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Chinese Military Training and the Metaverse: Challenges & Opportunities Coexist

中國軍事訓練與虛擬世界:挑戰與機會並存

現代英語:

 In the field of military training, the basic technology of the Metaverse has long been used as a virtual resource by the military to varying degrees. It must be acknowledged that the value and potential of the Metaverse in military training is immeasurable and is the focus of current and future military competition. However, due to the immaturity of the development of Metaverse-related technologies and their application in military training, the bright prospects are accompanied by potential risks.

1. The past and present of the military training metaverse
       
 The metaverse relies on a technology group with virtual reality technology as its core. In its early form in the military field, it is also called virtual simulation or simulated Internet. It can be said that virtual simulation training is very close to today’s concept of the metaverse and is the primary form of the military training metaverse. From ancient times to the present, the progress that has brought great influence in the field of science and technology is generally for winning wars or maintaining combat effectiveness. As the leading technology of the third scientific and technological revolution, the metaverse is used for military training in different forms of basic metaverses in the global military field.
      The US military began to deploy the “Military Metaverse” plan very early. In 1978, Jack Thorpe, a captain of the US Air Force, proposed the idea of ​​a military simulator network in his paper, hoping to establish a distributed or networked military modeling system to facilitate training. In 1983, the Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) of the US Department of Defense developed the Virtual Battlefield Network Simulator (SIMNET Simulator), which uses computers to generate virtual battlefields, simulate the situation of fighting between the two sides, and summarize errors and failures. Replacing field exercises in this way saves costs to a certain extent and improves the effectiveness of training. Although the SIMNET simulator, as the earliest version, was still at a lower level of battlefield simulation, it pioneered distributed or networked modeling and simulation. By the end of the 1980s, the project reached its peak, and eventually more than 200 simulated interconnected tank and aircraft simulators based on local area networks and wide area networks were formed across the United States and across Europe, and used for large-scale training and exercises. The distributed interactive simulation (DIS) protocol developed at that time is still in use today, and through more advanced high-level architectures, different military simulations can be linked to provide a richer collective training or mission preparation experience. It can be said that the SIMNET simulator project directly or indirectly promoted the development of many key technologies of the current metaverse. Today, the US military is very interested in the metaverse that has sprung up like mushrooms after rain. The newly established military branch, the United States Space Force (USSF), wants to create a military-specific metaverse for collaborative operations, training, and mission execution. Its chief technology officer, Lisa Costa, declared: “Soldiers cannot go to space in person. The only way they can experience their own combat territory is through visual data display. The virtual reality environment will provide them with situational awareness and understand their options in order to make decisions.”
       In recent years, virtual reality and augmented reality technologies of the metaverse have been incorporated into the regular military training of the US military. In 2014, the BlueShark project developed by the Office of Naval Research and the Institute for Creative Technologies at the University of Southern California allowed soldiers to collaborate in a virtual environment to conduct driving technology training; in 2018, the US Army and Microsoft cooperated to develop an integrated visual enhancement system IVAS for soldiers to conduct regular training; in 2020, the US Navy launched the Avengers Project to conduct flight course training through virtual reality, artificial intelligence and biometric technology; in 2021, Boeing created a military aircraft training system that enables maintenance personnel to use AR technology for related simulated maintenance drills; on May 10, 2022, two US fighter pilots took a jet and completed a high-altitude prototype metaverse experiment over the California desert. Refueling operations were performed using a virtual tanker through a specially designed augmented reality display connected to a computer system that displayed a glowing image of a virtual refueling aircraft.

 (I) The US military uses virtual reality technology for military training on a large scale
       
 . At the same time, Russia is also a leader in the development of virtual training systems. Almost all of its advanced weapons and equipment are equipped with corresponding virtual training systems, and are developing in the direction of universalization and embeddedness. For example, the Sound M universal virtual training system is a universal virtual training equipment for combat personnel of surface-to-air missile weapon systems. The Tor M1 surface-to-air missile system is also equipped with a special virtual training vehicle, which can complete battlefield simulation training while searching for targets and conducting weapon operations.

 (II) The Tor M1 surface-to-air missile system is also equipped with a dedicated virtual training vehicle.
        
 In addition, other countries have also begun to explore the combination of metaverse technology and military training. The British Army has been committed to studying the use of extended reality technology, which can put more than 30 soldiers in the same virtual training scene. The British Ministry of Defense’s “Single Synthetic Environment” has used this technology in soldier training. In South Korea, a developer and supplier of a military training simulator called “Optimus Prime” completed the development of the DEIMOS military training system based on metaverse technology in 2019 and applied it to the training of the armed forces. The system can create various environments for professional military training, including precision shooting training, tactical behavior training and observation training.

       2. The inherent advantages of the metaverse in military training Military training
       
is a commonplace in the military, specifically referring to the military theory and related professional knowledge education, combat skills training and military operations exercises conducted by the armed forces and other trainees. The continuous innovation of technologies such as artificial intelligence and virtual reality has accelerated the trend of intelligentization in future wars. Single actual combat exercises in traditional forms will be difficult to meet the combat requirements under the new situation. As a huge group of new technologies, the metaverse plays an increasingly important role in military training. If training is an important support for combat effectiveness, then the primary use of the metaverse in military training is as an important “enabler” for simulation training.       Immersive experience can improve the effectiveness of battlefield environment simulation. As a practical science, military training is centered on experience and the key to training is immersion. The virtual space created by the metaverse makes people feel a “common sense of embodied presence”, allowing trainees to fully immerse themselves in the virtual space and experience a war close to reality. Battlefield environment simulation uses virtual reality technology to process battlefield element data such as battlefield terrain, battlefield personnel, weapons and equipment through computer systems, and finally creates a realistic three-dimensional battlefield environment. Soldiers are immersed in digital environments such as deserts, mountains or plateaus. Each environment has different tactics, techniques and procedures, and soldiers can constantly practice tasks. Even if the soldiers are not in the actual battlefield environment, this technology is enough to restore the authenticity of the environment. More importantly, through battlefield simulation training, not only can soldiers become familiar with the battlefield environment and obtain information to the greatest extent, but they can also improve their ability to observe things from multiple angles and solve emergencies. The US military has developed a virtual reality system called a laser sand table, which can identify and convert photos and videos sent back by satellites, and turn them into realistic three-dimensional maps, presenting the battlefield environment thousands of miles away to commanders. Before the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the US military used virtual reality technology to create real war scenes, including battlefield conditions, personnel appearances, etc., in order to allow soldiers to adapt to the environment in advance and improve their combat capabilities.

 (II) On the eve of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the U.S. military used virtual reality technology to create real war scenes
        
. Open interconnection better supports synthetic training. The various parts of the Metaverse ecosystem can be interconnected and operated, and information can be transmitted across platforms and across the world (between virtual worlds or between the virtual world and the real world) without hindrance. Synthetic training uses the open interconnection advantage of Metaverse technology to supplement actual combat training. According to statistics, since 2015, the number of non-combat deaths in the U.S. military has exceeded the number of deaths in actual military operations each year, and many of the deaths in non-combat operations are caused by conventional military training. Therefore, the U.S. Army has begun to use Metaverse to carry out synthetic training in an attempt to establish a virtual synthetic training environment (STE) to reduce casualties in training. From urban warfare to mountain warfare, the “synthetic training environment” integrates “real-time, virtual and constructive training environments into a single synthetic training environment, and provides training functions to ground, transport and air platforms and command posts where needed.” Practice has proved that the synthetic training environment built by the metaverse, with the help of multi-sensory simulation and restoration, can help soldiers break through the limitations of theoretical learning and cognition, and improve the quality and ability of team combat coordination, injury treatment and safe evacuation. On the eve of the Iraq War, the US military stationed in Kuwait conducted synthetic training on Iraq’s urban conditions, which enhanced the soldiers’ urban combat capabilities while minimizing casualties in actual combat. The
      imaginative space stimulates innovation in military training thinking to the greatest extent. War exercises have been valued by military strategists since ancient times. During the Warring States Period, Mozi and Gongshu Ban’s deduction games of “untying belts to make a city” and “wooden pieces to make weapons” rehearsed the real situation on the battlefield, thus avoiding fighting between the two armies. In the deep scene era opened by the future metaverse, the military system will become highly intelligent, and the two sides of the war may be able to conduct war deductions in the battlefield metaverse, and even compete in the virtual world. Based on the information obtained in the virtual world, the two sides of the deduction capture and predict the changes in the battlefield through thinking processes such as association, reasoning and logical judgment, which is not only conducive to learning more war laws, but also can exercise the soldiers’ logical deduction ability. In the Gulf War of 1991, the U.S. military conducted war games based on the training level of the troops, the possible course of the war, and the time required for actual combat before implementing Operation Desert Storm. Practice has proved that the U.S. military used the problems found in this war game to transform the combat concept into an actual action plan and ultimately won. This also fully demonstrates that the real battlefield is full of uncertainties, so it is necessary to be fully prepared through continuous war exercises. Undoubtedly, it is almost impossible for the enemy and us to conduct coordinated deductions in the real world, but if the deployment of the enemy and us can be made public to a certain extent by their respective satellites, air and ground reconnaissance equipment, then at a certain time point, between two or more parties about to break out a military crisis, it is expected that the deployment of troops in the metaverse can be carried out first, and the actual military conflict can be resolved.
      The application of metaverse technology in military training can not only avoid accidental casualties during training, but also allow a single or many trainees to complete training tasks in different virtual environments without leaving home and without actual contact. And this kind of non-contact training plays a more obvious role in the regular form of the new crown epidemic.
       3. Potential risks of the metaverse in military training
      
Although the metaverse provides technical support for military training to a large extent, it should never be simply understood as a training program or considered as a means of conducting training. Even if the metaverse technology brings convenience and innovation to military training, the technology itself and its accompanying challenges and uncertainties cannot be ignored.
      The development of metaverse technology may cause security issues. The metaverse is a huge technology group. Its system architecture, core algorithms and immersive technology are still in a stage of continuous development. The supporting industry, value consensus, management standards, etc. have not yet been reached. In general, the metaverse is still a new thing, and its application in military training is even more so. Although the use of virtual training systems can reduce casualties to a certain extent, it is worth thinking about whether such training can be truly used in combat sites. It is still an unknown. And whether the technology is safe enough in operation is also an urgent problem to be solved. James Crowley of Virtual City Training Experts pointed out that computer power may be the most influential part of it. Unless the delay can be reduced to a level that does not make people uncomfortable and feels real, and unless the movement and communication data between different people can be stored in different simulators, it will not be able to provide practical training tools. At the same time, another challenge is the security issue of mutual contact between the armies of different countries in the open virtual world of the Metaverse.
      Virtual training environments are prone to cognitive illusions. Military training in the Metaverse world is the result of a contest between human intelligence and technology. War simulations and military training conducted in a virtual environment can have a powerful deterrent effect on future wars, just like “nuclear weapons”. Although it makes up for the limited senses of people at the physiological level, it also brings psychological cognitive illusions to trainees. Taking unmanned combat military training as an example, long-term combat training under a virtual system will cause the operator to have a gaming mentality. Because the audiovisual senses are out of touch with the real battlefield situation, they are alienated from the real people and society, and have a numb mentality towards the behavior of depriving others of their lives. With the continuous maturity of Metaverse technology, the interaction between the virtual world and the real world will become closer and closer, forming a mixed world that is difficult to distinguish between the real and the virtual. By then, it will not only cause a distinction dilemma for the cognitive psychology of soldiers, but also a major challenge for future military training. The
      “decentralization” of the Metaverse deviates from the traditional military training structure. In the world of the metaverse, all parties involved are virtual entities with equal status after computer processing and digitization. They can act autonomously in the metaverse, so they pursue “decentralization”. However, the traditional military training organizational structure is highly centralized and hierarchical management from top to bottom, which is contrary to the value needs of the metaverse. The US military has made a lot of efforts in pursuing “decentralized” operations, such as the “network-centric warfare” proposed in the 1990s, and the current distributed lethality and mosaic warfare. However, the traditional military training structure and thinking inertia are still obstacles to “decentralization”, and this situation is common in the armies of various countries.
     Yuval Noah Harari said in “Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind” that humans conquer the world by relying on the ability of fiction and imagination. The metaverse gives us the ability to fiction and imagine, and at the same time, the uncertainty of the metaverse in the field of military training also increases the element of fear. Therefore, we must pay attention to innovative scientific and technological theories, develop cutting-edge metaverse technologies, continuously stimulate the potential of the military training metaverse, and at the same time improve relevant laws, regulations and moral and ethical regulations to make advance preparations for winning future intelligent wars.

國語中文:

在軍事訓練領域,元宇宙的基本技術其實早就作為一種虛擬資源,在不同程度上為軍方使用。必須承認,元宇宙在軍事訓練中的價值潛力不可估量,是當下和未來軍事領域爭鋒的焦點。但由於元宇宙相關技術的發展及其在軍事訓練中的應用尚不成熟,美好前景背後也伴隨著潛在風險。
一、軍事訓練元宇宙的前世今生
元宇宙依賴的是以虛擬實境技術為核心的技術群,在軍事領域的早期形態又稱為虛擬模擬或模擬互聯網。可以說,虛擬模擬訓練已經非常接近今天的元宇宙概念,是軍事訓練元宇宙的初級形態。從古至今,科技領域帶來巨大影響力的進步普遍都是為了贏得戰爭或保持戰鬥力。作為第三次科技革命的領導技術,元宇宙在全球軍事領域,以不同形式的基本元宇宙被用於軍事訓練。
美軍很早就開始部署「軍事元宇宙」計畫。 1978年,美空軍上尉傑克·索普在自己的論文中提出了軍事模擬器網路的構想,希望建立一個分散式或網路化的軍事建模系統方便訓練。 1983年美國防部高級研究計畫局(DARPA),開發了虛擬戰場網路模擬器(SIMNET模擬器),以電腦生成虛擬戰場,模擬雙方交戰的情形進行推演,總結錯誤和失敗。用這樣的方式取代實地演習,一定程度上節省了成本,也提高了訓練的效果。雖然SIMNET模擬器作為最早的版本仍處於較低階的戰場仿真,但卻開闢了分散式或網路化建模仿真的先河。到了20世紀80年代末,該計畫達到頂峰,最終落地形成200多個遍布美國、橫跨歐洲,基於區域網路和廣域網路的模擬互聯坦克和飛機模擬器,並用於大規模訓練與演習。而當時開發的分散式互動式模擬(DIS)協議,至今仍在使用,並且透過更先進的高階體系結構,可以連結不同的軍事模擬,以提供更豐富的集體訓練或任務準備體驗。可以說SIMNET模擬器專案直接或間接推動了當前元宇宙的許多關鍵技術的發展。時至今日,美軍對如雨後春筍般崛起的元宇宙興趣正濃,新成立的軍種——美國太空部隊(USSF)欲打造軍事專用元宇宙,用於協同作戰、訓練、執行任務。其技術主管利薩·科斯塔宣稱:「軍人們並不能親自上太空,他們體驗自身作戰疆域的唯一途徑就是視覺數據顯示,虛擬現實環境會為他們提供態勢感知,並了解自己的選項,以便做出決策。
近年來,元宇宙的虛擬實境和擴增實境技術已納入美軍的常規軍事訓練。 2014年,南加州大學海軍研究辦公室和創意技術研究所開發的BlueShark項目,讓士兵在虛擬環境中協作配合,進行駕駛技術訓練;2018年,美陸軍與微軟合作開發了一款集成視覺增強系統IVAS ,供士兵進行常規訓練;2020年,美海軍又推出了復仇者計劃,透過虛擬現實、人工智慧以及生物識別技術,開展飛行課程培訓;2021年,波音公司打造了一個軍用飛機培訓系統,使維修人員利用AR技術進行相關模擬維修演練;2022年5月10日,兩名美軍戰鬥機飛行員乘坐噴射機,在加州沙漠上空完成了一次高空原型元宇宙實驗。透過特製的擴增實境顯示器,連接到一個虛擬加油飛機發光影像的電腦系統,使用虛擬加油機進行了加油操作。
(一)美軍大量採用虛擬實境技術進行軍事訓練
同時,俄羅斯在虛擬訓練系統的開發上也是領先者,其先進武器裝備幾乎都配有相應的虛擬訓練系統,並且正在朝著通用化和嵌入式的方向發展。如音色M通用虛擬訓練系統就是用於地對空飛彈武器系統作戰人員的通用虛擬訓練裝備。道爾M1型地對空飛彈系統也配備有專用虛擬訓練車,可在目標搜尋和武器作戰的同時完成戰地模擬訓練。

(二)道爾M1型地空飛彈系統也配備有專用虛擬訓練車
此外,其他國家也紛紛開始探索元宇宙技術與軍事訓練的結合。英陸軍一直致力於研究擴展實境技術的使用,可以讓30多名士兵處於相同的虛擬訓練場景。英國防部的「單一合成環境」已經在士兵訓練中使用了這項技術。在韓國,一家名為「擎天柱」的軍事訓練模擬器的開發商和供應商,在2019年完成了基於元宇宙技術的DEIMOS軍事訓練系統研發並應用於武裝部隊的訓練。該系統能夠為專業軍事訓練創造各種環境,包括精準射擊訓練、戰術行為訓練和觀察訓練。
二、軍事訓練元宇宙的內在優勢
軍事訓練乃是兵家常事,具體指武裝力量及其他受訓對象所進行的軍事理論及相關專業知識教育、作戰技能教練和軍事行動演練的活動。人工智慧、虛擬實境等技術的不斷革新,加速了未來戰爭的智慧化趨勢。傳統形式下的單一實戰演練將難以滿足新情勢下的作戰要求。而元宇宙作為一個龐大的新技術群,在軍事訓練中扮演越來越重要的角色。如果說訓練是戰鬥效能的重要支撐,那麼元宇宙在軍事訓練中的首要用途便是作為模擬訓練重要的「賦能器」。
沉浸式體驗能夠提升戰場環境模擬效能。軍事訓練作為實踐科學,訓練的核心在體驗,訓練的關鍵在沉浸。元宇宙所創造的虛擬空間,使人感受到一種“共同的具身在場感”,讓受訓者完全沉浸虛擬空間,體驗一場接近真實的戰爭。戰場環境模擬正是利用虛擬實境技術,透過電腦系統對取得的戰場要素資料如戰場地形、戰場人員、武器裝備等進行處理,最終創設出逼真的立體戰場環境。士兵們沉浸在沙漠、山區或高原的數位環境中,每個環境都有不同的戰術、技術和程序,士兵們可以不斷地演練任務。即便士兵不是在實際的戰場環境中,但這項技術足以還原環境的真實度,更重要的是透過戰場模擬訓練,不僅能夠讓士兵熟悉戰場環境,最大程度獲取信息,而且還能提升其多角度觀察事物、解決突發狀況的能力。美軍目前已研發出一款被稱為雷射沙盤的虛擬實境系統,能夠辨識和轉換衛星發回的照片和錄像,並將其轉變成逼真的立體地圖,將遠在千里外的戰場環境呈現給指揮員。在阿富汗戰爭和伊拉克戰爭前夕,美軍都採用了虛擬實境技術來打造真實的戰爭場景,包括戰地狀況、人員樣貌等。旨在讓士兵提前適應環境,提升作戰能力。

(一)元宇宙所創造的虛擬空間,使人感受到一種“共同的具身在場感”

(二)在阿富汗戰爭和伊拉克戰爭前夕,美軍都採用了虛擬實境技術打造真實的戰爭場景
開放式互聯較能支撐合成訓練開展。元宇宙生態系統各部分之間可以實現相互連接和操作,資訊可以暢通無阻地實現跨平台和跨世界傳輸(在虛擬世界之間或虛擬世界與現實世界之間)。合成訓練正是利用元宇宙技術的這一開放式互聯優勢,來實現實戰訓練的補充。根據統計,從2015年開始,美軍每年的非戰鬥死亡人數超出了在實際軍事行動中犧牲的人數,而在非戰鬥行動中喪生的人員很多是由常規軍事訓練造成的。因此,美陸軍已經開始採用元宇宙進行合成訓練,試圖建立虛擬合成訓練環境(STE)來減少訓練中的傷亡。從城市作戰到山地作戰,「合成訓練環境」將「即時、虛擬和建設性的訓練環境整合到一個單一的合成訓練環境中,並在有需要的地方向地面、運載和空中平台以及指揮所提供訓練功能」。實務證明,透過元宇宙建構的合成訓練環境,藉助多感官模擬還原,能夠幫助戰士突破理論學習和認知局限,提升團隊作戰協同、傷情處置和安全撤離等素質和能力。伊拉克戰爭前夕,駐紮在科威特的美軍就對伊拉克的城市狀況進行了合成訓練,增強了士兵城市作戰能力的同時,把實戰中的傷亡降到了最低。
想像性空間最大程度激發軍事訓練思維創新。戰爭演習自古就受到兵家重視,戰國時期墨子和公輸班「解帶為城」「木片為械」的推演遊戲將戰場上的真實情況演練出來,從而避免了兩軍交戰。在未來元宇宙開啟的深度場景時代,軍事體系將走向高度智慧化,作戰雙方或許能在戰場元宇宙進行戰爭推演,甚至在虛擬世界一決高下。推演雙方根據虛擬世界獲取的信息,透過聯想、推理和邏輯判斷等思維過程,對戰場風雲變化進行捕捉和預判,不僅有利於習得更多戰爭規律,還能夠鍛鍊士兵的邏輯推演能力。 1991年的海灣戰爭中,美軍就在實施「沙漠風暴」行動前,根據部隊的訓練水準和可能的戰爭進程,以及實際作戰所需時間進行了兵棋推演。實踐證明,美軍借助這次兵棋推演發現的問題,將作戰設想轉化為實際行動方案,最終取得勝利。這也充分說明了真實的戰場充滿了種種不確定性,因此需要透過不斷進行戰爭演習來做好充分準備。毋庸置疑,敵我雙方在現實世界中進行協同推演幾乎是不可能的,但若敵我雙方的兵力部署可以被各自的衛星、空中和地面偵查設備進行一定程度的公開,那麼在某個時間節點,在即將爆發軍事危機的雙方或多方之間,先在元宇宙中進行排兵布陣,可以化解現實的軍事衝突則有望實現。
元宇宙技術在軍事訓練中的應用不僅可以避免訓練中的人員意外傷亡,還可以讓單一或眾多參訓者在足不出戶,無需實際接觸便可在不同虛擬環境下完成訓練任務。而這種非接觸式訓練在新冠疫情的常規化形態下,所扮演的角色更加明顯。
三、軍事訓練元宇宙的潛在風險
元宇宙在很大程度上雖然為軍事訓練提供技術支撐,但絕不能僅僅將其簡單地理解為一種訓練項目,或者被認為是一種開展訓練的手段。即使元宇宙技術為軍事訓練帶來便利和創新,也不能忽視科技本身及其伴生的挑戰和不確定性。
元宇宙技術發展或引發安全問題。元宇宙是一個龐大的技術群,其體系架構、核心演算法和沈浸技術等尚處於不斷開發的階段,配套產業、價值共識、管理標準等還沒有達成,總的來說,元宇宙還是一個新事物,在軍事訓練中的應用更是如此。儘管使用虛擬訓練系統能夠在一定程度上減少傷亡,但值得思考的是這樣的訓練是否能夠真正用於作戰現場,目前仍是一個未知數。而技術在運作中是否夠安全也是一個亟待解決的問題。虛擬城市訓練專家公司的詹姆斯·克勞利指出,電腦能力可能是其中最有影響力的部分,除非可以將延遲降低到不會讓人不適並且感覺真實的程度,除非可以在不同的模擬器中儲存不同人之間的行動和通訊數據,否則將無法提供實用的訓練工具。同時,另一個擺在眼前的挑戰則是在開放的元宇宙虛擬世界中,不同國家軍隊之間相互接觸的安全問題。
虛擬訓練環境易造成認知錯覺。元宇宙世界裡的軍事訓練是人類智力和技術較量的結果,在虛擬環境下進行的戰爭推演、軍事訓練等對未來戰爭的作用,如同「核武」一般,不用動用實槍實彈也能起到強大的威懾效果。儘管在生理層面彌補了人的有限感官,同時也帶來了受訓者在心理上的認知錯覺。以無人作戰的軍事訓練為例,長期在虛擬系統下進行作戰訓練,將會造成操縱者的遊戲心態。由於視聽感官與真實戰場情況脫節,而疏離了現實的人與社會,對於剝奪他人生命的行為產生麻木心態。隨著元宇宙技術的不斷成熟,虛擬世界、現實世界的互動將會越來越緊密,形成虛實難分的混合世界。到那時,不僅對士兵的認知心理造成區分困境,對於未來的軍事訓練也是重大挑戰。
元宇宙「去中心化」與傳統軍事訓練結構相背離。在元宇宙的世界中,參與各方都是經過電腦處理、資料化後產生的地位平等的虛擬主體,可以在元宇宙中自主活動,因而其追求「去中心化」。但傳統的軍事訓練組織結構則是高度集中、自上而下的分層化管理,這一方面與元宇宙的價值需求是背離的。美軍在追求“去中心化”作戰上做出了很多努力,如20世紀90年代提出的“網絡中心戰”,以及當前的分散式殺傷以及馬賽克戰等。但傳統的軍事訓練結構和思維慣性仍然是「去中心化」的阻力,而這種情況普遍存在於各國軍隊。
尤瓦爾·赫拉利在《人類簡史》中談道,人類靠著的是虛構和想像的能力征服世界。元宇宙給了我們虛構和想像的能力,同時元宇宙在軍事訓練領域的不確定性也增加了恐懼的成分。因此,我們必須關注創新科技理論、發展元宇宙前沿科技,不斷激發軍事訓練元宇宙的潛力,同時完善相關法律法規和道德倫理規約,為打贏未來智慧化戰爭做好超前準備。
版權聲明:本文刊於2023年1期《軍事文摘》雜誌,作者:張愷悅、李傑春,如需轉載請務必註明「轉自《軍事文摘》」。

中國軍事原文來源:http://www.81it.com/2023/0321/14167.html

Chinese Military Use of Cognitive Confrontation within the Combat Domain

中國軍事在作戰領域使用認知對抗

現代英語作為外語音譯:

Modern warfare, according to the characteristics of material form, usually divides the combat domain into the physical domain, the information domain, and the cognitive domain. The three domains interact with each other to form the field and soil for military confrontation. Although cognitive domain operations occur in the cognitive domain, their operational support often spans various fields. War practice shows that with the enhanced effectiveness of hard strikes in the physical domain, cognitive formation can often be accelerated, and cognitive realization can better meet combat needs.

Cognitive offense and defense cannot be separated from physical support

Today’s world is a world where everything is interconnected. The collection of different objects connected to each other greatly enhances the function of independent individuals acting alone. Cognitive domain operations are never isolated operations between cognitive carriers. Only by integrating cognitive offense and defense into an integrated joint operations chain, closely integrating with physical domain military strike operations, and tightly integrating with the entire combat system can we fully exert combat effectiveness.

The starting point of cognition. Existence determines consciousness. Thinking and cognition is not a fairy from the sky, but a true or tortuous reflection of the real world. Without the foundation of the material world, thinking and cognition will lose the source of information, the basis for analysis and judgment, and the accuracy of decision-making and action, making it difficult for people to trust, recognize, and rely on. Even the most psychedelic science fiction wars still have references to real combat targets, specific combat objectives, and corresponding combat paths. Therefore, intelligence reconnaissance analysis has become an indispensable and important link for commanders to organize troops and plan. “Without investigation, there is no right to speak” is regarded as a golden rule that must be followed in decision-making. Battlefield simulation simulations have become an important step for the success of combat operations. In history, most of the combat commands of accomplished generals and classic combat cases that can withstand the test of history and practice are all based on full investigation and research and scientific intelligence analysis. Without the hard-core support of the real world, “human beings think about , and God laughs.”

The basis of cognitive effects. A golden rule of operations in the cognitive domain is that soft power at the cognitive level must be supported by hard strikes at the physical level in order to ensure and strengthen its effect. Strong military pressure is a necessary prerequisite for cognitive means to work, and continuous victory on the battlefield is the core support for winning cognitive wars. If the United States does not have the high-pressure pressure of its super comprehensive national strength and superior technology, its “Star Wars Plan” may not really work. If cognitive domain operations lack the support of specific military operations in the physical domain, they will never produce the good effects of doubting, confusing, deterring, and defeating the enemy. To grasp the initiative in thinking and cognition and to take the initiative in cognitive domain operations, we must not only strengthen the construction of cognitive ontology, improve the ability to directly use strategies and technical means to strengthen self-protection, intervene and influence the opponent’s thinking and cognition, but also actively strive to The physical domain leverages the conduction effect of military operations in the physical domain to enhance thinking and cognition.

The starting point for cognitive realization. Marxism believes that once theory grasps the masses, it will also become material force. From the perspective of combat in the cognitive domain, spiritual creation at the superstructure level of cognition will not automatically turn into material power. Only by being attached to a certain material carrier and practical grasp can it be possible to realize spiritual to material and consciousness. A critical leap into existence. Just as in World War II, if the German army had not bypassed the Maginot Line, broke through the Ardennes Forest, and launched a surprise attack into the French hinterland, it would have been impossible to demonstrate the foresight of the cognitive achievement of the “Manstein Plan”; similarly, if there had been no Allied Forces, The military’s successful landing in Normandy, which invaded the east and west, also failed to highlight the ingenuity of the “overlord plan” strategy of “building plank roads openly and concealing warehouses secretly”. Thinking and cognition are transmitted through people to specific military operations in the physical domain, and then the specific military operations in the physical domain realize the material transformation of cognitive results, forming the fundamentals of the two-way interaction between cognitive offense and defense and military strikes in the physical domain.

The basic method of physical attack to support cognitive offense and defense

The methods and methods used by military strikes in the physical domain to support cognitive offense and defense follow the general law that matter determines consciousness and existence determines thinking. The basic methods can be divided into enhanced support, confirmation support and realization support.

Enhanced support. Military strikes in the physical domain strengthen the formation and development of thinking and cognition. Although thinking and cognition depend on the quality of the cognitive carrier itself, it will be difficult to achieve without the support of military operations in the physical domain. The most basic role of military operations in the physical domain in the cognitive domain is to provide solid support for the formation and development of thinking and cognition. Thinking and cognition can only be stable and far-reaching if it is based on real physical actions. For example, in the early days of the Korean War, when the Korean People’s Army was overwhelming, our army’s combat staff Lei Yingfu and others accurately predicted the landing of the US military based on the war situation, geographical and weather characteristics of the Korean Peninsula, especially the various actions of the US and South Korean troops at that time, etc. time and location. Similarly, Li Qiwei of the “United Nations Army” also made a judgment on the “worship offensive” based on the logistics support, weapons and equipment, and tactical use of the volunteers, and used “magnetic tactics” to fight me. These are all enhancements to the formation and development of thinking and cognition caused by combat in the physical domain.

Confirmation type support. Military strikes in the physical domain confirm preset thinking, precognition, and prejudgment. Cognitive attack and defense does not only occur at the cognitive level, but is the interaction between cognition and practice. War is a “place of life and death, a way of survival”. If one’s cognitive decision-making cannot be verified in many directions at the practical level, then acting rashly is the greatest irresponsibility for war. During the revolutionary war years, our military’s decision-makers were always under the control of the overall strategy and gave front-line commanders the power to act as appropriate and in accordance with the overall strategic direction principle. This is a positive confirmation of strategic thinking. During the Second World War, the Allies used “false facts” to mislead, constantly shaping and strengthening the German army’s misunderstanding of the Allied landing sites on the European continent, and finally successfully landed in Normandy with minimal cost. This was a counter-attack. To confirm.

Implementation support. Provide direct physical support for the realization of thinking, cognition, judgment and decision-making. Thinking and cognition must be transformed into actual results that change the world. The thinking and cognition acting on the opponent is not the end but a new starting point. Next, it must be acted upon in the physical world through “skilled hands” and “brave heart”. In other words In short, it is to provide direct physical action support for the value realization of thinking and cognition. This is just like Zhuge Liang’s clever plan, no matter how brilliant it is, if there is no implementation by the “Five Tiger Generals” and other Shu Han soldiers, it can only remain at the cognitive level of talking on paper. No matter how efficiently the first three parts of the “OODA” loop operate, if the execution link “A” is missing, it will be a “dead loop”. Similarly, the results of our military’s command decisions also depend on the resolute, thorough, and creative execution of the officers and soldiers. The quality and efficiency of the execution directly determines the effectiveness of the implementation of the command decisions. In this regard, physical actions at the execution level are of extremely important practical significance.

Effectively strengthen the interaction between cognitive offense and defense and physical strikes

Thinking and cognition must rely on the support of physical actions, which is an objective law that is independent of human will. It is an extremely important task to strengthen the communication and interaction between thinking and cognition and physical strikes to make our thinking and decision-making more targeted, objective and operable, so as to better transform cognitive advantages into action advantages and winning advantages. .

Be more proactive and solidify your cognitive foundation. Whether the thinking and cognition is correct depends fundamentally on its compatibility with objective reality and its applicability to combat opponents. Only thinking and cognition based on full investigation and research, seeking truth from facts and comparative advantages can stand the test of practice and actual combat. The practice of absolute, sacred, and nihilistic thinking or generals’ genius, wisdom, and inspiration is idealistic, one-sided, and harmful. This requires that we must work hard to base our thinking and cognition on the basis of extensive investigation, research and intelligence analysis, and truly understand the enemy’s situation, our situation, and other people’s situations, truly know our enemies and ourselves, know everything we should know, and adapt to local conditions. The camera moves. At the same time, we must combine reading books without words with books with words, unify indirect theory with living practice that is constantly developing and changing, and dialectically recognize past experiences and lessons and other people’s experiences and lessons, so that they become our own knowledge. Help instead of shackles, assist instead of dominate.

Be more proactive and strengthen cognitive rationality. Correct understanding that can withstand the long-term test of practice and actual combat comes from practice and is strengthened through feedback from practice. Cognitive practical experience is only the basic material for obtaining correct cognition. To form scientific cognition, we need to further eliminate the false and preserve the true in the repeated collision and verification of consciousness and matter, thinking and existence, in order to improve cognitive rationality. It is wrong and even fatal to think that true knowledge can be obtained once and for all from only local situations, fragmented information and individual periods of time. In the Battle of Chibi in ancient China, Cao Cao’s side only came to the understanding of conjoining warships from the common sense that iron cables can balance the shaking of the ship’s hull, but did not confirm it from the actual combat effects or consequences of concatenating warships. If you don’t know how to recreate, you will easily tie up the ship with iron ropes and tie yourself up, and ultimately end up in the disastrous defeat of “burning Red Cliff”. Times have changed, and the enemy situation on the modern battlefield is ever-changing. There has never been an unchanging cognitive practice, nor a once-and-for-all cognitive achievement. It can only strip away impurities and extract the essence from material to cognitive to material confirmation for re-cognition. , can we return to rationality.

Be more proactive in objectifying cognitive outcomes. Cognitive achievements are only the result of thinking and consciousness nurtured in cognitive carriers. Without timely and effective material transformation, it will be like walking at night wearing brocade clothes or hiding treasures in the mountains, and it will be difficult to demonstrate its own value. Thinking and cognition are based on physical actions, and ultimately rely on specific actions in the physical domain before they can be materialized and transformed into actual results that change the subjective and objective worlds. This requires us to not only consolidate the cognitive foundation and strengthen cognitive rationality, but also improve the operability of cognitive decision-making and planning as much as possible, opening the door for smoother materialization and transformation. At the same time, efforts must be made to improve the execution capabilities of decision-making and deployment executors, so that they can correctly understand the intention of decision-making, creatively adopt appropriate methods based on specific realities, and maximize the implementation of cognitive results and operational decision-making plans to the end. Be a good “ferryman” and “bridge across the river” that connects and transforms cognitive results with combat effectiveness.

(Author’s unit: Military Political Work Research Institute, Academy of Military Sciences)

原始繁體中文:

現代戰爭根據物質形態的特點,通常將作戰域分為物理域、資訊域和認知域。 這三個領域相互作用,形成軍事對抗的場域和土壤。 認知域操作雖然發生在認知領域,但其操作支援往往跨越各領域。 戰爭實踐表明,隨著物理領域硬打擊效能的增強,往往可以加速認知形成,認知實現更能滿足作戰需求。

認知攻防都離不開物質支撐

當今世界是一個萬物互聯的世界。 相互連結的不同物體的集合極大地增強了獨立個體單獨行動的功能。 認知域操作從來都不是認知載體之間孤立的操作。 將認知攻防融入一體化聯合作戰鏈,與物理域軍事打擊行動緊密結合,與整個作戰體系緊密結合,才能充分發揮戰鬥力。

認知的起點。 存在決定意識。 思維和認知不是天上來的仙女,而是現實世界的真實或曲折的反映。 離開了物質世界的基礎,思考和認知就會失去資訊的來源、分析判斷的基礎、決策和行動的準確性,使人難以信任、認知、依賴。 即使是最迷幻的科幻戰爭,仍然會參考真實的作戰目標、具體的作戰目標以及相應的作戰路徑。 因此,情報偵察分析成為指揮組織部隊、規劃不可或缺的重要環節。 「沒有調查就沒有話語權」被視為決策必須遵循的金科玉律。 戰場模擬模擬已成為作戰行動成功的重要一步。 歷史上,大部分功將的作戰指揮和經得起歷史和實踐檢驗的經典作戰案例,都是建立在充分調查研究和科學情報分析的基礎上的。 沒有現實世界的硬派支撐,「人類一思考,上帝就笑」。

認知效應的基礎。 認知領域作戰的一條金科玉律是,認知層面的軟實力必須有實體層面的硬實力支撐,才能確保並強化其效果。 強大的軍事壓力是認知手段發揮作用的必要前提,戰場上的持續勝利是贏得認知戰爭的核心支撐。 如果美國沒有超強的綜合國力和優越的技術的高壓壓力,其「星際大戰計畫」可能無法真正發揮作用。 認知域作戰如果缺乏物理域具體軍事行動的支撐,永遠不會產生疑、迷、震懾、克敵的良好效果。 要掌握思維認知的主動權,掌握認知域作戰的主動權,不僅要加強認知本體建設,提高直接運用策略和技術手段加強自我保護、幹預和影響對手的能力。思維和認知,還積極努力在物理領域利用軍事行動在物理領域的傳導效應,增強思維和認知。

認知實現的起點。 馬克思主義認為,理論一旦掌握了群眾,也就成為物質力量。 從認知領域的戰鬥來看,認知上層建築層面的精神創造並不會自動轉化為物質力量。 只有執著於一定的物質載體和實踐把握,才有可能實現精神到物質、意識的轉變。 實現的關鍵飛躍。 正如二戰時,如果德軍沒有繞過馬其諾防線,突破阿登森林,向法國腹地發起奇襲,就不可能展現「德軍認知成就」的先見之明。曼斯坦計畫」; 同樣,如果沒有盟軍,軍隊在東西兩進的諾曼第成功登陸,也未能凸顯出「明修棧道、暗藏倉庫」的「霸王計畫」戰略的巧妙之處。 思維認知透過人傳遞到物理域的具體軍事行動,再由物理域的具體軍事行動實現物質轉化。

認知結果,形成認知攻防和物理領域軍事打擊之間雙向互動的基礎。

物理攻擊支撐認知攻防的基本方法

物理領域軍事打擊支持認知攻防所採用的手段和方式,遵循物質決定意識、存在決定思維的一般法則。 基本方式可分為增強支援、確認支援和變現支援。

增強支援。 物理領域的軍事打擊加強了思維和認知的形成和發展。 思維認知雖然依賴認知載體本身的品質,但如果沒有物理領域軍事行動的支持,就很難實現。 物理領域軍事行動在認知領域最基本的作用就是為思考認知的形成與發展提供堅實的支持。 思考和認知只有建立在真實的身體行動的基礎上,才能穩定、深遠。 例如,朝鮮戰爭初期,朝鮮人民軍勢不可擋時,我軍作戰參謀雷英夫等人根據朝鮮半島戰局、地理、天氣特點,準確預測了美軍登陸,尤其是當時美軍和韓國軍隊的各種行動等等時間地點。 同樣,「聯合國軍」的李奇偉也根據志願軍的後勤保障、武器裝備、戰術運用等,對「拜拜攻勢」做出了判斷,用「磁性戰術」與我作戰。 這些都是物理領域的戰鬥對思維認知的形成與發展的增強。

確認類型支援。 物理領域的軍事打擊證實了預設的思維、預知和預判。 認知攻防不僅發生在認知層面,而是認知與實踐的互動。 戰爭是「生死之地,生存之道」。 如果一個人的認知決策無法在實踐層面得到多方位的驗證,那麼輕舉妄動就是對戰爭最大的不負責任。 革命戰爭年代,我軍決策層始終處於整體戰略的掌控之中,賦予第一線指揮官依照整體戰略方向原則酌情行動的權力。 這是對戰略思維的正面肯定。 二戰期間,盟軍利用「虛假事實」進行誤導,不斷塑造並強化德軍對歐洲大陸盟軍登陸地點的誤解,最終以最小的成本成功登陸諾曼第。 這是一次反擊。 確認。

實施支援。 為思維、認知、判斷和決策的實現提供直接的物質支持。 思維和認知必須轉化為改變世界的實際結果。 作用於對手的思維和認知不是終點而是新的起點。 接下來,必須透過「巧手」和「勇敢的心」在物質世界中付諸行動。 換句話說,簡而言之,就是為思考認知的價值實現提供直接的身體行動支撐。 這就像是諸葛亮的巧妙計劃,無論多麼輝煌,如果沒有「五虎將」和其他蜀漢將士的實施,也只能停留在紙上談兵的認知層面。 無論“OODA”循環的前三部分運行得多麼高效,如果缺少執行環節“A”,那麼這將是一個“死循環”。 同樣,我軍指揮決策的結果也取決於官兵的堅決、徹底、創造性執行。 執行的品質和效率直接決定指揮決策的執行效果。 就此而言,執行層面的身體動作具有極為重要的現實意義。

有效加強認知攻防與身體打擊的互動

思考和認知必須依靠身體動作的支持,這是不依賴人的意志的客觀規律。 加強思考認知與身體打擊的溝通互動,使我們的思維和決策更加具有針對性、客觀性和可操作性,從而更好地將認知優勢轉化為行動優勢和製勝優勢,是一項極其重要的任務。 。

更加積極主動並鞏固您的認知基礎。 思維認識是否正確,從根本上取決於它是否符合客觀現實,是否適用於打擊對手。 唯有思考

而充分調查研究、實事求是、比較優勢的認識是經得起實踐和實戰檢驗的。 實行絕對的、神聖的、虛無的思想或將軍的天才、智慧、靈感,是唯心主義的、片面的、有害的。 這就要求我們必須努力把思維認識建立在廣泛調查研究和情報分析的基礎上,真正了解敵情、我情、他人情,真正知己知彼、知己知彼。應該了解並因地制宜。 相機移動。 同時,要把閱讀無字書與有字書結合起來,把間接理論與不斷發展變化的生活實踐結合,辯證地認識過去的經驗教訓和別人的經驗教訓,使之成為我們自己的經驗教訓。知識。 幫助而不是束縛,協助而不是支配。

更積極主動,強化認知理性。 經得起實踐和實戰長期檢驗的正確認識來自於實踐,並透過實踐的回饋得到強化。 認知實務經驗只是獲得正確認知的基礎材料。 形成科學認知,需要在意識與物質、思考與存在的反覆碰撞與驗證中進一步去偽存真,以提高認知理性。 認為只有從局部情況、碎片資訊和個別時期才能一勞永逸地獲得真正的知識是錯誤的,甚至是致命的。 在中國古代的赤壁之戰中,曹操一方只是從常識中得出了連體戰船的認識,即鐵纜可以平衡船體的晃動,但並沒有從實戰效果或連體後果中證實這一點。軍艦。 如果不懂得再造,很容易就會用鐵繩把船綁起來,把自己綁起來,最後落得「火燒赤壁」的慘敗。 時代變遷,現代戰場敵情瞬息萬變。 從來沒有一成不變的認知實踐,也沒有一勞永逸的認知成就。 它只能從物質中剔除雜質,提取精華,去認知,去物質確認,重新認知。 ,我們能否回歸理性。

更主動地客觀化認知結果。 認知成就只是認知載體中孕育思考和意識的結果。 如果沒有及時有效的物質改造,就會像穿著錦衣走夜路或藏寶藏山一樣,很難展現出自身的價值。 思維和認知是以物理行為為基礎的,最終要依靠物理領域的具體行為才能具體化,轉化為改變主觀世界和客觀世界的實際結果。 這就要求我們不僅要夯實認知基礎、強化認知理性,還要盡可能提高認知決策和規劃的可操作性,為更順利的物化和轉化打開大門。 同時,要努力提高決策部署執行者的執行能力,使他們能夠正確理解決策意圖,根據具體實際創造性地採取適當的方法,最大限度地落實認知結果和經營決策計劃進行到底。 當好認知結果與戰鬥力銜接轉化的「擺渡人」、「過河橋樑」。

(作者單位:軍事科學學院軍事政治工作研究所)

中國軍事資料來源:http://www.81.cn/jfjbmap/content/2022-12/06/content_38888.htm