The opening of each combat domain will inevitably lead to a new round of changes in combat methods. Driven by the new round of scientific and technological revolution and industrial revolution characterized by intelligence, ubiquity and integration, emerging combat domains such as space, cyberspace, electromagnetic spectrum, and cognitive space have an increasing impact on future operations. The concept of “multi-domain combat” has emerged through cross-domain collaboration with traditional land, sea, and air combat domains to achieve complementary advantages and system efficiency, and is becoming a new combat theory that adapts to the evolution of war forms.
The concept of “multi-domain combat” was first proposed by the US military. Subsequently, the United Kingdom, France, and other NATO member states have developed the concept of “multi-domain combat” in different forms. Israel was the first to apply the concept of “multi-domain operations” in actual combat. The Russian army innovatively proposed its own “multi-domain operations” theory from the perspective of its opponents. At present, the concept of “multi-domain operations” has become an important concept that triggers a new round of changes and transformations in foreign military operations.
The concept of “multi-domain operations” is a new operational concept first proposed by the US Army and jointly promoted by other services based on the changes in operational methods in the information age.
The US military believes that the winning mechanism of the concept of “multi-domain operations” is to form multiple advantages in a specific time window through the rapid and continuous integration of all war domains (land, sea, air, space, and cyberspace) and force the enemy into a dilemma. The U.S. Army proposed to be guided by the idea of ”global integrated operations” and the concept of “cross-domain collaboration”, and strive to form an asymmetric advantage in future wars through “multi-domain operations”. The multi-domain task force (brigade level) will be the core combat force of the U.S. Army to implement multi-domain operations, integrating artillery, land-based tactical missiles, land aviation, cyberspace, electromagnetic spectrum, space and air defense forces, and forming multi-domain combat capabilities through cross-domain mixed formations. The U.S. Air Force actively responded to the concept of “multi-domain operations”, focused on building a joint combat command and control system, proposed the concept of multi-domain command and control, and focused on developing advanced combat management systems, sinking multi-domain operations to the tactical level to improve the agility and cross-domain collaboration capabilities of future operations. The U.S. Navy has absorbed the core idea of the “multi-domain combat” concept, proposed to build an “integrated global maritime military force”, focused on developing the “distributed lethality” combat concept, and proposed to strengthen the design and exercise of global combat.
The U.S. Department of Defense and the Joint Chiefs of Staff have gathered the ideas and mechanisms of the new combat concept of “multi-domain combat” of the military services, and proposed the top-level concept of “global combat”, aiming to form a new round of asymmetric advantages, lead the transformation of combat methods and military transformation. The global combat concept is centered on joint global command and control, aiming to integrate traditional combat domains with space, cyberspace, electromagnetic spectrum, air defense and anti-missile and cognitive domain capabilities, and compete with global competitors in a full-spectrum environment. It is reported that the concept is still in its infancy and is undergoing theoretical deepening, experimental verification, exercise evaluation and doctrine transformation, and is constantly enriching its conceptual core through multiple work lines. Among them, the US Joint Chiefs of Staff leads the transformation of concepts into policies, doctrines and requirements; the Air Force promotes the concept to maturity by developing advanced combat management systems, the Army by implementing the “Convergence Project”, and the Navy by launching the “Transcendence Project”. The US theater supports the development of multi-domain combat concepts and multi-domain combat modes through war games, project demonstrations and joint exercises.
Based on the perspective of reference and integration, NATO countries such as the United Kingdom actively participated in the development and testing of the US military’s “multi-domain operations” concept, and revised the operational concept in combination with actual conditions.
The British Ministry of Defense proposed the concept of “multi-domain integration”, which is consistent with the concept mechanism of the US military’s “multi-domain operations”, focusing on integrating operations in different domains and at different levels, preparing for the development of a joint force and maintaining competitive advantages in 2030 and beyond. The British Ministry of Defense pointed out that “integrating capabilities in different domains and at different levels through information systems, creating and utilizing synergies to gain relative advantages is the winning mechanism of the multi-domain integration concept.” The concept emphasizes gaining information advantages, shaping strategic postures, building a multi-domain combat environment, and creating and utilizing synergies. The concept raises four specific issues: how to provide an advantage over rivals by 2030 and beyond through “multi-domain integration”; how to achieve cross-domain integration of the Ministry of Defense in cooperation with allies, governments and civilian departments; how to solve the policy issues involved in the concept of “multi-domain integration”; how to promote research on defense concepts, capabilities and war development. With this as a starting point, the British Army has launched a multi-faceted, step-by-step, and systematic military transformation.
Other NATO countries are also jointly developing and innovatively applying the concept of “multi-domain operations” to varying degrees, and promoting the transformation and implementation of the concept of “multi-domain operations” in the form of joint exercises and allied cooperation. In 2019, the US Army led the “Joint Operational Assessment (2019)” exercise, which aimed to assess the combat capabilities of the Indo-Pacific Command’s multi-domain task force. Forces from France, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and other countries formed a multinational task force to participate in the exercise, which assessed the multi-domain combat concepts, formations and capabilities in the combat environment from 2025 to 2028. In October 2019, the NATO Joint Air Power Competition Center held a meeting on “Shaping NATO’s Future Multi-Domain Combat Posture”. In order to shape NATO’s future multi-domain combat posture, it explored and studied military thinking, multi-domain combat forces, multi-domain combat operations and training joint forces. In June 2020, the NATO Command and Control Center of Excellence released a white paper on the Multi-Domain Operations Command and Control Demonstration Platform, which aims to respond to threats and challenges in multiple operational domains with a decentralized, data-driven integrated environment by bridging the command and control gap between technology and operators, tactics and campaign levels, and academia and the military.
Based on the perspective of its opponents, the Russian army seeks a way to crack it on the one hand, and on the other hand, based on the winning mechanism of “cross-domain operations”, it combines its own characteristics to innovate combat theories
After the US military proposed the concept of “multi-domain operations”, the Russian army actively sought a way to crack it based on its own security interests. In December 2020, the Russian magazine “Air and Space Power Theory and Practice” published an article titled “Argument for the Use of Aviation Power to Break the Enemy’s Large-Scale Joint Air Strikes in Multi-Domain Operations”, which stated that large-scale joint air strikes are the initial stage for NATO countries to implement multi-domain operations. Large-scale coordinated operations will be carried out against Russia’s most important key facilities, creating conditions for subsequent decisive actions by NATO joint armed forces. The Russian army must comprehensively use the reconnaissance and strike system composed of the aviation forces of the theater forces to cause unbearable losses to the enemy, break its large-scale joint air strikes, and force NATO’s initial stage goals of multi-domain operations to fail to be achieved, causing NATO’s political and military leadership to abandon the attempt to continue to implement multi-domain operations.
On the other hand, the Russian army proposed the “military unified information space” theory for the new combat method of “cross-domain combat”. Its core idea is: to use modern information technology to establish a networked command and control system to achieve the deep integration of the army’s command, communication, reconnaissance, firepower, support and other elements, thereby improving the battlefield situation perception capability and combat command efficiency. The Russian military continues to promote theoretical development around the realization of cross-domain combat capabilities: first, relying on the unified information space of the army to establish a network-centric command model; second, introducing artificial intelligence into the command and control system to achieve the unification of the physical domain and the cognitive domain; third, developing network, space and underwater combat forces to gain advantages in emerging combat fields; fourth, establishing a unified military standard system to enhance the interoperability of forces and weapons. The Russian military has not completely absorbed the Western concept of “multi-domain combat”, nor has it completely denied the beneficial elements of the Western “multi-domain combat”, but has combined its own absorption of some advanced combat ideas of “multi-domain combat” to enrich its own unique combat theory.
Based on the perspective of combat needs, Israel took the lead in applying the concept of “multi-domain combat” on the Gaza battlefield, and used the multi-domain combat force “Ghost” as the main combat force.
The Israeli army believes that multi-domain joint combat is an inevitable trend in the development of future wars. For Israel, which mainly relies on ground combat, by integrating land, air, cyberspace, electromagnetic spectrum and sea elite forces, it can quickly identify, track and destroy enemy targets, and further improve the lethality of the Israeli army. This concept is in line with the concept of “multi-domain combat” proposed by the US Army. Under the guidance of this concept, the Israeli army formed the “Ghost” force and took the lead in actual combat testing on the Gaza battlefield. In the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in May 2021, Israel used the “Ghost” combat battalion for the first time to implement multi-domain operations in the code-named “Wall Guardian” operation against Hamas, which was called the world’s first “artificial intelligence war”. The Israeli army mainly relied on machine learning and data collection in this war, and artificial intelligence became a key component of combat and a force multiplier for the first time. In the operation to clear the Hamas tunnel network, the Israeli army used big data fusion technology to pre-identify and target, and then dispatched 160 fighter jets to carry out precise strikes, which greatly destroyed the Hamas tunnel network and achieved air control over the ground; in the attack on Hamas rocket launchers, the Israeli fighter pilots, ground intelligence forces and naval forces used command and control systems to quickly find targets and carry out real-time precise strikes, quickly shaping a favorable battle situation.
According to the Israeli army, the “Ghost” force is very different from traditional forces in terms of combat organization, weapon configuration and combat methods. The unit is temporarily organized under the 98th Paratrooper Division of Israel, including the brigade reconnaissance battalion, the ground forces of the Paratrooper Brigade, the armored brigade, the engineering corps, the special forces, the F-16 squadron and the Apache helicopter, as well as the “Heron” drone and other multi-domain combat forces. Through the use of multi-domain sensors and precision strike weapons, cross-domain maneuvers and strikes are achieved, “changing the battlefield situation in a very short time”. The battalion was established in July 2019. Although it is a ground force, it integrates multi-domain combat forces such as air strikes, network reconnaissance, precision firepower, electronic confrontation, intelligence interconnection and maritime assault. It is a battalion-level combat unit with division-level combat capabilities. After its establishment, the unit has continuously improved its multi-domain integration and cross-domain strike capabilities through exercises, and has quickly exerted two major functions with the support of the newly developed artificial intelligence technology platform: one is to serve as an elite weapon on the battlefield and fight in an asymmetric manner; the other is to serve as a test unit to continuously innovate and develop new combat concepts, combat theories and technical equipment, and to promote successful experiences to other units at any time.
At present, accelerating the development of military intelligence is becoming a consensus among the world’s superpowers. Artificial intelligence technology is accelerating its penetration into the military field and has become an important driving force for military reform. It will inevitably give rise to new combat styles and change the internal mechanism of war. We should firmly grasp the new quality growth point of military intelligence to enhance the combat effectiveness of the army, organically integrate military theory, science and technology, and military applications, intelligently upgrade traditional combat fields, and innovate combat concepts, so that the “intelligent factor” radiates from weapons and equipment to all aspects of military construction, and focus on breakthroughs in key areas such as military theory systems, command information systems, unmanned combat systems, comprehensive support systems, and new combat forces, and promote the reshaping, reconstruction, transformation and upgrading of combat systems.
Artificial intelligence stimulates new developments in theory
When new military technologies, operational concepts, and organizational structures interact to significantly enhance military operational capabilities, they will promote new military changes. The increasingly widespread application of artificial intelligence in the military field is becoming an important driver of military change, thereby giving rise to new operational styles and changing the internal mechanism of winning wars.
Innovative combat theory. New disruptive technologies in the field of intelligence have opened up new space for innovation in military theory. Integrating precision strike ammunition and unmanned equipment into the network information system will give rise to new intelligent combat theories such as “distributed killing”, “multi-domain warfare”, “combat cloud”, “swarm tactics”, and “intelligent security warfare”; combining intelligent technology with information dominance theory, relying on one’s own information advantages and decision-making advantages, cutting off and delaying the opponent’s information and decision-making loops in the decentralized battlefield network will become the key to winning intelligent warfare. Enrich combat styles. With the development and maturity of intelligent technology and the large-scale deployment of unmanned autonomous combat platforms, unmanned combat will become a disruptive new combat style that dominates future battlefields. Infiltrate the entire process of warfare with intelligent elements, use intelligent perception, intelligent decision-making, intelligent control, and unmanned platforms to innovate the combat process. Use unmanned systems and manned systems in coordination, cluster and plan the use of unmanned combat platforms to enrich combat styles. Expand combat forces. The widespread application of intelligent systems and unmanned combat platforms will further enrich the connotation of new combat forces, and various “mixed” new combat forces will be applied on the battlefield. With the construction and application of the Internet of Things, big data, and cloud computing technologies in the military field, new combat forces such as space and networks will play an increasingly important role in future wars.
Accelerate the intelligent upgrade of command systems
The intelligence of command information systems is the key to achieving a leap forward in combat command means and forming decision-making advantages. In future wars, the battlefield space will be unprecedentedly expanded, the elements of war will be extremely rich, the tempo of confrontation will be significantly accelerated, and the combat system will change dynamically. There is an urgent need for the in-depth application of intelligent technology in battlefield perception, command decision-making, and human-computer interaction.
In terms of intelligent perception, intelligent sensing and networking technologies are adopted to widely and rapidly deploy various intelligent perception nodes, conduct active collaborative detection for tasks, and build a transparent and visible digital combat environment. Relying on technologies such as data mining and knowledge graphs, intelligent processing in aspects such as multi-source intelligence fusion and battlefield situation analysis is carried out to dispel the fog of war, analyze the enemy’s combat intentions, and predict the development of the battle situation. In terms of intelligent decision-making, by constructing combat model rules, using actuarial, detailed, deep and expert reasoning methods, commanders are assisted in making quick decisions in multi-level planning and ad hoc handling of strategies, campaigns, tactics, etc.; using machine learning, neural network and other technologies to create a “command brain” to learn and apply the laws of war and the art of command in terms of planning, strategy planning, and battle situation control, and expand the wisdom of commanders with machine intelligence. In terms of intelligent interaction, we comprehensively utilize intelligent interaction technologies such as feature recognition, semantic understanding, virtual augmented reality, holographic touch, and brain-computer interface to summarize and analyze the behavioral characteristics of commanders, build new human-computer interaction environments such as holographic projection digital sandbox, immersive battlefield perception command, and wearable smart devices, and provide intelligent means to support commanders in perceiving the battlefield and controlling the battle situation.
Build an intelligent unmanned combat system
Intelligent unmanned combat systems are a new trend in the development of future war equipment. The core is to aim at the requirements of “zero casualties”, “full coverage” and “quick response” in future wars, make full use of the development results of new theories, new materials, new processes, new energy and new technologies, and continuously make breakthroughs in human-machine collaboration and autonomous action, build a new type of intelligent unmanned army on a large scale, and realize the systematic collaborative combat of unmanned combat systems.
In terms of human-machine collaboration, relying on the integrated space-ground information network, self-organizing network and collaborative interaction technology, we will open up the human-machine interaction link and establish a manned-unmanned collaboration system of “human-led, machine-assisted, mixed formation, and joint action”. Facing complex combat missions and the global battlefield environment, we will strengthen the research on mechanisms and technologies such as safe and reliable information transmission, precise and efficient behavior control, and highly coordinated human-machine mixing to achieve highly compatible human-machine collaborative combat. In terms of autonomous action, relying on mission planning, distributed computing and intelligent networking technologies, research and develop unmanned combat systems and cluster formation technologies with fast response speed, strong adaptability, high reliability, flexible organization plan and reasonable action planning. They can fully respond to various changes in terrain, weather, disasters, damage, etc., and intelligently and dynamically adjust movement posture, travel route, firepower use, energy distribution, self-healing and self-destruction strategies to realize the replacement of humans by intelligent machines, expand the combat space, and avoid casualties.
Before troops move, support comes first. On the intelligent battlefield, the realization of comprehensive support for joint operations is an important factor that directly affects the combat effectiveness of troops. The development of intelligent technology will inevitably trigger revolutionary changes in the construction of the joint combat support system and realize intelligent comprehensive support.
In terms of political work, we will make full use of technologies such as social networks, personnel profiling, public opinion monitoring, sentiment analysis, and behavior prediction to build an intelligent political work system covering battlefield control, public opinion and legal struggle, social situation monitoring, personnel relationship analysis, personnel ideological trends, human resource management and other businesses, to provide support for exploring new approaches, new carriers, and new models for ideological and political work. In terms of after-sales support, by using technologies such as the Internet of Things, drones, smart cars, remote surgery, and 3D printing, we have upgraded and built an intelligent after-sales support system covering intelligent warehousing, intelligent delivery, intelligent maintenance, and intelligent medical care, to achieve automatic, rapid, and accurate supply of battlefield after-sales materials, rapid diagnosis and repair of equipment failures, and timely rescue of battlefield personnel, turning passive support into active services, and improving the overall efficiency and effectiveness of after-sales support. In terms of combat training, by comprehensively using technologies such as cloud computing, virtual reality, simulated confrontation, and adjudication and evaluation, we have created an integrated training platform for “guidance, control, adjudication, evaluation, and management”, an intelligent virtual blue army, and an immersive training environment to support tactics and strategy training, equipment skills training, and joint confrontation exercises.
Exploring the intelligent combat force system
The new intelligent combat force system is a comprehensive product of the development of artificial intelligence technology, the formation of new-quality combat power and the evolution of war forms. It is the “killer hand” for seizing the initiative in the future global combat space, the key to forming an integrated joint combat system, and a new growth point for our military’s combat power.
Focus on new battlefields. The combat space of the new era has expanded from the traditional battlefield space to new battlefields such as space, the Internet, and spiritual will, and gradually extended to various fields of human activities and ideology. New combat forces such as rapid response satellites, network autonomous security, brain-controlled weapons, and genetic weapons are being integrated into the combat system. Military intelligence plays an increasingly important role in new combat styles such as space warfare, network warfare, mind warfare, and biological warfare. Pay attention to new technologies. Intelligent space-based weapon systems, with outer space as the battlefield, will help achieve the struggle for control of the sky; based on autonomous network intelligent security technology, it will help achieve a network security confrontation with integrated offense and defense and dynamic defense; brain control technology will help to attack the enemy’s spirit, nerves and mind; intelligent means may also accelerate the development of genetic weapons in some countries. Military intelligence is integrating into all aspects of the military field at an unprecedented speed, breadth and depth, deconstructing and reshaping the traditional appearance of war presented to the world. We must plan ahead to be invincible.
Laying a solid foundation for the development of intelligent military
The construction of military intelligence is a large and complex systematic project. Accelerating the development of military intelligence requires advanced theories as support, institutional mechanism construction as guarantee, technological breakthroughs as the starting point, and talent team building as the source of motivation.
Establish a collaborative innovation mechanism for military-civilian integration. The rapid development of intelligent technology has become an accelerator for military intelligence. In the information age, the boundaries between military and civilian technologies are becoming increasingly blurred, and their convertibility is becoming increasingly stronger. Actively establish a collaborative innovation mechanism for military-civilian integration, continuously strengthen the driving force of military core technologies, build an open industry-university-research collaborative innovation system for the whole society, make forward-looking arrangements for core cutting-edge technologies such as artificial intelligence, support investment, give full play to the innovation power of the entire society, and promote the rapid and sustainable development of military intelligence. Accelerate the advancement of technological breakthroughs in key areas. We must focus on relevant key technology areas and break the technical bottlenecks that restrict the development of military intelligence. On the one hand, we should strengthen research in the basic support areas of military intelligence, such as military big data and military Internet of Things; on the other hand, based on battlefield needs, we should strengthen research on intelligent application technologies in various combat elements, especially intelligent command decision-making, intelligent weapon platforms, and intelligent battlefield perception. We should vigorously build a team of high-quality talents. Military intelligence places higher demands on the quality of people. Only the effective combination of high-quality personnel and intelligent weapons can maximize combat effectiveness. To accelerate the development of military intelligence, we should explore the training rules of relevant talents, make full use of military and local education resources, increase the training of relevant talents, and provide solid intellectual support and talent guarantee for promoting the construction of military intelligence.
Operational coordination is a key element in achieving systemic operations, releasing overall effectiveness, and achieving operational objectives in modern warfare. In recent years, with the breakthrough progress of military science and technology represented by artificial intelligence, the enabling and efficiency-enhancing role of science and technology has become more prominent. While profoundly changing the form of war and combat style, it has also spawned a new mode of operational coordination – autonomous coordination. At present, we should scientifically grasp the opportunities and challenges of the new military revolution, dynamically coordinate the development trend of autonomous coordination, and thus promote the accelerated transformation and upgrading of combat methods.
Transforming towards intelligent empowerment and autonomous collaboration
Future wars will be all-round confrontations between the two sides using “people + intelligent equipment”. Limited by military technology, system platforms, combat capabilities, etc., traditional combat coordination has been difficult to adapt to the modern battlefield where opportunities are fleeting due to limitations such as periodic solidification and low fault tolerance. With the strong support of advanced technical means such as artificial intelligence and big data, the autonomy and automation level of combat coordination will be greatly improved, and autonomous coordination under intelligent empowerment will also become the key to defeating the enemy.
Wide-area ubiquitous collaboration. In recent years, the in-depth development of communication technology and intelligent technology, the accumulation of data, algorithms, and computing power have promoted the interconnection and aggregation of people, machines, objects, and energy, and extended the military Internet of Things to many fields such as situational awareness, command and control, information and fire strikes, and after-sales support. While promoting the iterative upgrade of combat capabilities, it also provides more options for modern combat collaboration. It can be foreseen that the military Internet of Things will shine on future battlefields. It is not only a key infrastructure to support combat operations, but also a joint hub to maintain combat collaboration. With this as a basis, it will give rise to ubiquitous operations with wide-area dispersion of forces, organizational modules, and highly coordinated actions, which are omnipresent, ubiquitous, and uncontrolled and autonomous.
Deep collaboration between humans and machines. In the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the Azerbaijani army built a strong battlefield advantage with the advantage of drones, and to some extent, it also announced the debut of “robot war”. In future wars, unmanned combat forces such as drones, unmanned vehicles, and unmanned ships are accelerating from backstage support and guarantee to front-line combat, and are beginning to play the “protagonist” of the battlefield. Compared with traditional combat coordination, manned and unmanned intelligent coordination presents the characteristics of “decentralization” of combat command, “de-division of labor” in the combat process, high-end skill operation, and fuzzification of the front and rear, and emphasizes human-machine collaboration and algorithm victory. Especially in recent years, intelligent unmanned clusters have emerged and begun to strongly impact the modern battlefield. In the face of these new situations and changes, cluster formation algorithms, formation control algorithms, and complex scene optimization algorithms should be used in a coordinated manner to promote unmanned and manned networking communications and intelligent coordination, promote the integrated operation of intelligence chain, command chain, mobility chain, strike chain, and support chain, and accelerate the generation of precise enemy comprehensive combat capabilities.
Digital intelligence drives collaboration. The traditional combat coordination model under progressive command is no longer able to adapt to the multi-dimensional fast pace of modern warfare. In future wars, intelligence is the key and data is king. The deep integration of big data, cloud computing, and artificial intelligence has realized the storage, analysis, integration, and application of massive battlefield data, making command and control more scientific and combat coordination more efficient. With powerful resource integration, computing processing, and data analysis capabilities, battlefield intelligence can be quickly integrated, battlefield situation can be perceived in real time, coordination plans can be efficiently formulated, and threat levels can be instantly assessed. The prediction of combat operations, the dissection of typical scenarios, the deployment of combat forces, and the allocation of combat resources can be coordinated as a whole, thereby comprehensively improving the comprehensive quality and efficiency of command and control, firepower strikes, and comprehensive support, and promoting revolutionary changes in combat coordination.
Evolving towards multi-domain linkage and autonomous collaboration
In future wars, the participating forces will be complex and diverse, weapons and equipment will be matched at different levels, and combat methods will be used in a mixed manner, showing distinct characteristics such as intelligent dynamic dispersion of combat command, intelligent wide-area deployment of combat forces, and intelligent dynamic differentiation of combat tasks. It can be foreseen that multi-domain linkage and autonomous coordination will become an important component of combat coordination.
System self-reshapes coordination. In future wars, the multi-domain battlefield space will be a combination of virtual and real, various military operations will interact, and constraints and collaboration will be randomly transformed. Only by adopting an engineered and systematic organizational model can we adapt to the complex multi-domain coordination needs. The essence of this coordination model is to form a wide-area holographic support framework for system self-reshape coordination. Specifically, it is to highlight the concept of system combat, and to solve the practical contradictions such as organizational system construction, institutional mechanism establishment, and coordination rule formulation from an overall perspective; to pay more attention to the system integration effect, and to achieve beyond-visual-range combat and cross-domain coordinated combat of combat units from a wide area; to emphasize efficient and flexible command, to refine the command relationship from various dimensions, and to clarify the command responsibilities; to pay more attention to data precision drive, to integrate network system platforms at all levels, and to establish a dynamic optimization network for detection, control, attack, evaluation and protection tasks. Once this coordination model is formed, it will undoubtedly be able to study and predict typical confrontation scenarios, dynamically select action coordination links, and plan combat operations in various fields in an integrated manner according to the combat environment, combat opponents, and combat tasks.
Tactical adaptive coordination. Local wars and conflicts in recent years have repeatedly shown that the complexity and systemicity of combat coordination have increased exponentially due to the extension of combat data information to the tactical level. Only by achieving efficient processing, integration and sharing of combat data information can adaptive and autonomous coordination between combat users be guaranteed. This coordination model pays more attention to scientific planning and innovative means to form a universal battlefield situation map with full-dimensional coverage, support hierarchical, leapfrog and cross-domain sharing and collaboration among users of all levels and types deployed in a wide area, realize the common perception of battlefield situation by command elements and combat units, and ensure self-synchronous operations within the framework of unified strategic intent, campaign guidance and coordination plan. This coordination model emphasizes the vertical integration of strategy, campaign and tactics, and the horizontal integration of land, sea, air, space and electricity, provides strong information sharing services in detection, early warning and surveillance, and relies on information media to promote the extension of campaign-level joint to tactical-level joint. This coordination model highlights the standardized operation of command operation and force application, and promotes the connection of combat command levels, cross-domain linkage, element interaction and situation sharing with the help of cutting-edge technologies such as big data and cloud computing, realizes intelligent coordination between command systems, weapon platforms and sensors, and implements the key to winning by defeating slowness with speed.
Advantages and intelligence complement and synergy. In future wars, combat operations in space, network and other fields will be deeply integrated into the traditional battlefield space, requiring higher standards and higher requirements for planning and design of the overall combat situation. Only by clarifying the complementary relationship of advantages in various combat domains and the proportion of input and effectiveness, and then sorting out the operational relationship of cross-domain coordination, can we bridge the gap in field operations and achieve complementary advantages on the multi-dimensional battlefield. In essence, this is also a concentrated reflection of the view of war efficiency. From another perspective, in a war, when the local advantage of the battlefield is not obvious or there is a hidden crisis, by gaining local advantages in other fields to make up for it and achieve comprehensive advantages, the overall goal of winning can also be achieved. In the future information-based and intelligent wars, this point will be more prominent and more complex, requiring comprehensive measures in the fields of military, politics, public opinion, legal theory, psychology, diplomacy, etc., and leveraging each other to fully release the maximum combat effectiveness; requiring traditional forces and new forces to work closely together, relying on the network information system to build an integrated combat system, and maximizing overall effectiveness through advantage synergy.
Transition to Dynamically Coupled Autonomous Collaboration
In the era of artificial intelligence, along with the profound changes in information technology and weapons and equipment, combat operations place more emphasis on breaking up traditional force groupings, connecting traditional platform functions, breaking traditional offensive and defensive boundaries, and achieving full-time dynamic control of combat operations through dynamic coupling and autonomous coordination.
Dynamic focal point coordination. In future wars, the enemy-to-enemy confrontation will be more intense, and the battlefield situation will be more changeable. The previous static, extensive, and step-by-step coordination methods will be difficult to adapt. It is necessary to pay close attention to the key nodes of the operation. On the basis of keeping a close eye on the overall situation, anchoring the combat mission, and focusing on the combat objectives, we must assess the situation and seize the opportunity. According to the predetermined coordination rules, we can flexibly change the coordination objects, flexibly adjust the coordination strategies, and autonomously negotiate and coordinate actions. It should be noted that this coordination method based on key combat nodes particularly emphasizes that combat forces transcend structural barriers and organically aggregate combat effectiveness. Through the flexible structure of the collaborative organization, self-coupling and autonomous elimination of contradictions and conflicts, bridging combat gaps, and promoting the precise release of the combined forces of the combat system.
Dynamic control and coordination. The battlefield situation in future wars is changing rapidly, and the combat process is often difficult to advance according to the predetermined combat plan, and combat operations have great uncertainty. Invisibly, this also requires us to break through traditional combat thinking, keep a close eye on the changes in the battlefield situation, and implement immediate, flexible and autonomous coordination of the combat process. This collaborative method, through real-time assessment of battlefield situation changes, the degree of damage to enemy targets, and the scale and efficiency of combat operations, can achieve rapid command and control, precise coordination in force projection, fire support, and comprehensive support, and always grasp the initiative on the battlefield. This collaborative method requires relying on advanced intelligent auxiliary means to quickly divide the combat phase, predict the duration of combat operations, analyze the overall deployment of combat forces, calculate the allocation of combat operation resources, and accurately control the decision-making cycle and combat rhythm, and accurately coordinate the actions of troops and the combat process to ensure that various randomness and uncertainties in combat can be effectively dealt with.
Dynamic response coordination. The operational mechanism of future wars is unpredictable. The deep effects of asymmetric operations, hybrid games, and system emergence will inevitably lead to various emergencies in the implementation of the planned operational plans. To this end, dynamic coordination for emergencies is an effective strategy to resolve the above-mentioned contradictions. This coordination method emphasizes the dynamic adjustment of coordinated actions according to different situations. When an emergency occurs on a local battlefield or in a local action, which has little impact on the overall operation and has sufficient time, the combat system automatically responds, partially adjusts the combat deployment and combat operations, and ensures the achievement of the expected combat objectives. When multiple urgent and slow situations coexist on the battlefield and partially affect the battlefield situation, the combat actions are dynamically and immediately coordinated according to the principle of first urgent and then slow according to the specific situation, so as to promote the development of the war in a direction that is beneficial to me. When there are multiple major unexpected situations or unexpected changes in the overall development of the war situation, coordination is carried out according to the principle of first major direction and then minor direction, and new coordinated disposal measures are quickly generated to effectively respond to various emergencies on the battlefield.
Adhering to the integrated development of mechanization, informationization and intelligence is an inherent requirement for national defense and military modernization, and is also an important means to accelerate the transformation and upgrading of military training. Promoting the integrated development of the “three transformations” of military training is a systematic project that requires both theoretical guidance and practical exploration; it is necessary to plan and design in line with the development of the times, and to boldly practice, dare to try and create, so as to realize the “three transformations” from sequential development to integrated progress, from point-line breakthroughs to system integration, and continuously improve the level and quality of military training.
Deepen theoretical research, guide practice and drive development by thoroughly understanding the mechanism, clarifying the principle and grasping the law. First, we must deepen the research on combat issues and thoroughly understand the future combat mechanism. In future wars, intelligent technology is an important factor in winning. We should explore the reason for winning and the way to win through the phenomenon. We can empower mechanized weapons, enhance the efficiency of informationized equipment and develop unmanned intelligent combat platforms through the power of intelligent technology, so that mechanization, informationization and intelligence coexist, the physical domain, information domain and cognitive domain are mixed, and power, will and land are seized in parallel. Second, we must deepen the research on technology-enhanced training and clarify the principle of technology empowerment and efficiency. Science and technology promote the development of military training, or indirectly affect the development of military training through technological progress to promote the reform of weapons and equipment, combat methods and organizational systems, or directly promote military training innovation through technology directly acting on training methods and management guarantees. In the process of iterative upgrading of mechanization, informationization and intelligence, the mechanized physical entity is the foundation and the “grafting” object of informationization and intelligence. The informationization and intelligence technology acts on mechanization, which is essentially the empowerment and efficiency enhancement of “virtual” control of “real”. Third, we must deepen the research on military training and grasp the law of combat effectiveness generation. The generation of combat effectiveness under mechanized conditions is to achieve a high degree of aggregation of material and energy flows through the superposition of combat platforms. Its generation mechanism is manifested in quantitative accumulation, hierarchical superposition, and linear growth. The generation of combat effectiveness under intelligent information conditions is to carry out a three-dimensional mesh integration of participating forces through the network information system and intelligent support. Its generation mechanism is manifested in information empowerment, network energy gathering, and intelligent energy enhancement. The integrated development of the “three transformations” of military training should shift from the linear step-by-step superposition of mechanized training to the criss-crossing and ascending of intelligent information training, and from simple training of people to training that emphasizes both human and machine learning.
Strengthen strategic management, set up a benchmark to guide development in clarifying the base point, planning and establishing rules and regulations. First, grasp the base point and recognize the coordinates of the times for the integrated development of the “three transformations” of military training. Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, our army has adhered to actual combat training, joint combat training, science and technology training, and training in accordance with the law, and strengthened the training guiding ideology of reform and innovation, laying the foundation for the integrated development of the “three transformations”; the new round of national defense and military reform has established a joint training system, reconstructed the training leadership organs and special training institutions of the military services, and formulated military training laws and regulations, providing organizational and institutional guarantees for the integrated development of the “three transformations”; the exploration and practice of the mechanized and informationized compound development of military training has accumulated fresh experience for the integrated development of the “three transformations”; the construction of actual combat training, informationized training conditions and the implementation of the strategy of strengthening the army with science and technology have opened up new horizons for the integrated development of the “three transformations”. Second, top-level design, constructing a blueprint for the integrated development of the “three transformations” of military training. The top-level design of the integrated development of the “three transformations” of military training is an integrated plan of an open and complex system. It is constrained by many factors such as operational evolution and technological changes. At the same time, it is different from a single closed system design. It is difficult to achieve it in one go and make a final decision. We should grasp its characteristics of iterative updates and continuous adjustments and improvements. The integrated development of the “three transformations” of military training should formulate a plan that is compatible with the national defense and military construction development strategy, incorporate the integrated development plan of the “three transformations” of military training into the strategic plan for military construction, and focus on clarifying development goals, tasks, measures, etc. The third is to establish rules and regulations to standardize and guide the effective operation of the integrated development of the “three transformations” of military training. It is necessary to formulate the implementation measures for the integrated development of the “three transformations” of military training, unify the goals and tasks, division of responsibilities, content focus, methods and steps, and supporting measures, and ensure the implementation of regular order.
Focus on the transformation to intelligence, overcome difficulties and innovate in the optimization of content, innovation of methods and improvement of assessment. First, we must focus on “smart training” and optimize the content of military training. Research and practice machine deep learning, focusing on data screening, information input, confrontation game and iterative improvement training. Research and practice new domain and new quality combat forces, carry out new weapons and equipment training, new quality combat force formation and combat application training, new domain combat forces and traditional combat forces coordination training, and new domain and new quality forces into joint combat system training. Research and practice intelligent combat, carry out intelligent combat tactics research, command confrontation training based on intelligent network system, training to seize intellectual control and intelligent combat live-fire exercises. Second, we must focus on “intelligent training” and innovate military training methods. Develop intelligent simulation training methods, give full play to the virtual-real interaction, closed-loop feedback and parallel execution functions of intelligent simulation, upgrade existing electronic games and war game simulation systems, and support individual officers and soldiers or command organizations to carry out human-machine confrontation training based on intelligent simulation systems. On the basis of the existing real-life combat system, we should strengthen the material application of intelligent technology, and create an intelligent military exercise system that combines virtual and real, complements software and hardware, and is multi-domain linked as soon as possible to effectively support the development of real-life training. Third, we should focus on “intelligent testing” and improve precise assessment methods. Using virtual reality technology, relying on the three-dimensional virtual battlefield environment generated by computers, we can evaluate the operational skills and tactical application level of officers and soldiers immersed in it. Using augmented reality technology, human senses can directly obtain real-life experience in the augmented reality scene, which can be used to test and assess the technical training of officers and soldiers and the tactical training of squads. Using mixed reality technology, virtual digital objects are introduced into the real environment, which can support the construction of the environmental conditions of real-life test exercises and the inspection and evaluation of combat capabilities. Using the Internet of Things technology, sensors, data processing units and communication components are integrated into a sensor network to monitor the exercise situation in real time, and automatically collect, transmit, summarize and display exercise information data. Using big data technology to objectively evaluate combat capabilities and training quality, and realize automatic judgment of engagement results, statistical analysis of massive data, objective evaluation of combat capabilities and automatic evaluation of training results in data analysis and deep mining.
The breakthrough achievements of artificial intelligence technology marked by deep learning and its application in various fields have pushed intelligence to a new high in the global wave and become the focus of attention from all parties. In the military field, which has never been willing to lag behind in technological innovation and application, a new revolution is also being actively nurtured. We must accurately grasp the evolution of intelligent warfare and analyze the inner essence of intelligent warfare in order to welcome and control intelligent warfare with a brand new look.
How far are we from intelligent warfare?
Intelligent warfare is a war that is mainly supported by artificial intelligence technology. It has been the dream of people for thousands of years to endow weapon platforms with human intelligence and replace humans in the battlefield. With the powerful impact brought to the world by artificial intelligence systems represented by AlphaGo and Atlas, and the emergence of new combat concepts and new platforms such as swarm warfare and flying aircraft carriers, the door to intelligent warfare seems to be quietly opening.
The law of historical development indicates that intelligent warfare will inevitably enter the battlefield. The progress of science and technology promotes the evolution of weapons and equipment, triggers fundamental changes in military organization, combat methods and military theories, and ultimately forcibly promotes historical changes in the form of war. The arrival of intelligent warfare also conforms to this inevitable law of historical development. Looking back at the evolution of human warfare, every major progress in science and technology has promoted major changes in the military. The invention of black powder has made human warfare evolve to the era of hot weapons. Infantry and cavalry formations were completely wiped out under the line-of-gun warfare. The use of steam engines in the military has made human warfare evolve to the mechanized era, and has further given rise to large-scale mechanized warfare led by armored ships, tanks, and airplanes. The emergence and application of intelligent technology will profoundly change human cognition, war thinking, and combat methods, and once again set off major changes in the military. Intelligent warfare will inevitably enter the war stage.
The development of artificial intelligence technology determines the pace of intelligent warfare. The continuous development and widespread application of artificial intelligence technology have pushed intelligent warfare from chaos to reality. It has begun to sprout, grow gradually, and come to us step by step. To truly enter intelligent warfare, artificial intelligence technology needs to reach four levels. The first level is computational intelligence, which means breaking through the limitations of computing power and storage space to achieve near-real-time computing power and storage capacity, which is far beyond the reach of large computers and huge servers. The widespread application of cloud computing has steadily brought humans to the first level. The second level is perceptual intelligence, which means that the machine can understand what it hears, see what it sees, distinguish what is true, and recognize what it knows clearly, and can communicate directly with people. Natural language understanding, image and graphic recognition, and biometric recognition technologies based on big data have allowed humans to reach the second level. The third level is cognitive intelligence, which means that the machine can understand human thinking, think and reason like humans, and make judgments and decisions like humans. Knowledge mining, knowledge graphs, artificial neural networks, and decision tree technologies driven by deep learning algorithms have allowed humans to strive to move towards the third level. The fourth stage is human-machine fusion enhanced intelligence, which is to combine the perception, reasoning, induction, and learning that humans are good at with the search, calculation, storage, and optimization that machines are good at, to complement each other’s advantages and interact in a two-way closed loop. Virtual reality enhancement technology, brain-like cognitive technology, and brain-like neural network technology are exploring how humans can move towards the fourth stage. When humans stepped onto the second stage, intelligent warfare began to approach us; when we step onto the fourth stage, the era of intelligent warfare will be fully opened.
Self-learning growth accelerates the sudden arrival of intelligent warfare changes. The ability to “learn” is the core ability of artificial intelligence. Once a machine can learn by itself, its learning speed is amazing. Once a machine has the ability to self-learn, it will enter a rapid growth track of “improving intelligence and accelerating evolution” repeatedly. All technical difficulties in the direction of intelligent warfare will be solved as “learning” deepens. The era of intelligent warfare is likely to arrive suddenly in a way that people can’t imagine!
What will intelligent warfare change?
Intelligent warfare will break through the limits of traditional time and space cognition. In intelligent warfare, artificial intelligence technology can collect, calculate, and push all kinds of action information of all forces in combat in real time and in all domains, enabling humans to break through the logical limits of thinking, the physiological limits of senses, and the physical limits of existence, greatly improving the scope of cognition of time and space, and being able to accurately control all actions of all forces in real time, and to achieve rapid jump, gathering, and attack of superior combat resources in multi-dimensional space and multi-dimensional domains. Any space at any time may become a time and space point for winning the war.
Intelligent warfare will reconstruct the relationship between humans and weapons and equipment. With the rapid advancement of intelligent technology and the continuous improvement of the level of intelligence, weapon platforms and combat systems can not only passively and mechanically execute human instructions, but also can, based on deep understanding and deep prediction, super-amplify through the calculation, storage, and query that machines are good at, so as to autonomously and actively perform specific tasks in a certain sense. It can be said that weapon platforms and combat systems can also actively exert human consciousness to a certain extent, even beyond the scope of human cognition, and complete combat tasks autonomously and even creatively according to specific procedures. The distinction between humans and weapons and equipment in the traditional sense has become blurred, and it is even difficult to distinguish whether it is humans or machines that are playing a role. People exclaimed that “humans and weapons and equipment will become a partnership.” Therefore, in intelligent warfare, although humans are still the most important factor in combat effectiveness, the change in the way humans and weapons and equipment are combined has enriched the connotation of combat effectiveness, and the traditional relationship between humans and weapons and equipment will also be reconstructed on this basis.
Intelligent warfare will give rise to the emergence of new combat methods. The epoch-making progress of science and technology will inevitably bring about revolutionary changes in combat methods; major progress in intelligent technology will inevitably bring about an active period of change in combat methods. On the one hand, the continuous emergence of new technologies in the fields of deep cognition, deep learning, deep neural network, etc. driven by computing, data, algorithms, and biology, as well as the cross-integration of achievements in the fields of information, biology, medicine, engineering, manufacturing, etc., will inevitably promote the emergence of new combat methods. On the other hand, the fierce confrontation between intelligent weapon platforms and combat systems will inevitably become the goal and driving force of innovative combat methods. In war, the more intelligent the parts are, the more they become the focus of confrontation. The differences in advantages in terms of space-time cognitive limits, massive information storage and computing capabilities, and neural network organization generation capabilities will bring about new areas of “blinding”, “deafening”, and “paralyzing” combat methods.
Intelligent warfare will incubate a completely new command and control method. The advantages of command and control are the focus of attention in the field of warfare, and intelligent warfare calls for a completely new command and control method. First, human-machine collaborative decision-making has become the main command and decision-making method in intelligent warfare. In previous wars, command and decision-making were all led by commanders, with technical means as auxiliary decision-making. In intelligent warfare, intelligent auxiliary decision-making systems will actively urge or urge commanders to make decisions based on new battlefield situation changes. This is because in the face of massive and rapidly changing battlefield situation information data, the human brain can no longer quickly accommodate and efficiently process it, and human senses can no longer withstand the extraordinary speed of change. In this case, decisions made solely by commanders are likely to be late and useless. Only human-machine collaborative decision-making driven by intelligent decision-making assistance systems can make up for the time and space differences and the machine-computer differences and ensure the command decision-making advantage. Second, brain neural control has become the main command control method in intelligent warfare. In previous wars, commanders issued commands to command and control troops step by step through documents, radios, and telephones in the form of documents or voice. In intelligent warfare, commanders use intelligent brain-like neurons to issue commands to troops through the neural network combat system platform, which reduces the conversion process of command expression forms, shortens the conversion time of commands across media, and is faster and more efficient. When the combat system platform is partially damaged by an attack, this command and control method can autonomously repair or reconstruct the neural network, quickly restore the main function or even all functions, and have stronger anti-attack capabilities.
How should we prepare for intelligent warfare?
In the research and exploration of intelligent warfare, we must not be content to lag behind, but must aim to win future wars and meet the challenges of intelligent warfare with a more proactive attitude, advanced concepts, and positive actions.
Use breakthroughs in intelligent technology to promote the leap in the effectiveness of intelligent combat systems. Although the development of intelligent technology has made great progress in neural network algorithms, intelligent sensing and networking technology, data mining technology, knowledge graph technology, etc., it is still in the weak intelligence stage overall and is far from reaching the advanced stage of strong intelligence. There is still broad room for development in the future. We must strengthen basic research on artificial intelligence, follow the laws of scientific and technological development, scientifically plan the direction of intelligent technology development, select technical breakthroughs, and strengthen key core technologies of artificial intelligence, especially basic research that plays a supporting role. Highlight research on key military technologies. Guided by military needs, we will develop intelligent reconnaissance and perception systems, command and control systems, weapon equipment systems, combat support systems and other weapons and equipment around key military technologies such as intelligent perception, intelligent decision-making, intelligent control, intelligent strike, and intelligent support. We will focus on military-civilian scientific and technological collaborative innovation, give full play to the advantages of civilian intelligent technology development, rely on the superior resources of the military and the local area, strengthen military-civilian strategic cooperation, build a service platform for the joint research and sharing of artificial intelligence scientific and technological achievements, the joint construction and sharing of conditions and facilities, and the joint connection of general standards between the military and the local area, and form a new situation of open, integrated, innovative and development of intelligent combat technology.
Leading innovation in combat methods with the concept of intelligent warfare. To meet the arrival of intelligent warfare, changing concepts is a prerequisite. Concepts are the forerunner of action. If our concepts remain at the traditional level, it will be difficult to adapt to the needs of intelligent warfare. Intelligent warfare has undergone profound changes in technical support, combat power, and winning mechanisms. We must first establish the concept of intelligent warfare and use it to lead the innovation of our army’s future combat methods. First, we must strengthen the competition for “intellectual property rights.” Artificial intelligence is the foundation of intelligent warfare. Depriving and weakening the opponent’s ability to use intelligence in combat and maintaining the freedom of one’s own intelligence use are the basis for ensuring the smooth implementation of intelligent warfare. The armies of developed Western countries are exploring various means such as electromagnetic interference, electronic suppression, high-power microwave penetration and takeover control to block the opponent’s intelligent application capabilities, seize “intelligence control”, and thus seize battlefield advantages. Second, innovate intelligent combat methods. We must focus on giving full play to the overall effectiveness of the intelligent combat system, strengthen the research on new intelligent combat methods such as human-machine collaborative intelligent combat, intelligent robot combat, and intelligent unmanned swarm combat, as well as the processes and methods of intelligent combat command and intelligent combat support. Focus on effectively responding to the enemy’s intelligent combat threats and study strategies to defeat the enemy, such as intelligent blocking warfare and intelligent disruption warfare.
Use intelligent training innovation to promote the transformation of combat power generation mode. Intelligent warfare will be a war jointly implemented by humans and machines, and combat forces with intelligent unmanned combat systems as the main body will play an increasingly important role. It is necessary to adapt to the new characteristics of the intelligent warfare force system, innovate and develop intelligent training concepts, and explore new models for the generation of intelligent warfare combat power. On the one hand, it is necessary to strengthen the training of “people” driving intelligent systems. Relying on big data, cloud computing, VR technology, etc., create a new training environment, continuously improve people’s intelligent literacy, improve the quality of human-machine cognition, understanding, and interaction, and enhance the ability of people to drive intelligent combat systems. On the other hand, it is necessary to explore a new training model with “machines” as the main object. In the past, training was basically human-centered, focusing on people’s proficiency in mastering and using weapons and equipment in a specific environment to improve combat effectiveness. In order to adapt to the new characteristics of the intelligent warfare force system, the training object should change the traditional human-centered training organization concept and model, focus on improving the self-command, self-control, and self-combat capabilities of the intelligent combat system, make full use of the characteristics of the intelligent system’s ability to self-game and self-grow, and form a training system, training environment, and training mechanism specifically for the intelligent combat system, so that the intelligent combat system can obtain a geometric leap in combat capability after a short period of autonomous reinforcement training.
The basic form of information warfare is system confrontation. Different from any form of warfare in history, information warfare is not a discrete confrontation or local decentralized warfare with the simple superposition of various combat units and elements, but a holistic confrontation between systems. The system integration capability of war determines the effectiveness of combat and the achievement of war objectives; achieving effective integration of various systems is the fundamental way to win information warfare.
Multi-space fusion
The battlefield space is the stage for the war hostile parties to compete. Due to the widespread use of high-tech weapons, the battlefield space of informationized warfare has been greatly expanded, forming a multi-dimensional battlefield space of land, sea, air, space, and information. Under the strong “bonding” of information technology, each battlefield space is integrated around a unified combat purpose. First, the three-dimensional, all-round reconnaissance and surveillance network covers the battlefield. Under the conditions of informatization, the military reconnaissance and surveillance capabilities have been unprecedentedly improved. The large-scale, three-dimensional, multi-means, and automated intelligence reconnaissance and surveillance network connects outer space, high altitude, medium altitude, low altitude, ground (sea), and underground (underwater) into one, thereby obtaining battlefield intelligence information in multiple fields. Second, long-range, high-precision informationized weapons are densely distributed and threaten the battlefield. The extraordinary combat capability of the informationized weapon system to cover and strike targets in the entire battlefield space has realized that discovery means destruction, and promoted the high integration of various battlefield spaces. In addition, the development of space and air power has made strikes more precise, means more flexible, and combat efficiency higher, and the battlefield space has become an integrated battlefield of sea, land, air, and space. This integrated battlefield structure has a high degree of integration of multiple spaces, and multiple spaces and multiple fields restrict each other. Third, the battlefield is restricted by electromagnetic and information competition in all time and space and throughout the entire process. The development of military information technology not only realizes the integration of tangible battlefields on land, sea, air and space through reconnaissance and strikes, but also opens up the competition for invisible battlefields in the electromagnetic and information fields. Electromagnetic and information are the soul of informationized warfare and the link between the battlefields on land, sea, air and space. They exist in the entire time and space of combat, act on all elements of war, run through the entire process of combat, and deeply affect the tangible battlefields on land, sea, air and space.
It can be seen that the informationized battlefield is precisely through the increasingly mature information technology, centering on the purpose of war and combat needs, closely integrating the multi-dimensional space of land, sea, air, space, information, etc., forming an inseparable and interdependent organic unity. Leaving any dimension of the battlefield space, or losing control of any dimension, will directly affect the overall combat effectiveness, thus leading to the failure of the war.
Fusion of multiple forces
War power is the protagonist of the battle between the two opposing sides of a war. The “integrated joint combat force” of system integration is a prominent feature of information warfare. Various participating forces in information warfare are highly integrated. Regardless of their affiliation and combat mission, they will be equal users and resources of the entire combat system and integrated into a unified large system. First, the participating forces are united. Information warfare is a joint operation in which the army, navy, air force, aerospace, special operations, information operations and other forces participate. Each participating force has advantages that other participating forces do not have or cannot replace. They communicate and connect through information technology to achieve “seamless connection” and form a force system that can play to its strengths and avoid its weaknesses and complement each other’s advantages, becoming an organic whole that combines “soft” strike and “hard” destruction capabilities, combat and support capabilities, mobility and assault capabilities, and attack and defense capabilities. Second, the participants are diversified. With the development of information networks, wars in the information age no longer have a distinction between the front and the rear, and the networking of combat systems can also make home a “battlefield”. In the industrial age, wars were “over, go home”; in the information age, wars can also be “go home and fight”. Participants in war are not limited to the military forces of countries and political groups. Non-governmental and group-based people can join the “battlefield” as long as they have high-tech knowledge and are proficient in computer applications. Third, the support force is socialized. With the development of science and technology, the mutual tolerance, intercommunication and compatibility of military and civilian technologies have been greatly enhanced. A large number of combat facilities and platforms will rely more on local basic resources. Not only does the material support in combat need to be socialized, but also the technical support and information support need to be socialized.
It can be seen that the victory or defeat of the informationized battlefield depends on the overall strength of the warring parties. Various combat forces are both interrelated and mutually influential, but any single force is difficult to determine the outcome of the war. Only when multiple forces work closely together and learn from each other’s strengths and weaknesses can the overall combat system benefits be brought into play and victory be ultimately achieved.
Multi-level integration
The war level is the pattern of the war between the two hostile parties. In information warfare, the distinction between strategy, campaign and battle is no longer as clear as in traditional warfare. Instead, there is a mutual integration of you and me, and the distinction between levels has become relatively vague. First, the war path is simplified. With the centralized use of a large number of informationized weapons and equipment and their information systems, the precision strike capability of the troops has been unprecedentedly improved. A small-scale combat operation and a high-efficiency information offensive operation can effectively achieve certain strategic goals. A battle, a campaign or a carefully planned information operation may be a war. The path to achieve the purpose of war is becoming simpler and the convergence of war, campaign and even battle in purpose and time and space is prominent. Second, command and control is real-time. The widespread use of automated command and control systems on the battlefield has greatly enhanced the command and control function. Campaign commanders and even the highest political and military leadership of the country can plan and command and control all participating forces and specific combat operations in a unified manner, and directly intervene in campaigns, battles and even the actions of individual soldiers or combat platforms in near real time. Combat and campaign operations are similar to strategic engagements. Third, the combat process is fast-tracked. Quick victory and quick decision are important features of information warfare. The combat time is showing a trend of shortening. There is no concept of time for all combat operations. More often, the participating forces at all levels are carried out simultaneously in different fields. The beginning and the end are closely linked. The combat operations in various battlefield spaces penetrate each other, are closely linked, and gradually merge into an integrated and coordinated system, which is difficult to distinguish at the level.
It can be seen that information warfare has a strong overall nature. Campaigns, as a bridge for achieving strategic and even war objectives, are gradually integrated into battles. Combat, as the most basic combat activity in war, is also gradually sublimated into strategies and campaigns. All levels are intertwined and serve to achieve the purpose of war. Only by comprehensively exerting the combat capabilities of all levels and achieving overall effects can we seize the initiative in the war.
Fusion of various styles
The combat style is the carrier for the war hostile parties to compete. Informationized warfare is a process of confrontation between multiple forces and multiple fields, and is manifested in multiple combat actions and confrontation styles. Various combat actions are inseparable from the overall combat situation, and various actions are closely linked, mutually conditional, coordinated, and integrated to form an overall combat power. The first is the unity of combat actions. The victory or defeat of informationized warfare is the result of the system confrontation between the two warring parties. Isolated and single combat actions are often difficult to work. This requires multiple military services to adopt a variety of combat styles in different combat spaces and combat fields, while the combat style dominated by a single military service can only “live” in the overall joint action as a sub-combat action, and all combat actions are unified in the system confrontation. The second is the integration of combat actions. Informationized warfare is a form of war that pursues high efficiency. Objectively, it requires that multiple combat styles and actions must be highly “integrated” from the perspective of system effectiveness. Comprehensively use a variety of combat styles and tactics, combine tangible combat actions with intangible combat actions, combine non-linear combat with non-contact combat and asymmetric combat, combine psychological warfare with public opinion warfare and legal warfare, combine regular combat with irregular combat, and combine soft strikes with hard destruction to form an overall advantage. The third is the mutation of combat actions. In information warfare, while integrating various combat resources and exerting overall power, both hostile parties strive to find the “center of gravity” and “joint points” of the other side. Once the enemy’s weak points are found, all combat forces and actions are linked as a whole and autonomously coordinated, and various styles and means of destruction are adopted to cause a sudden change in the enemy’s combat capability and a comprehensive “collapse” of the combat system, so as to achieve combat initiative and advantage.
It can be seen that information warfare is a practical activity in which various forces use a variety of combat styles and means to compete in multiple battlefield spaces and combat fields. Only when multiple combat styles and means cooperate, support and complement each other can a multiplier effect be produced, thereby exerting the maximum combat effectiveness of the entire system.
Multi-method integration
The means of war are methods used to achieve the purpose of war. In addition to powerful military means, information warfare must also use all available ways and means to cooperate with each other, organically integrate, and form a whole to achieve a favorable situation. First, the use of war means is comprehensive. All wars have a distinct political nature and serve certain political purposes. With the influence of factors such as the globalization of the world economy and the multipolarization of international politics, information warfare is more based on military means, and military means are used in combination with various means such as economy, diplomacy, culture, and technology. Second, the use of war means is gradient. With the development of the times, war as a means of maintaining and seeking power and interests has been increasingly restricted by international law and international public opinion. In addition, resorting to war requires a high price. Therefore, in the information age, the use of war means presents a gradual development gradient, usually starting from retaliation, display of force, and violent retaliation (strike) in the sense of international law, and finally developing into local or even large-scale wars. Third, the use of war means is systematic. Information warfare is a contest of the comprehensive national strength of the hostile parties. The victory of the war depends on the comprehensive and systematic use of various war means. In specific combat operations, various means of warfare have different functions and natures, occupying different positions and playing different roles in the war. Only by closely combining various effective means of warfare into an organic whole can we form a combat system that fully utilizes our strengths and avoids our weaknesses, and maximize the overall combat effectiveness.
It can be seen that information warfare is subject to more restrictive factors, simpler war objectives, and newer combat styles. In the process of decision-making and action, only by coordinating and integrating with struggle actions in other fields such as politics, economy, culture, and diplomacy can the overall goal of the war be achieved efficiently.
Artificial intelligence is a general term for cutting-edge technology groups such as big data, automated decision-making, machine learning, image recognition and space situational awareness. It can liberate the “cognitive burden” of human intelligence and physical energy, and enable technology users to gain the advantages of foresight, preemption and preemptive decision-making and action. As a “force multiplier” and “the foundation of future battles”, artificial intelligence will fundamentally reshape the future war form, change the country’s traditional security territory, impact the existing military technology development pattern, reconstruct the future combat system and military force system, and become an important dominant force on the future battlefield.
With the rapid development of technology and the continuous acceleration of competition, major countries have launched their own artificial intelligence development plans, and accelerated the promotion of organizational mechanism reform, scientific and technological research and development, and tactical and combat innovation, promoting the military use of artificial intelligence and seizing the commanding heights of future wars.
Accelerate organizational form innovation
Promote technology transformation and application
Unlike traditional technologies, the research and development and transformation of artificial intelligence have their own characteristics. The institutional settings and operation methods of the traditional national defense system are difficult to adapt to the needs of the rapid development of artificial intelligence. To this end, the armed forces of relevant countries have vigorously carried out organizational system reform and innovation, breaking the institutional barriers in the process of artificial intelligence technology research and development, and accelerating the transformation and application of related technologies.
Emphasize “connection between the near and the far”. The United Kingdom, with the “Defense Data Office” and the “Digital Integration and Defense Artificial Intelligence Center” as the main body, integrates route planning, specification setting, technology governance and asset development, and removes administrative obstacles that restrict the development and application of artificial intelligence technology. The United States, relying on the “Strategic Capabilities Office” and the “Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Officer”, uses the Army Future Command as a pilot to integrate decentralized functions such as theoretical development, technology research and development, and equipment procurement, focusing on strengthening the innovative application of existing platforms in a “potential tapping and efficiency increase” manner, while buying time for the medium- and long-term technological innovation of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, so as to effectively balance practical needs and long-term development.
Attach importance to “research and use conversion”. The application of artificial intelligence in the military field will have a profound impact on battlefield combat methods, tactical and combat selection, and other aspects. Russia has established institutions such as the “Advanced Research Foundation” and the “National Robotics Technology Research and Development Center” to guide the design, research and development and application of artificial intelligence technology in the Russian military to improve the practical conversion rate of scientific research results. The United States has established the “Joint Artificial Intelligence Center” and relied on the “National Mission Plan” and “Service Mission Plan” to coordinate military-civilian collaborative innovation and scientific and technological achievements transformation, and promote the widespread application of artificial intelligence in the U.S. Department of Defense and various services.
Focus on “military-civilian integration”. Russia has established institutions such as the “Times Science and Technology City” in Anapa and other places, relying on the “Advanced Research Foundation” to fully absorb military and civilian talents, actively build scientific and technological production clusters and research clusters, and effectively expand the two-way exchange mechanism of military and civilian talents. The United States has established institutions such as the “Defense Innovation Experimental Group” in Silicon Valley and other places, relying on the “Defense Innovation Committee”, so that the latest achievements in technological innovation and theoretical development in the field of artificial intelligence can directly enter high-level decision-making. France has established innovative defense laboratories, defense innovation offices and other technical research and development institutions in the Ministry of Defense, aiming to solicit private capital investment and defense project cooperation to improve scientific research efficiency.
Highlight the “combination of science and technology”. The Israel Defense Forces has established a digital transformation system architecture department, which fully demonstrates new technologies, new theories, and new concepts based on the specific effects of various systems organically integrated into various services and arms, so as to determine the corresponding technology research and development priorities and strategic development directions. The United States has enhanced the overall management of national defense technology innovation and application by re-establishing the position of Deputy Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering and creating the Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Officer. It has also relied on theoretical methods such as red-blue confrontation, simulation and deduction, and net assessment analysis to conduct practical tests on various new ideas, concepts, and methods, so as to select the focus of various technology research and development and the direction of strategic and tactical research, and achieve a benign interaction between technology development and theoretical innovation.
Project establishment for military needs
Seize the opportunity for future development
In recent years, various military powers have aimed at the research and development of cutting-edge artificial intelligence technologies, and have widely established projects in the fields of situational awareness, data analysis, intelligence reconnaissance, and unmanned combat, intending to seize the opportunity for future development.
Situational awareness field. Situational awareness in the traditional sense refers to the collection and acquisition of battlefield information by means of satellites, radars, and electronic reconnaissance. However, under the conditions of “hybrid warfare” with blurred peace and war, integration of soldiers and civilians, internal and external linkage, and full-domain integration, the role of situational awareness in non-traditional fields such as human domain, social domain, and cognitive domain has received unprecedented attention. The US “Computable Cultural Understanding” project aims to process multi-source data through natural language processing technology to achieve cross-cultural communication; the “Compass” project aims to extract cases from unstructured data sources, integrate key information, and respond to different types of “gray zone” operations. The French “Scorpion” combat system project aims to use intelligent information analysis and data sharing platforms to improve the fire support effectiveness of the French army’s existing front-line mobile combat platforms to ensure the safety of operational personnel.
Data analysis field. Relying on artificial intelligence technology to improve intelligent data collection, identification analysis and auxiliary decision-making capabilities can transform information advantages into cognitive and operational advantages. Russia’s “Combat Command Information System” aims to use artificial intelligence and big data technology to analyze the battlefield environment and provide commanders with a variety of action plans. The UK’s “THEIA Project” and France’s “The Forge” digital decision support engine are both aimed at enhancing information processing capabilities in command and control, intelligence collection, and other aspects, and improving commanders’ ability to control complex battlefields and command effectiveness.
Intelligence reconnaissance field. Compared with traditional intelligence reconnaissance, using artificial intelligence algorithms to collect and process intelligence has the advantages of fast information acquisition, wide content sources, and high processing efficiency. The Japanese Self-Defense Forces’ satellite intelligent monitoring system is designed to identify and track foreign ships that may “infringe” its territorial waters near key waters. The U.S. military’s “Causal Exploration of Complex Combat Environments” project aims to use artificial intelligence and machine learning tools to process multi-source information and assist commanders in understanding the cultural motivations, event roots, and relationships behind the war; the “Marvin” project uses machine learning algorithms and face recognition technology to screen and sort out various suspicious targets from full-motion videos, providing technical support for counter-terrorism and other operations.
Unmanned combat field. In some technologically advanced countries, unmanned combat systems are becoming more mature and equipment types are becoming more complete. The Israeli military’s M-RCV unmanned combat vehicle can perform a variety of tasks such as unmanned reconnaissance, firepower strikes, and transport and recovery of drones in all-terrain and all-time conditions. The Russian military’s “Outpost-R” drone system, which has the ability to detect and strike in one, can detect, track, and strike military targets in real time. It also has certain anti-reconnaissance and anti-interference capabilities, and has been tested on the battlefield. The U.S. military’s “Future Tactical Unmanned Aerial Vehicle System” project aims to comprehensively improve the U.S. Army’s effectiveness in performing combat missions such as reconnaissance and surveillance, auxiliary targeting, battle damage assessment, and communication relay.
Adapting to the transformation of future battlefields
Continuously exploring new tactics
In order to adapt to the tremendous changes in the battlefield environment in the intelligent era, relevant countries have explored a series of new tactics by improving the participation efficiency of artificial intelligence in key military decisions and actions.
Algorithmic warfare, that is, relying on big data and artificial intelligence technology, fully utilizing the powerful potential of combat networks, human-machine collaboration, and autonomous and semi-autonomous weapons, so that the “observation-adjustment-decision-action” cycle of the side always leads the opponent, thereby destroying the enemy’s combat plan and achieving preemptive strike. In December 2015, the Russian army relied on unmanned reconnaissance and intelligent command information systems to guide ground unmanned combat platforms to cooperate with Syrian government forces, and quickly eliminated 77 militants within the target range at the cost of 4 minor injuries. In 2021, the U.S. Air Force conducted a test flight of the first intelligent drone “Air Borg”, marking the U.S. military’s algorithmic warfare further moving towards actual combat.
Unmanned warfare, guided by low-cost attrition warfare of saturated quantity attack and system attack and defense operations, strives to achieve all-round situation tracking, dynamic deterrence and tactical suppression of the enemy’s defense system through human-machine collaboration and group combat mode. In May 2021, the Israeli army used artificial intelligence-assisted drone swarms in the conflict with the Hamas armed group, which played an important role in determining the enemy’s position, destroying enemy targets, and monitoring enemy dynamics. In October 2021 and July 2022, the US military launched drone targeted air strikes in northwestern Syria, killing Abdul Hamid Matar, a senior leader of al-Qaeda, and Aguer, the leader of the extremist organization “Islamic State”.
Distributed warfare, relying on the unlimited command and control capabilities of artificial intelligence and new electronic warfare means, uses shallow footprints, low-feature, fast-paced forces such as special forces to form small groups of multi-group mobile formations, disperse and infiltrate the combat area in a multi-directional and multi-domain manner, continuously break the enemy’s system shortcomings and chain dependence, and increase the difficulty of its firepower saturation attack. In this process, “people are in command and machines are in control”. In recent years, the US military has successively launched a number of “distributed combat” scientific research projects such as “Golden Tribe” and “Elastic Network Distributed Mosaic Communication”.
Fusion warfare, relying on network quantum communication and other means, builds an anti-interference, high-speed “combat cloud” to eliminate the technical barriers of data link intercommunication, interconnection and interoperability between military services and achieve deep integration of combat forces. In 2021, the joint common basic platform developed by the US Joint Artificial Intelligence Center officially has initial operational capabilities, which will help the US military break data barriers and greatly improve data sharing capabilities. During the NATO “Spring Storm” exercise held in Estonia in 2021, the British Army used artificial intelligence technology to conduct intelligent analysis and automated processing of battlefield information of various services, which improved the integration between services and enhanced the effectiveness of joint command and control.
(Author’s unit: National University of Defense Technology)
The weaponization of artificial intelligence is an inevitable trend in the new round of military transformation. Local wars and conflicts in recent years have further stimulated relevant countries to promote the strategic deployment of artificial intelligence weaponization and seize the commanding heights of future wars. The potential risks of artificial intelligence weaponization cannot be ignored. It may intensify the arms race and break the strategic balance; empower the combat process and increase the risk of conflict; increase the difficulty of accountability and increase collateral casualties; lower the threshold of proliferation and lead to misuse and abuse. In this regard, we should strengthen international strategic communication to ensure consensus and cooperation among countries on the military application of artificial intelligence; promote dialogue and coordination on the construction of laws and regulations to form a unified and standardized legal framework; strengthen the ethical constraints of artificial intelligence to ensure that technological development meets ethical standards; actively participate in global security governance cooperation and jointly maintain peace and stability in the international community.
The weaponization of artificial intelligence is to apply artificial intelligence-related technologies, platforms and services to the military field, making it an important driving force for enabling military operations, thereby improving the efficiency, accuracy and autonomy of military operations. With the widespread application of artificial intelligence technology in the military field, major powers and military powers have increased their strategic and resource investment and accelerated the pace of research and development and application. The frequent regional wars and conflicts in recent years have further stimulated the battlefield application of artificial intelligence, and profoundly shaped the form of war and the future direction of military transformation.
It cannot be ignored that, as a rapidly developing technology, AI itself may have potential risks due to the immaturity of its inherent technology, inaccurate scene matching, and incomplete supporting conditions. It is also easy to bring various risks and challenges to the military field and even the international security field due to human misuse, abuse, or even malicious use. To conscientiously implement the global security initiative proposed by General Secretary Xi Jinping, we must face the development trend of weaponization of AI worldwide, conduct in-depth analysis of the security risks that may be brought about by the weaponization of AI, and think about scientific and feasible governance ideas and measures.
Current trends in the weaponization of artificial intelligence
In recent years, the application of artificial intelligence in the military field is fundamentally reshaping the future form of war, changing the future combat system, and affecting the future direction of military reform. Major military powers have regarded artificial intelligence as a subversive key technology that will change the rules of future wars, and have invested a lot of resources to promote the research and development and application of artificial intelligence weapons.
The weaponization of artificial intelligence is an inevitable trend in military transformation.
With the rapid development of science and technology, the necessity and urgency of military reform have become increasingly prominent. Artificial intelligence can simulate human thinking processes, extend human brainpower and physical strength, realize rapid information processing, analysis and decision-making, and develop increasingly complex unmanned weapon system platforms, thus providing unprecedented intelligent support for military operations.
First, it provides intelligent support for military intelligence reconnaissance and analysis. Traditional intelligence reconnaissance methods are constrained by multiple factors such as manpower and time, and it is difficult to effectively respond to large-scale, high-speed and high-complexity intelligence processing needs. The introduction of artificial intelligence technology has brought innovation and breakthroughs to the field of intelligence reconnaissance. In military infrastructure, the application of artificial intelligence technology can build an intelligent monitoring system to provide high-precision and real-time intelligence perception services. In the field of intelligence reconnaissance, artificial intelligence technology has the ability to process multiple “information flows” in real time, thereby greatly improving analysis efficiency. ① By using technical tools such as deep learning, it is also possible to “see the essence through the phenomenon”, dig out the deep context and causal relationship in various types of fragmented intelligence information, and quickly transform massive fragmented data into usable intelligence, thereby improving the quality and efficiency of intelligence analysis.
Second, provide data support for combat command and decision-making. Artificial intelligence provides strong support for combat command and military decision-making in terms of battlefield situation awareness. ② Its advantage lies in the ability to perform key tasks such as data mining, data fusion, and predictive analysis. In information-based and intelligent warfare, the battlefield environment changes rapidly, and the amount of intelligence information is huge, requiring rapid and accurate decision-making responses. Therefore, advanced computer systems have become an important tool to assist commanders in managing intelligence data, making enemy situation judgments, proposing combat plan suggestions, and formulating plans and orders. Taking the US military as an example, the ISTAR (Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Identification and Tracking) system developed by Raytheon Technologies Corporation of the United States covers intelligence collection, surveillance, target identification and tracking functions, and can gather data from multiple information sources such as satellites, ships, aircraft and ground stations, and conduct in-depth analysis and processing. This not only significantly improves the speed at which commanders obtain information, but also can provide data support with the help of intelligent analysis systems, making decisions faster, more efficient and more accurate.
Third, it provides important support for unmanned combat systems. Unmanned combat systems are a new type of weapon and equipment system that can independently complete military tasks without direct human manipulation. They mainly include intelligent unmanned combat platforms, intelligent ammunition, and intelligent combat command and control systems, and have significant autonomy and intelligent features. As a technical equipment that leads the transformation of future war forms, unmanned combat systems have become an important bargaining chip in military competition between countries. The system has achieved adaptability to different battlefield environments and combat spaces by using key technologies such as autonomous navigation, target recognition, and path planning. With the help of advanced algorithms such as deep learning and reinforcement learning, unmanned combat systems can independently complete navigation tasks and achieve precise strikes on targets. The design concept of this system is “unmanned platform, manned system”, and its essence is an intelligent extension of manned combat systems. For example, the “MQM-57 Falconer” drone developed by the US Department of Defense’s Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) uses advanced artificial intelligence technology and has highly autonomous target recognition and tracking functions.
Fourth, provide technical support for military logistics and equipment support. In the context of information warfare, the war process has accelerated, mobility has improved, and combat consumption has increased significantly. The traditional “excessive pre-storage” support model can no longer adapt to the rapidly changing needs of the modern battlefield. Therefore, higher requirements are placed on combat troops to provide timely, appropriate, appropriate, appropriate, and appropriate rapid and accurate after-sales support. As a technology with spillover and cross-integration characteristics, artificial intelligence is integrated with cutting-edge technologies such as the Internet of Things, big data, and cloud computing, allowing artificial intelligence knowledge groups, technology groups, and industrial groups to fully penetrate the military after-sales field, significantly improving the logistics equipment support capabilities.
Major countries are planning to develop military applications of artificial intelligence.
In order to enhance their global competitiveness in the field of artificial intelligence, major powers such as the United States, Russia, and Japan have stepped up their strategic layout for the military application of artificial intelligence. First, by updating and adjusting the top-level strategic planning in the field of artificial intelligence, they provide clear guidance for future development; second, in response to future war needs, they accelerate the deep integration of artificial intelligence technology and the military field, and promote the intelligent, autonomous, and unmanned development of equipment systems; in addition, they actively innovate combat concepts to drive combat force innovation, thereby improving combat effectiveness and competitive advantages.
The first is to formulate a strategic plan. Based on the strategic paranoia of pursuing military hegemony, political hegemony, and economic hegemony with technological hegemony, the United States is accelerating its military intelligence process. In November 2023, the U.S. Department of Defense issued the “Data, Analysis and Artificial Intelligence Adoption Strategy”, which aims to expand the advanced capabilities of the entire Department of Defense system to gain lasting military decision-making advantages. The Russian military promulgated the “Russian Weapons and Equipment Development Outline from 2024 to 2033”, known as the “3.0 version”, which aims to provide guidance for the development of weapons and equipment in the next 10 years. The outline emphasizes the continued advancement of nuclear and conventional weapons construction, and focuses on the research of artificial intelligence and robotics technology, hypersonic weapons and other strike weapons based on new physical principles.
The second is to develop advanced equipment systems. Since 2005, the U.S. military has released a version of the “Unmanned System Roadmap” every few years to look forward to and design unmanned system platforms in various fields such as air, ground, surface/underwater, and connect the development chain of unmanned weapons and equipment such as research and development-production-testing-training-combat-support. At present, more than 70 countries in the world can develop unmanned system platforms, and various types of drones, unmanned vehicles, unmanned ships (boats), and unmanned submarines are springing up like mushrooms after rain. On July 15, 2024, Mark Milley, former chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, said in an interview with U.S. Defense News that by 2039, one-third of the U.S. military will be composed of robots. The Platform-M combat robot, the “Lancet” suicide drone, and the S70 “Hunter” heavy drone developed by the Russian army have been put into actual combat testing.
The third is to innovate future combat concepts. The combat concept is a forward-looking study of future war styles and combat methods, which can often lead to the leapfrog development of new combat force formations and weapons and equipment. In recent years, the US military has successively proposed combat concepts such as “distributed lethality”, “multi-domain warfare” and “mosaic warfare” in an attempt to lead the development direction of military transformation. Taking “mosaic warfare” as an example, this combat concept regards various sensors, communication networks, command and control systems, weapon platforms, etc. as “mosaic fragments”. These “fragment” units, with the support of artificial intelligence technology, can be dynamically linked, autonomously planned, and collaboratively combined through network information systems to form an on-demand integrated, highly flexible, and flexible killing network. In March 2022, the US Department of Defense released the “Joint All-Domain Command and Control (JADC2) Strategic Implementation Plan”, which aims to expand multi-domain operations to all-domain operations concepts, connect sensors of various services to a unified “Internet of Things”, and use artificial intelligence algorithms to help improve combat command decisions. ③
War conflicts stimulate the weaponization of artificial intelligence.
In recent years, local conflicts such as the Libyan conflict, the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the Ukrainian crisis, and the Israeli-Kazakh conflict have continued, further stimulating the development of the weaponization of artificial intelligence.
In the Libyan conflict, the warring parties used various types of drones to perform reconnaissance and combat missions. According to a report released by the United Nations Panel of Experts on Libya, the Turkish-made Kargu-2 drone carried out a “hunt and engage remotely” operation in Libya in 2020, and could autonomously attack retreating enemy soldiers. This incident marked the first use of lethal autonomous weapon systems in actual combat. As American scholar Zachary Cullenborn said, if someone unfortunately died in such an autonomous attack, this would most likely be the first known example in history of artificial intelligence autonomous weapons being used for killing. In the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Azerbaijan used a formation of Turkish-made “Flagship” TB2 drones and Israeli-made “Harop” drones to successfully break through the Armenian air defense system and gain air superiority and initiative on the battlefield. ④ The remarkable results of the Azerbaijani army’s drone operations are largely due to the Armenian army’s “underestimation of the enemy” mentality and insufficient understanding of the importance and threat of drones in modern warfare. Secondly, from the perspective of offensive strategy, the Azerbaijani army has made bold innovations in drone warfare. They flexibly use advanced equipment such as reconnaissance and strike drones and cruise missiles, which not only improves combat efficiency, but also greatly enhances the suddenness and lethality of combat. ⑤
During the Ukrainian crisis that broke out in 2022, both Russia and Ukraine widely used military-grade and commercial drones to perform reconnaissance, surveillance, artillery targeting and strike missions. The Ukrainian army used the “Flagship” TB2 drone and the “Switchblade” series of suicide drones assisted by the United States to carry out precision strikes and efficient killings, becoming a “battlefield killer” that attracted worldwide attention. In the Israeli-Kazakhstan conflict, the Israeli military was accused of using an artificial intelligence system called “Lavender” to identify and lock bombing targets in Gaza. It once marked as many as 37,000 Palestinians in Gaza as suspected “militants” and identified them as targets that could be directly “assassinated”. The Israeli military’s actions have attracted widespread attention and condemnation from the international community. ⑥
Security risks posed by weaponization of artificial intelligence
From automated command systems to intelligent unmanned combat platforms, to intelligent decision-making systems in network defense, the application of artificial intelligence technology in the military field is becoming more and more common and has become an indispensable part of modern warfare. However, with the trend of weaponization of artificial intelligence, its misuse, abuse and even malicious use will also bring risks and challenges to international security that cannot be ignored.
Intensify the arms race and disrupt the strategic balance.
In the information and intelligent era, the disruptive potential of artificial intelligence is hard for major military powers to resist. They are all focusing on the development and application of artificial intelligence military capabilities, fearing that they will fall behind in this field and lose strategic opportunities. Deepening the military application of artificial intelligence can gain “asymmetric advantages” at a lower cost and with higher efficiency.
First, countries are scrambling to seize the “first mover advantage”. When a country achieves technological leadership in the development of intelligent weapon systems, it means that the country has more advanced artificial intelligence and related application capabilities, giving it a first-mover advantage in weapon system development, control, and emergency response. This advantage includes higher autonomy, intelligence, and adaptability, which increases the country’s military strength and strategic competitive advantage. At the same time, the military advantage of the first mover may become a security threat to competitors, leading to a scramble among countries in the military application of advanced technologies. ⑦ In August 2023, US Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathryn Hicks announced the “Replicator initiative”, which seeks to deploy thousands of “autonomous weapon systems” in the Indo-Pacific region in less than two years. ⑧
Second, the opacity of AI armament construction in various countries may intensify the arms race. There are two main reasons for this: First, AI technology is an “enabling technology” that can be used to design a variety of applications, which means that it is difficult to verify the specific situation of AI military applications. It is difficult to determine whether a country is developing or deploying nuclear weapons by monitoring uranium, centrifuges, weapons and delivery systems, as is the case with nuclear weapons. The difference between semi-autonomous and fully autonomous weapon systems is mainly due to different computer software algorithms, and it is difficult to verify the implementation of treaties by various countries through physical verification. Second, in order to maintain their strategic advantages, countries often take confidentiality measures for the details of the military application of advanced technologies, so that opponents cannot detect their strategic intentions. In the current international environment, this opacity not only intensifies the arms race, but also lays the groundwork for future escalation of conflicts.
Third, the uncertainty of the strategic intentions of various countries will also intensify the arms race. The impact of artificial intelligence on strategic stability, nuclear deterrence and war escalation depends largely on other countries’ perception of its capabilities rather than its actual capabilities. As American scholar Thomas Schelling pointed out, international relations often have the characteristics of risk competition, which is more of a test of courage than force. The relationship between major opponents is determined by which side is ultimately willing to invest more power, or make it look like it is about to invest more power. ⑨ An actor’s perception of the capabilities of others, whether true or false, will greatly affect the progress of the arms race. If a country vigorously develops intelligent weapon systems, competitors will become suspicious of their competitors’ armament capabilities and intentions to develop armaments without being sure of the other party’s intentions, and often take reciprocal measures, that is, to meet their own security needs by developing armaments. It is this ambiguity of intention that stimulates technological accumulation, exacerbates the instability of weapons deployment, and ultimately leads to a vicious cycle.
Empowering operational processes increases the risk of conflict.
Empowered by big data and artificial intelligence technologies, traditional combat processes will be rebuilt intelligently, that is, from “situational awareness – command decision-making – attack and defense coordination – comprehensive support” to “intelligent cognition of global situation – human-machine integrated hybrid decision-making – manned/unmanned autonomous coordination – proactive on-demand precise support”. However, although the intelligent reconstruction of combat processes has improved the efficiency and accuracy of operations, it has also increased the risk of conflict and misjudgment.
First, wars that break out at “machine speed” will increase the risk of hasty actions. Artificial intelligence weapon systems have demonstrated strong capabilities in accuracy and response speed, making future wars break out at “machine speed”. ⑩ However, too fast a war will also increase the risk of conflict. In areas such as missile defense, autonomous weapon systems, and cyberspace that value autonomy and response speed, faster response speeds will bring huge strategic advantages, but will also greatly compress the time window for the defender to respond to military actions, causing combat commanders and decision makers to be under tremendous “time pressure”, exacerbating the risk of “hasty action” and increasing the possibility of accidental escalation of crises.
Second, reliance on system autonomy may increase the chance of misjudgment under pressure. The U.S. Department of Defense believes that “highly autonomous artificial intelligence systems can autonomously select and execute corresponding operations based on the dynamic changes in mission parameters, and efficiently achieve human preset goals. The increase in autonomy not only greatly reduces dependence on manpower and improves overall operational efficiency, but is also regarded by defense planners as a key factor in maintaining tactical leadership and ensuring battlefield advantage.” ⑪ However, since human commanders cannot respond quickly enough, they may gradually delegate control to autonomous systems, increasing the chance of misjudgment. In March 2003, the U.S. Patriot missile system mistakenly marked a friendly Tornado fighter as an anti-radiation missile. The commander chose to launch the missile under the pressure of only a few seconds to react, resulting in the death of two pilots. ⑫
Third, it weakens the effectiveness of the crisis termination mechanism. During the Cold War, the United States and the Soviet Union led the construction of a series of restrictive measures to curb the escalation of crises and prevent them from evolving into large-scale nuclear wars. In these measures, humans play a vital role as “supervisors”. When risks may get out of control, they can initiate termination measures in sufficient time to avoid large-scale humanitarian disasters. However, with the improvement of the computing power of artificial intelligence systems and their deep integration with machine learning, combat responses have become faster, more precise and destructive, and humans’ termination intervention mechanism for crises may be weakened.
War accountability is difficult and collateral casualties increase.
Artificial intelligence weapon systems make it more difficult to define responsibility for war. In traditional combat modes, weapons systems are controlled by humans. Once errors or crises occur, human operators or developers of operating systems will bear corresponding responsibilities. Artificial intelligence technology itself weakens human initiative and control capabilities, making the attribution of responsibility for technical behavior unclear.
The first is the problem of the “black box” of artificial intelligence. Although artificial intelligence has significant advantages in processing and analyzing data, its internal operating rules and causal logic are often difficult for humans to understand and explain, which makes it difficult for programmers to correct errors in the algorithm. This problem is often referred to as the “black box” of the algorithm model. Once the artificial intelligence weapon system poses a safety hazard, the “algorithm black box” may become a rational excuse for the relevant responsible parties to shirk responsibility. Those who pursue responsibility can only face generalized shirking and shirking of responsibility, and point the finger of responsibility at the artificial intelligence weapon system. In practice, if the decision-making process of artificial intelligence cannot be understood and explained, it may cause a series of problems, such as decision-making errors, trust crises, and information abuse.
The second is the division of responsibilities between humans and machines in military operations. When an AI system fails or makes a wrong decision, should it be considered an independent entity to bear responsibility? Or should it be considered a tool, with human operators bearing all or part of the responsibility? The complexity of this division of responsibilities lies not only in the technical level, but also in the ethical and legal levels. On the one hand, although AI systems can make autonomous decisions, their decision-making process is still limited by human preset procedures and algorithms, so their responsibilities cannot be completely independent of humans. On the other hand, AI systems may go beyond the preset scope of humans and make independent decisions in some cases. How to define their responsibilities at this time has also become a difficult problem in the field of arms control.
The third is the issue of the allocation of decision-making power between humans and artificial intelligence weapon systems. According to the different autonomous powers of the machine, the artificial intelligence system can perform tasks in three decision-making and control modes: semi-autonomous, supervised autonomous, and fully autonomous. In a semi-autonomous system, the decision-making power of the action is controlled by humans; in supervised autonomous actions, humans supervise and intervene when necessary; in fully autonomous actions, humans do not participate in the action process. With the gradual deepening of the military application of artificial intelligence, the role of humans in the combat system is undergoing a gradual transformation from the traditional “man in the loop” mode to the “man on the loop”, and humans have evolved from direct operators inside the system to supervisors outside the system. However, this transformation has also raised new problems. How to ensure that artificial intelligence weapon systems can still follow human ethics and values when operating independently is a major challenge facing the current field of artificial intelligence weapon research and development.
Lowering the threshold for proliferation leads to misuse and abuse.
Traditional strategic competition usually involves large-scale research and development and procurement of weapons systems, which requires a lot of money and technical support. After AI technology matures and spreads, it has the advantages of being easy to obtain and inexpensive. Even small and medium-sized countries may have the ability to develop advanced intelligent weapon systems. At present, strategic competition in the field of military AI is mainly concentrated between major military powers such as the United States and Russia. However, in the long run, the spread of AI technology will expand the scope of strategic competition and pose a destructive threat to the existing strategic balance. Once smaller countries that master AI technology have relatively strong competitiveness, their willingness to initiate confrontation when facing threats from major powers may increase.
First, artificial intelligence helps develop some lightweight and agile means of warfare, thereby encouraging some small and medium-sized countries or non-state actors to use it to carry out small, opportunistic military adventures, achieving their strategic goals at a lower cost and with more abundant channels. Second, the rapid development of artificial intelligence has made new forms of warfare such as cyber warfare and electronic warfare increasingly prominent. In a highly competitive battlefield environment, malicious third-party actors can influence military planning and strategic deterrence by manipulating information, leading to an escalation of the situation. In the Ukrainian crisis that broke out in 2022, a lot of false information was spread on the Internet to confuse the public. Third, the widespread application of artificial intelligence technology has also reduced strategic transparency. Traditional military strategies often rely on a large amount of intelligence collection, analysis and prediction, and with the assistance of artificial intelligence technology, combat planning and decision-making processes have become more complex and unpredictable. This opacity may lead to misunderstandings and misjudgments, thereby increasing the risk of escalating conflicts.
Governance Path for Security Risks of Weaponized Artificial Intelligence
To ensure the safe development of artificial intelligence and avoid the potential harm caused by its weaponization, we should strengthen international communication on governance strategies, seek consensus and cooperation among countries on the military application of artificial intelligence; promote dialogue and coordination on laws and regulations to form a unified and standardized legal framework; strengthen the constraints on artificial intelligence ethics to ensure that technological development complies with ethical standards; and actively participate in global security governance cooperation to jointly maintain peace and stability in the international community.
Attach great importance to strategic communication at the international level.
AI governance is a global issue that requires the concerted efforts of all countries to solve. On the international stage, countries have both mixed and conflicting interests. Therefore, dealing with global issues through effective communication channels has become the key to maintaining world peace and development.
On the one hand, we need to accurately grasp the challenges of international governance of AI. We need to grasp the consensus of various countries on the development of weaponized AI, pay close attention to the policy differences among countries in the security governance of weaponized AI applications, and coordinate relevant initiatives with the UN agenda through consultation and cooperation, so as to effectively prevent the military abuse of AI and promote the use of AI for peaceful purposes.
On the other hand, governments should be encouraged to reach relevant agreements and establish strategic mutual trust through official or semi-official dialogues. Compared with the “Track 1 Dialogue” at the government level, the “Track 1.5 Dialogue” refers to dialogues between government officials and civilians, while the “Track 2 Dialogue” is a non-official dialogue between scholars, retired officials, etc. These two forms of dialogue have higher flexibility and are important supplements and auxiliary means to official dialogues between governments. Through a variety of dialogue and communication methods, officials and civilians can widely discuss possible paths to arms control, share experiences and expertise, and avoid the escalation of the arms race and the deterioration of tensions. These dialogue mechanisms will provide countries with a continuous communication and cooperation platform, help enhance mutual understanding, strengthen strategic mutual trust, and jointly respond to the challenges brought about by the militarization of artificial intelligence.
Scientifically formulate laws and ethical norms for artificial intelligence.
Artificial intelligence technology itself is neither right nor wrong, good nor evil, but there are differences in good and bad intentions in the design, development, manufacturing, use, operation and maintenance of artificial intelligence. The weaponization of artificial intelligence has aroused widespread ethical concerns. Under the framework of international law, can autonomous weapon systems accurately distinguish between combatants and civilians on a complex battlefield? In addition, if artificial intelligence weapon systems cause unexpected harm, how to define the responsibility? Is it in line with moral and ethical standards to give machines the decision-making power of life and death? These concerns highlight the need to strengthen the ethical constraints of artificial intelligence.
On the one hand, we must insist on ethics first and integrate the concept of “intelligent for good” from the source of technology. In the design process of artificial intelligence military systems, values such as people-oriented and intelligent for good will be embedded in the system. The purpose is to eliminate the indiscriminate killing and injury that may be caused by artificial intelligence from the source, control its excessive lethality, and prevent accidental damage, so as to limit the damage caused by artificial intelligence weapon systems to the smallest possible range. At present, nearly 100 institutions or government departments at home and abroad have issued various artificial intelligence ethical principle documents, and academia and industry have also reached a consensus on the basic ethical principles of artificial intelligence. In 2022, China’s “Position Paper on Strengthening the Ethical Governance of Artificial Intelligence” submitted to the United Nations provided an important reference for the development of global artificial intelligence ethical supervision. The document clearly emphasizes that artificial intelligence ethical supervision should be promoted through institutional construction, risk control, collaborative governance and other measures.
On the other hand, we need to improve relevant laws and regulations and clarify the boundaries of rights and responsibilities of AI entities. We need to formulate strict technical review standards to ensure the security and reliability of AI systems. We need to conduct comprehensive tests before AI systems go online to ensure that they do not have a negative impact on human life and social order. We need to clarify the legal responsibilities of developers, users, maintainers and other parties throughout the life cycle of AI systems, and establish corresponding accountability mechanisms.
Pragmatically participate in international cooperation on artificial intelligence security governance.
The strategic risks brought about by the military application of artificial intelligence further highlight the importance of pragmatic cooperation in international security. It is recommended to focus on three aspects:
First, promote the formulation of guidelines for the use of artificial intelligence in the military field. Formulating a code of conduct for the military application of artificial intelligence is an important responsibility of all countries to regulate the military application of artificial intelligence, and it is also a necessary measure to promote international consensus and comply with international laws and regulations. In 2021, the Chinese government submitted the “China’s Position Paper on Regulating the Military Application of Artificial Intelligence” to the United Nations Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons Conference, and issued the “Global Artificial Intelligence Governance Initiative” in 2023. These have provided constructive references for improving the code of conduct for regulating the military application of artificial intelligence.
The second is to establish an applicable regulatory framework. The dual-use nature of AI involves many stakeholders. Some non-state actors, such as non-governmental organizations, technology communities, and technology companies, will play a more prominent role in the global governance of AI and become an important force in the construction of a regulatory framework for the military application of AI. The technical regulatory measures that countries can take include: clarifying the scope of use of AI technology, responsible entities, and penalties for violations; strengthening technology research and development to improve the security and controllability of technology; establishing a regulatory mechanism to supervise the development and application of technology throughout the process, and promptly discover and solve problems.
Third, jointly develop AI security prevention technologies and solutions. Encourage bilateral or multilateral negotiations between governments and militaries to be included in the dialogue options for military AI applications, conduct extensive exchanges on military AI security prevention technologies, operating procedures and practical experience, promote the sharing and reference of relevant risk management technical standards and usage specifications, and continuously inject new stability factors into the international security mutual trust mechanism under the background of AI militarization.
(The author is the director, researcher, and doctoral supervisor of the National Defense Science and Technology Strategic Research Think Tank of the National University of Defense Technology; Liu Hujun, a master’s student at the School of Foreign Languages of the National University of Defense Technology, also contributed to this article)
三是創新未來作戰概念。作戰概念是對未來戰爭樣式與作戰方式進行的前瞻性研究，往往可牽引新的作戰力量編組及武器裝備跨越發展。美軍近年來提出「分散式殺傷」「多域戰」「馬賽克戰」等作戰概念，試圖引領軍事變革的發展方向。以“馬賽克戰”為例，該作戰概念將各種感測器、通訊網路、指揮控制系統、武器平台等視為“馬賽克碎片”，這些“碎片”單元在人工智慧技術賦能支援下，透過網路資訊系統可動態連結、自主規劃、協同組合，從而形成一個按需整合、極具彈性、靈活機動的殺傷網。 2022年3月，美國國防部發布《聯合全域指揮控制（JADC2）戰略實施計畫》，該計畫旨在將多域作戰向全局作戰概念拓展，將各軍種感測器連接到一個統一「物聯網」中，利用人工智慧演算法幫助改善作戰指揮決策。 ③
Modern war presents the explosive growth of battlefield information and new combat style. With the continuous emergence of new technologies such as artificial intelligence and edge computing, a new generation of command information system is coming. Based on the international fourth generation command information system, this paper imagines the overall architecture of the fifth generation command information system, expounds the technical characteristics of its knowledge center, intelligent enabling, cloud edge integration, independent evolution and resilience adaptation, analyze its key technologies, continuously improves the battlefield information advantage, and transforms to the battlefield cognitive advantage, decision-making advantage and action advantage.
Abstract
Modern war presents the explosive growth of battlefield information and new combat style. With the continuous emergence of new technologies such as artificial intelligence and edge computing, a new generation of command information system is coming. Based on the international fourth generation command information system, this paper imagines the overall architecture of the fifth generation command information system, expounds the technical characteristics of its knowledge center, intelligent enabling, cloud edge integration, independent evolution and resilience adaptation, analyze its key technologies, continuously improves the battlefield information advantage, and transforms to the battlefield cognitive advantage, decision-making advantage and action advantage.
Download CitationsZHANG Zhi-hua , WANG Fan . The Fifth Generation Command Information System and Its Intelligent Technology. Command Control and Simulation . 2021, 43(5): 1-7 https://doi.org/10.3969/j.issn.1673-3819.2021.05.001
Previous Article Next Article In his report to the 19th CPC National Congress, President Xi Jinping clearly pointed out that “we should accelerate the development of military intelligence and improve the joint combat capability and all-domain combat capability based on network information systems”
[ 1 ] . This statement indicates that future wars will be based on networked and intelligent system operations. The fifth-generation command information system will focus on intelligence, strengthen battlefield information advantages, and strive for battlefield cognitive advantages, decision-making advantages, and action advantages. According to relevant reports, the international command information system has gone through four stages of development
[ 2 ] and is evolving towards the fifth-generation command information system. The system architecture is developing towards intelligence, knowledge, cloud edge, and service. The fourth-generation system in the world mainly uses networking, service, and cloud to build an overall coordinated command information system
[ 2 ] , which meets the needs of coordinated operations to a certain extent and achieves information advantages. However, with the explosive growth of battlefield information, it is difficult to transform the system information advantage into the commander’s cognitive and decision-making advantages. With the emergence of new combat styles such as unmanned combat and cyber warfare, in order to adapt to the complexity and nonlinear characteristics of combat command, the command information system must break through cognitive technology and provide accurate battlefield situation cognition and planning and decision-making capabilities. The fifth-generation command information system is envisioned to be centered on artificial intelligence, edge computing, and cloud brain technology to enhance battlefield cognitive advantages, decision-making advantages, and action advantages, support combat command to move from the information domain to the cognitive domain, and realize capabilities such as information knowledge, intelligent decision-making, agile command and control, multi-domain collaboration, and edge services.
1 New Concept of Command and Control
1.1 Intelligent command and control
Intelligent command and control is to use artificial intelligence methods to achieve the transformation from “information-based, network-centric” to “intelligent, knowledge-centric”, and assist commanders in solving perception, understanding, and cognitive problems in the command field. The system architecture and technical architecture of the command information system will change. The system will apply corresponding intelligent technologies around functional domains such as situation, command, control, and support to improve the cognitive and decision-making efficiency of combat command. Foreign militaries pay great attention to the intelligent application of combat command. Since 2007, the US DARPA has published three white papers on national and military development strategies for artificial intelligence, and has launched plans such as “Deep Green”
[ 3 ⇓ – 5 ] , “The High-Tech Holy Grail of the Third Offset Strategy”, and “Commander’s Virtual Staff”. In the field of intelligence perception and tactical decision-making, it has launched artificial intelligence projects such as “Insight”, “Xdata”, “Deep Learning”, “Deep Text Search and Filtering”, “Distributed Battlefield Management”, “Human-Machine Collaboration”, “Mind’s Eye”, “Trace”, “Human-Machine Collaboration”, “X-Plan”, “Cognitive Electronic Warfare”, and “AlphaAI Air Combat”, realizing the ability to deeply understand battlefield intelligence, predict situation cognition, and automatically generate and deduce tactical plans. Since then, the U.S. military has also set up projects such as “Autonomous Negotiation Formation”, “Big Dog”, and “Hummingbird” to improve the manned and unmanned collaborative control capabilities. Overall, the U.S. military currently has the world’s leading level of intelligent combat command. In addition, Germany, France, Russia and other countries have also conducted extensive research in intelligent information perception and processing, intelligent autonomous unmanned combat platforms, etc., and have achieved fruitful research results
With the development of military technology, traditional large-scale cluster combat methods are gradually transformed into small-scale asymmetric combat. Combat activities at the tactical edge will play an important role in war. The tactical edge is also known as the “first tactical mile”
[ 9 ] . It is far away from the command center and has limited communication, computing, and service resources. It is usually composed of combat platforms, tactical units, and special forces. In order to gain information and decision-making advantages, command units at all levels use ubiquitous networks, micro-clouds, and other technologies to achieve information and resource sharing. Mobile computing devices at the tactical edge use fog computing methods to integrate into larger combat units and form micro-clouds under self-organizing networks. The large amount of situation information obtained by the tactical edge is calculated, stored, and shared in the tactical micro-cloud, which simplifies the scale of interaction with the command center, improves the timeliness of information interaction, and solves the problem of insufficient service capabilities at the tactical frontier in the past.
1.3 Multi-Domain Battle Command and Control
In 2016, the U.S. Army proposed the concept of “multi-domain warfare”
[ 10 ] , taking “synchronous cross-domain firepower” and “all-domain mobility” as core elements, promoting the high integration of combat elements, enhancing all-domain strike capabilities, and attempting to eliminate the “anti-access/area denial” capabilities of China, Russia and other countries. It mainly has the following three characteristics
[ 10 ] . First, the combat domain is expanded in multiple dimensions, enabling the U.S. Army to deploy forces from the ground to multiple combat domains such as sea, air, electricity, and the Internet, and has the ability to integrate with other services. Second, the combat elements are highly integrated, and the various services and combat functional domains can share information, coordinate tactics, and synchronize actions, which promotes the transformation of joint services to the integration of combat capability elements. Third, the command chain is developing in a flat direction, and the command mechanism is efficient and flexible. It is necessary to have centralized planning and decentralized execution, and to share information and instructions with various command nodes and individual soldiers, extend the tactical command chain, and realize rapid, multi-line, and multi-domain combat command.
1.4 Mosaic Combat Command and Control
In 2017, DARPA proposed the concept of “mosaic warfare”
[ 11-12 ] , which takes into account both ” threat-based” and “capability-based” equipment construction methods, and flexibly combines sensors, command and control nodes, combat platforms, and cooperative manned and unmanned systems in multiple combat domains on demand to form a mission system. System integration uses a building block approach to dynamically link dispersed fine-grained systems together to form a combat system similar to a “mosaic block”. “Mosaic warfare” uses intelligent decision-making tools to provide distributed situational awareness and adaptive planning and control, assist in combat mission planning, and implement distributed combat management. “Mosaic warfare” requires the replacement of fixed combat force composition with adaptive system reorganization, and the combat command has a resilient and adaptable information system that can customize physically dispersed mixed combat units on demand and meet various dynamic and collaborative combat requirements
2. Transformation of the Characteristics of the Fifth Generation Command Information System
1) The system shifts from network-centric to knowledge-centric. The network-centric approach brings battlefield information advantage, which is then transformed into cognitive advantage and decision-making advantage. The information sharing between systems shifts to knowledge-centric intelligence sharing, which promotes the transformation of the entire command system into decision-making and action advantage.2) The cloud architecture is transformed into cloud-edge-end integration. Expand the original cloud resource sharing capabilities
[ 2 ] and extend them to the platforms, teams, and individual soldiers at the tactical edge, realize the integrated hybrid service capabilities of the battlefield center cloud, mobile cloud, and edge micro-cloud in a mobile environment, and enhance the tactical frontier resource service capabilities.3) Transformation from scheduled integration to resilient adaptability. Currently, the system is deployed and operated according to preset rules. When the mission changes, it must be regulated according to the pre-planned plan. In the future, battlefield systems are vulnerable to attacks and paralysis, requiring the system to have the ability to self-reconstruct, resilient and adaptable when disturbances occur to ensure that the core mission is uninterrupted
[ 13-14 ] .4) Transformation from computational intelligence to cognitive intelligence. Intelligence is manifested in computational intelligence, perceptual intelligence, and cognitive intelligence. Currently, computational intelligence provides a tactical deterministic solution method. In the future battlefield, intelligent technology must be used to improve the accuracy and real-time degree of cognition in terms of massive intelligence processing, situational awareness, and decision-making reasoning.5) Performance changes from fixed fixed to autonomous learning evolution. The system’s algorithm and performance are generally determined and fixed during the design period, and performance improvement is achieved through upgrading and transformation. Intelligent systems have the ability of self-learning and self-evolution, and can learn algorithms for situational awareness and intelligent decision-making online to improve system performance.6) Construction shifts from capability-based to knowledge-based. Command information systems are generally constructed based on capability elements, and system integration is integrated based on capability elements. Intelligent systems pay more attention to the intellectual construction of the system, focusing on the construction of system knowledge, rules, algorithms, and data.7) The interaction mode will shift to human-machine fusion intelligent interaction. Human-machine fusion intelligent perception, anthropomorphic interaction, intention-oriented intelligent human-machine interface interaction, wearable human-machine fusion computing, and fusion and linkage interaction will become the main interaction mode of future systems, and the human-machine control system will progress towards human-machine fusion.8) The separation of combat and training has shifted to the integration of combat, training, exercise and research. The fifth-generation command information system tightly couples combat command and tactical training, and has parallel simulation and reasoning capabilities. It can not only update intelligent algorithms, but also conduct combat and tactics confrontation research, obtain tactical data, and promote algorithm learning. Exercise training has developed from war game simulation to battlefield virtual game.
3 Overall Architecture Concept
The overall architecture of the future fifth-generation command information system should be a command information system that is knowledge-centric, human-machine integrated, intelligently empowered, cloud-edge integrated, autonomously evolving, and resilient and adaptable. The following article mainly describes the overall system from the perspectives of system architecture, service architecture, and technical architecture
[ 15 ] . The system architecture mainly refers to the composition of the system’s logical elements and their relationships, the service architecture describes the integration model of information and computing resources between systems, and the technical architecture describes the system’s technical reference model.
3.1 System Architecture Concept
The system is changing from “information-based, network-centric” to “intelligent, knowledge-centric”, while extending to the tactical edge. Based on the original system integration, the system integrates knowledge and algorithms, applies intelligent technology in functional domains such as situation, command, control, and support, and improves the cognition and decision-making efficiency of combat command. The system architecture is envisioned as follows:
Figure 1 Conceptualization of the fifth-generation command information system architecture
第五代指揮資訊系統架構概念
The fifth-generation system expands the functional domain of parallel deduction and learning training on the basis of functional elements such as situational awareness, command decision-making, action control, support and guarantee, and information services to meet the needs of combat branch evaluation and algorithm learning. In terms of situational awareness, it covers computational intelligence, perceptual intelligence, and cognitive intelligence, mainly completing battlefield intelligence processing and target identification, understanding and predicting the situation, having state and momentum, and improving information advantage; in terms of command decision-making, it is mainly based on cognitive intelligence, which can machine tactical reasoning, generate plans and plans, and improve decision-making level; in terms of action control, it is mainly based on computational intelligence and cognitive intelligence, completing task monitoring and temporary tactical control, and providing action optimization strategies based on knowledge reasoning, such as command guidance, firepower coordination, and unmanned cluster intelligent control; in terms of comprehensive guarantee, it is mainly based on computational intelligence, completing the optimal allocation of battlefield resources under prior knowledge and rules; in terms of parallel deduction and learning training, it combines command and control with simulation training, trains personnel and algorithms in peacetime, and conducts parallel plan deduction in wartime.In addition, the fifth-generation system has an autonomous evolving learning mechanism: first, autonomous learning within the node to optimize the algorithm and knowledge base; second, the nodes share intelligent algorithms and knowledge through the command cloud to collaboratively complete the evolution. Each node can upload the learned algorithms and knowledge to the command cloud to update the algorithms and knowledge of the knowledge center; third, the system issues instructions to tactical nodes, weapon nodes, detection nodes, and combat support nodes, and collects execution feedback. These feedback results can be used to learn and evolve the algorithm.Between the fifth-generation systems, based on the original comprehensive integration based on the cloud/end architecture, an integrated sharing method for knowledge and intelligent algorithms has been added. Each command information system uploads intelligent algorithms and knowledge rules to the knowledge center for plug-and-play sharing by heterogeneous nodes such as battlefield detection, command, and weapons. The command information system can obtain existing intelligent knowledge from the knowledge center and conduct secondary learning and training in combination with its own battlefield data to improve algorithm capabilities. The command cloud will eventually form an intelligent knowledge center for the battlefield, and a battlefield knowledge network will be formed between the intelligent command information systems.
3.2 Concept of cloud-edge-device service architecture
In the future, ubiquitous network connections will extend from command units to various squads, individual soldiers, and platforms at the tactical edge. The fifth-generation command information system will use fog computing and distributed computing technologies to build tactical mobile clouds, squad micro-clouds (Cloudlet), and individual task group pico-clouds (Pico-Cloud) based on cloud architecture technology
[ 9 , 16 ] , forming tactical frontier mobile cloud service capabilities, realizing the hybrid service capabilities of battlefield centralized combat clouds, mobile tactical clouds, and edge micro-clouds and pico-clouds, forming an integrated resource service structure of “cloud, edge, and end”, and quickly building command chains and strike chains.
Concept of cloud-edge-end service architecture of the fifth-generation command information system
第五代指揮資訊系統雲端端服務架構構想
The cloud-edge-end integrated service capability supports the fifth-generation system to achieve dynamic aggregation and release of combat resources through “cloud deployment, cloud aggregation, cloud attack, and cloud dissipation”, thereby improving the combat effectiveness of the entire system
[ 17 ] . The centralized combat cloud is deployed in the command center in a fixed cloud manner
[ 16 ] to provide services for various combat nodes; air, land, and sea tactical clouds provide information, algorithms, computing, and storage services under mobile conditions for aircraft, ships, armored forces, and other forces at the tactical frontier, thereby improving the resource sharing level at the tactical frontier
[ 9 , 16 , 18-19 ] ; in tactical edge military operations, micro-clouds and pico – clouds are constructed. Micro-clouds are deployed in fog computing on vehicles, aircraft, and boats within one hop of the communication distance of the frontier contact unit, expanding the tactical information processing and sharing capabilities of the frontier unit personnel. When individual soldiers and units cannot access micro-clouds, mobile ad hoc networks and distributed computing technologies can be used to construct pico-clouds to support dynamic information aggregation and resource sharing end-to-end under weak connections at the tactical edge, thereby extending the command chain.
3.3 Technical Architecture Concept
The fifth-generation command information system will extend the war from the physical domain and information domain to the cognitive domain, and will change the way of command and control. Its technical architecture is as follows:
Technical architecture of the fifth-generation command information system
第五代指揮資訊系統技術架構
The fifth generation command information system adds tactical edge services and intelligent computing environments based on the networked computing environment of the fourth generation command information system, which is compatible with the system architecture and meets the intelligent requirements of the system. The tactical edge service computing environment provides micro-cloud and pico-cloud basic computing, storage, and information service platforms for weakly connected terminals; the intelligent computing environment provides intelligent services for situation, decision-making, control, and human-computer interaction.The intelligent technology environment layer includes the following five parts. The intelligent computing hardware platform is equipped with AI acceleration processors such as GPU, FPGA, and TPU to adapt to the computing power required by deep learning. Some algorithms use brain-like chips with neuron processing mechanisms or solidified dedicated intelligent computing chips; the intelligent data management platform mainly manages data, samples, cases, models, and knowledge; the deep learning framework integrates the runtime library and basic algorithm library of deep learning and reinforcement learning; the traditional artificial intelligence computing framework includes traditional algorithm support libraries such as spark and bigflow for search and solution, data mining, and parallel processing; intelligent services include application-oriented intelligent algorithm service libraries, such as intelligent interactive recognition, valuation network calculation, and strategy network calculation services, which provide solution interfaces for application development.The intelligent application layer mainly provides functional elements such as intelligent situational awareness, planning and decision-making, action control and information services, human-computer interaction, learning and training. It is the system’s main functional interface for users and the core problem that intelligence needs to solve.The fifth-generation system technology architecture model mentioned above mainly uses cloud computing and intelligent technology support services to achieve the sharing of situations, instructions, algorithms and knowledge between systems, and supports system autonomous evolution, algorithm upgrades and knowledge updates. System intelligence can be divided into levels 0 to 4
[ 20 ] . Level 0: full manual control; Level 1: computing intelligence, deterministic complex tactical calculations and information automation processing; Level 2: having certain perceptual intelligence, able to understand, evaluate and predict battlefield situations; Level 3: having cognitive intelligence, able to provide machine decision-making and decision-making deduction capabilities; Level 4: having human-machine integration and symbiosis capabilities, and the core algorithm can self-learn and self-evolve. At present, the intelligence level of the fourth-generation system is generally at level 1, and situation understanding and command decisions are still controlled by humans. The intelligence of the fifth-generation system can reach the fourth level through three stages. The first stage is to realize the ability to perceive, understand and evaluate the battlefield situation; the second stage is to build a knowledge base of tactics and enable machine decision-making based on rules, knowledge and algorithms; the third stage is to realize machine self-learning and self-evolution of core tasks, and have the function of autonomous decision-making, reaching a highly intelligent level of human-machine integration
4 Key technologies of the system and its intelligent concept
The key technologies of the fifth-generation command information system mainly solve the above – mentioned problems of intelligence, cloud – edge-end integration, and system resilience and adaptability. The key technologies of the system and its intelligent concept is the following
Key technologies of the system and its intelligent concept
系統關鍵技術及智慧化理念
The key technologies of the fifth-generation command information system cover all aspects of the command and control OODA loop, and can support the system’s intelligence, resilience, and edge command and control requirements in terms of detection, decision-making, control, and strike, thereby building a precise perception chain, rapid control chain, precise strike chain, and agile service chain, extending to the tactical edge and improving command effectiveness.
1) Situational Awareness Machine Analysis TechnologyIntelligence compilation and analysis technology.
Use big data, deep learning, knowledge graphs and other technologies to perform intelligent information correlation matching, text semantics intelligent analysis, and public opinion intelligent search and extraction to obtain valuable intelligence from massive, multi-source, and heterogeneous battlefield information.
Multiple target rapid recognition technology. Using deep learning methods, a multi-layer CNN convolutional neural network is constructed, and sample feature parameter learning is used to complete feature extraction and rapid target recognition of optical, infrared, electromagnetic, and acoustic information.Situation recognition and understanding technology. Analyze the enemy’s combat intentions and combat capabilities, use the reinforcement learning valuation network technology to simulate the commander’s situation recognition process, and combine the CNN nonlinear battlefield situation fitting ability to establish a mapping from situation images to situation understanding
Situation machine prediction and assessment technology. Based on situation understanding, the enemy’s tactical behavior is estimated. First, the strategy network is used to obtain the enemy’s activity rules, and then the parallel deduction method is used to perform multi-branch situation deduction. Finally, a prediction network is constructed to predict the situation.
Combat mission space and strategy modeling technology. Modeling the state and action strategy of the combat mission space and determining the description method of the mission state, strategy, and feedback are the basis for deep reinforcement learning to make decisions.Mission planning machine decision-making technology. Use operations optimization to complete target analysis and task allocation. Use deep reinforcement learning and swarm intelligence algorithms to machine plan force composition, firepower configuration, and collaborative paths. Tactical planning tends to be rule-based reasoning and easy to break through; campaign planning tends to be knowledge-based reasoning based on experience, involving the art of command, and is more difficult to break through.
Parallel simulation technology for combat plans. With reference to the parallel simulation technology of the “deep green” system the Monte Carlo search tree and game test method are used to simulate enemy combat behavior, rehearse and evaluate the action process, and accumulate feedback reward and punishment functions for learning, training, and decision optimization.
Intelligent generation technology of combat plans. Using intelligent perception algorithms such as natural language understanding, voice command recognition, and sketch recognition, combined with the extraction of elements from the task model, the knowledge graph is used to automatically extract the plan to generate combat plans and command sequences .
Rapid decision-making technology on the spot. Based on the current situation, using the learning data accumulated by the game platform, automatically matching the most appropriate plan adjustment, making dynamic decisions on the plan based on Monte Carlo tree search and transfer learning algorithms, reverse reinforcement learning, and enhancing the generalization ability of the plan.3) Intelligent motion control technologySituation-based improvisation control technology. According to the effects and deviations of combat operations, the resources, paths, and coordination modes of the mission are dynamically adjusted, and parallel simulation multi-branch deduction and reinforcement learning technology are used to correct the deviations, thus realizing tactical “feedforward” control .
Swarm intelligence collaborative control technology. Promote the maximization of the overall effectiveness of battlefield intelligent bodies in collaborative operations, use ant colony and bee colony control algorithms and deep reinforcement learning methods to build a global tactical value network, establish an effect feedback model, and perform strategic control based on the value network.Firepower collaborative control technology. Improve the speed and accuracy of friend-or-foe identification, firepower allocation, and collaborative dispatch, use swarm intelligence and deep reinforcement learning algorithms to automatically plan, coordinate and optimize the strike chain, and have a certain degree of autonomous decision-making ability.
Multi-domain cluster system autonomous collaborative machine planning technology. Use branch search solution, knowledge reasoning, and deep reinforcement learning to plan and allocate collaborative tasks for manned/unmanned systems, and use swarm intelligence optimization algorithms to plan collaborative trajectories for unmanned and manned platforms.Multi-domain cluster system autonomous collaborative command and control technology. It monitors the missions of unmanned clusters and provides autonomous collaborative command and guidance. It uses swarm intelligence algorithms to detect conflicts and avoid collisions among multiple unmanned platforms, and coordinates grouping, routing, and load.
5) Intelligent information service technology.
Intelligent battlefield information sharing technology uses reinforcement learning and semantic association technology to analyze users’ information needs and preferences, generate information needs based on users’ differentiated characteristics, and intelligently push tactical information to users.
Human-computer fusion intelligent perception interaction technology. Construct multi-channel human-computer interaction methods including sketches, spoken language, gestures, head postures, expressions, eye movements, etc., and provide natural, sensitive, accurate and anthropomorphic interaction strategies . Intention-oriented intelligent human-computer interface technology. Using FCM fuzzy cognitive interactive reasoning technology, infer the user’s interactive intention, and organize the interactive interface output by integrating different means such as spoken language, gestures, sketches, and natural language according to the user’s interface needs and interaction preferences.Smart wearable human-machine fusion technology. It uses edge computing technology and new human-machine interaction methods such as voice, gestures, eye movements, brain-computer interfaces, and augmented reality to provide soldiers with smart wearable devices that have a collaborative, integrated, and linked human-machine interaction mode.
7) Virtual gaming and training evaluation technology.
The combat virtual game technology builds a game confrontation test platform, conducts combat knowledge modeling, and uses parallel simulation, branch decision, differential confrontation and other technologies to conduct red-blue confrontation, which not only trains tactics and methods, but also collects tactical data.Machine training and evaluation technology uses the data accumulated by the game platform and the experience of personnel to model, adopts small sample transfer learning technology to train and optimize the algorithm, replays the real data afterwards, performs transfer learning optimization on the decision model, and updates the decision plan.
8) System resilience adaptive reconstruction technology.
Environmental perception and autonomous fault detection technology. Under soft and hard damage, it can detect the main faults and analyze abnormal correlations, predict the occurrence of faults that affect task execution, evaluate the impact of faults on tasks, and realize active perception and rapid location of system resources and faults.System self-healing and reconstruction intelligent technology. When key nodes of the system fail, an adaptive mechanism is used to reallocate resources, achieve capacity regeneration, and continuously ensure the completion of core tasks. The system changes from a fault repair method with preset rules and manual participation to an intelligent system reconstruction method.
9) Tactical edge computing technology.
Mobile micro-cloud service platform technology. Deployed in fog computing mode on vehicles, aircraft, and boats within one hop of the enemy, it provides shared processing capabilities for combat teams and expands the tactical information processing capabilities of team members.Pi-cloud resource sharing technology under weak connection ad hoc network. Based on the individual soldier ad hoc network, the Pi-cloud is constructed using distributed computing technology to support end-to-end autonomous collaborative information sharing and resource sharing between individual soldier mobile devices under weak connection to meet tactical edge needs.
5 Development ideas and ideas
1) Gradually progress in stages, starting with the easy and then moving on to the difficult. In the first stage, image, voice, gesture, face recognition, and natural language understanding are applied to intelligence analysis; in the second stage, deep learning and reinforcement learning are applied to situational awareness and command decision-making; in the third stage, cloud computing is used to realize a knowledge-centered, intelligently empowered system.
2) Select intelligent algorithms for application. Focusing on the application of deep learning in situation and deep reinforcement learning in planning and decision-making, select appropriate tactical backgrounds to verify intelligent algorithms. Tactical-level planning of paths, firepower, tasks, etc. can be used as breakthroughs.
3) Strengthen the construction of knowledge engineering in the field of combat command. Expert rules, military regulations, and actual combat data are the basis of intelligent command. The existing combat rules should be modeled and represented in a knowledge-based manner, and the input and output mapping relationship between knowledge representation and deep learning should be established. The research on knowledge learning and knowledge reasoning methods should be strengthened .
4) Establish a virtual confrontation game platform to accumulate data. Intelligent algorithms require a large number of learning samples. The ways to accumulate samples are: Establish a confrontation game platform to conduct war games, human-machine confrontation, and red-blue confrontation to accumulate data; Collect tactical data from actual combat exercises and build models as training samples.
6 Conclusion
This paper proposes the overall and intelligent concept of the fifth-generation command information system, constructs a new generation of command information system architecture with “intelligent empowerment, human-machine integration, cloud-edge integration, autonomous evolution, cloud-intelligence sharing, and resilience and adaptability”, analyzes its key technologies and capability characteristics, and attempts to achieve cognitive advantages, decision-making advantages, and action advantages based on the fourth-generation system in the world .
There are not many technical verifications for the fifth-generation system in the world, so we should not rush for quick success and still need to conduct sufficient research.
In mid-July 2021 World Internet of Things Expo held a press conference and revealed that the expo is scheduled to be held in Wuxi in early September. At that time, the expo will be themed “Intelligently Connecting Everything and Leading the Future with Digital”, focusing on showcasing the latest achievements in the global Internet of Things field.
The Internet of Things is changing people’s daily lives, quietly changing the form of modern warfare, and promoting the development of intelligent warfare.
Professor Chen Yingwen from the National University of Defense Technology tells you about the military Internet of Things——
Everything is connected, winning thousands of miles away
■Feng Zijian, Qu Shenghui, Qi Xucong
Schematic diagram of military Internet of Things technology simulation.
A “bridge” connecting the virtual world and the real world
The so-called Internet of Things can be simply understood as an Internet that connects everything. If the Internet is a “dialogue” in the virtual world, then the Internet of Things is a “bridge” connecting the virtual world and the real world.
The application of the Internet of Things had already appeared in wars under the name of “sensor networks” more than half a century before it attracted people’s attention.
In the 1960s, the “Ho Chi Minh Trail” on the Vietnam battlefield was covered with tens of thousands of “tropical tree” vibration sensors. These sensors are like a dense “spider web”, waiting for the “prey” to arrive. Whenever a person or vehicle passes by, the sensor detects the vibration generated by the target and records data such as its direction and speed.
At this time, tens of thousands of kilometers away, in an infiltration surveillance center code-named “Task Force Alpha”, US military technicians were receiving and processing relevant information sent back by the “sensor network”. Once a Vietnamese military convoy was discovered passing by, the command center would send instructions to the US troops stationed in Vietnam, instructing fighter planes to fly over the target and carry out bombing.
Due to the limited technology at the time, the sensors could only work for a few weeks. The “spider web” carefully built by the US military ultimately failed to prevent the Vietnamese army from transporting troops and supplies.
Although this “cooperative” combat method between humans and objects did not achieve any good results in history, it has prompted Western countries led by the United States to conduct in-depth research on Internet technology and continuously explore the interconnection between humans and objects, and objects and objects. Its highly informationized advantages are highlighted in many areas of military applications.
After decades of development, some military powers have successively developed a series of military sensor network systems, including the “Smart Dust” system for collecting battlefield information, the “Lumbas” system for remotely monitoring the battlefield environment, the “Sand Straight Line” system for monitoring the movement of weapon platforms, and the “Wolf Pack” system specifically for detecting electromagnetic signals.
Among them, the detection element of the “smart dust” system is only the size of a grain of sand, but it can realize all functions such as information collection, processing and sending, thereby enhancing the ability to control information during combat.
No combat entity will become an “island”
In the world of the Internet of Things, every grain of “sand” will have its network address. For the military Internet of Things, no operational entity will become an “island”.
During the first Gulf War, many weapons and equipment transported by the US military could not be found, resulting in a large waste of war resources. The reason is that the containers transporting weapons and equipment were not clearly marked, and personnel were unable to track the location of the transported weapons and equipment, which led to the loss of a large number of weapons and equipment.
Twelve years later, during the Iraq War, the US military installed radio frequency microchips on every container shipped to the Gulf region, and placed readers and writers according to transportation and storage needs, thereby achieving full tracking of personnel, equipment, and materials, greatly improving the effectiveness of military logistics support.
Foreign research data revealed that compared with the Gulf War, the Iraq War’s sea transport volume decreased by 87%, air transport volume decreased by 88.6%, combat equipment reserves decreased by 75%, and strategic support equipment mobilization decreased by 89%.
In fact, from the moment the electronic tags are attached and the sensing systems are installed, the originally silent equipment becomes like an organic life form that can sense and communicate with each other. Through the transformation of the Internet of Things technology, each combat entity such as combat personnel and combat equipment has become a “network node”. Through perception and communication with each other, the battlefield situation is clearer and combat operations are more efficient.
Take the personnel assessment network established by the Australian Department of Defense as an example: during combat, commanders can assess the physical functions and conditions of soldiers through sensors worn by soldiers, and then combine them with satellite positioning information to obtain the physical function status of all personnel. Commanders can use this as a basis for allocating troops, which can greatly improve the efficiency of battlefield decision-making.
Military IoT technology will play a big role in future battlefields
In today’s world, there are more and more similar military news——
In June 2016, the US military launched an airstrike using drones, killing 16 Taliban members; in September of the same year, Turkish security forces killed 6 terrorists under the guidance of their domestically produced drones.
In the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in the Middle East in 2020, a video released by Azerbaijan made many people feel the power of networked and intelligent weapons: after the drone discovered the enemy tank, it aimed and fired…
From sensing the battlefield situation to locking onto the target and then launching an attack on the target, the reason behind unmanned equipment becoming the main offensive entity is the huge support of military Internet of Things technology. This huge intelligent information network is like the “clairvoyance” and “super hearing” on the battlefield, allowing combat personnel to sit firmly in the “central military camp” and win the battle thousands of miles away.
“Everything is connected, and victory can be won thousands of miles away.” This is the development trend of military Internet of Things technology and an important feature of future intelligent warfare. In the era of the Internet of Everything, the military Internet of Things will connect several individual combat entities into intelligent combat groups and generate a smart combat system. In the future, it will only be necessary to give the smart combat system clear combat objectives, and military combat personnel will not have to participate in its execution process.
At present, the development of military Internet of Things technology still has a long way to go before it can realize the Internet of Everything, but we should be aware that when smart nodes reach a certain scale, the military Internet of Things will achieve a qualitative leap.
In future battlefields, military Internet of Things technology will surely play a big role in achieving victory through “connection”.
