating the likely circumstances in which the Army might need to use its technology during the coming decades.
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From page 36... ...
The plausible potential threats during the next three decades appear to be so varied that planning should not be based on the selection of one or two specific scenarios. Force structure $"W stanceoi~s \ Support irorn A\\\es \ prOx,rnttY °B\aJsses> I, \ v°~ FIGURE 1-4 Spectrum of potential contingency operations.
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From page 37... ...
"In-kind" retaliation will remain inappropriate for a number of reasons, but strategies to neutralize such threats will be needed. · The operational performance of combat units and individual soldiers will become even more important in a world situation where both sides have access to an international market in advanced weapons technology.
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From page 38... ...
The Army must be able to reconfigure itself rapidly and on demand into operating elements with maximum deployed combat effectiveness for the range of potential threats. Mobilization of reserves, and even reconstitution of a force structure to fight a major war, should be planned along a continuum of response that begins at small-scale contingencies (such as Grenada)
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From page 39... ...
An increased emphasis on real-time combat interdependence will probably require modifications in many areas, including joint command, control, communication, and intelligence (C3I) ; weapon systems design; logistics; and fighting doctrine.
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From page 40... ...
During this same three-decade period, today's concepts of air-land battle and high-speed maneuver became possible only by inserting new technology into heavy armored forces. The lightning left hook of the Army's heavy divisions in Operation Desert Storm demonstrated how speed, agility, accurate fire control at high speed, infrared target acquisition, and vastly improved armor have altered the
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From page 41... ...
The implementation strategy, focal values, and other technology management changes recommended by the STAR Committee are offered in the hope of regaining an environment that will attract and encourage a new generation, to ensure the technological dominance of U.S arms into the twenty-first century.
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