Essentially, a new Military doctrine made possible by the Information Age. Weapons platforms, sensors and Command and control centers are being connected through high-speed communication networks. Military doctrine is a level of military planning between national strategy and unit-level tactics, techniques, and procedures. ... Information Age is a term applied to the period where movement of information became faster than physical movement, more narrowly applied to the late 20th century and early 21st century post 1970. ... A weapons platform is generally any structure or system on which a weapon can be mounted. ... A sensor is a technological device or biological organ that detects, or senses, a signal or physical condition. ... In telecommunication, command and control (C 2 ) is the exercise of authority and direction by a properly designated commander over assigned and attached forces in the accomplishment of the mission. ...

The overall network which enables this strategy in the United States military is called the Global Information Grid. The armed forces of the United States of America consist of the United States Army United States Marine Corps United States Navy United States Air Force United States Coast Guard[1] The combined United States armed forces consists of 1. ... The Global Information Grid is a global information network of the United States Military, and constitutes the material backbone for the Network Centric Warfare doctrine. ...

Examples

For example the Cooperative Engagement Capability of the United States Navy permits all units ( Naval ships, Military aircraft) to share the information collected by their own Sensors and "fuse" it into a coherent, accurate picture of the battlefield available to all units. Every unit will be able to "see" the sum of what all other units "see" thus enjoying a greatly increased Situation awareness. The United States Navy (USN) is the branch of the United States armed forces responsible for naval operations. ... USS Port Royal (CG-73), a Ticonderoga class cruiser. ... Military aircraft are airplanes used in warfare. ... A sensor is a technological device or biological organ that detects, or senses, a signal or physical condition. ... Situation Awareness, or Situational Awareness Originally an aviation term used in human factors to describe awareness of tactical situations during aerial warfare. ...

Thus, it will be possible for ships to launch Surface-to-air missile against targets which are beyond their Line of sight. The missiles are guided by Sensors from other Weapons platforms, such as an airborne Radar, which is much closer to the target and because it flies high it can detect even low-altitude Anti-ship missiles. Targets are detected and engaged much earlier thanks to Real-time information sharing. A surface-to-air missile (SAM) is a missile designed to be launched from the ground to destroy aircraft. ... See also: line of sight in gaming, referring to visibility of units. ... A sensor is a technological device or biological organ that detects, or senses, a signal or physical condition. ... A weapons platform is generally any structure or system on which a weapon can be mounted. ... This long range radar antenna (approximately 40m (130ft) in diameter) rotates on a track to observe activities near the horizon. ... An Anti-ship missile (AShM) is a military missile designed for use against naval surface ships. ... Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ...

In another example, real-time information provided by satellites or by attack/Surveillance aircraft on the position of enemy forces allows very accurate and fast targeting of BGM-109 Tomahawk cruise missiles. A military aircraft used for monitoring enemy activity, usually carrying no armament. ... A Tomahawk cruise missile The Tomahawk Land Attack Missile (TLAM) is a long-range, all-weather, subsonic cruise missile with stubby wings. ...

During the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan, U.S. Special forces on the ground sent Coordinates of targets by e-mail to B-52 Stratofortress bombers in flight. The United States, with support from the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada and the Northern Alliance, invaded Afghanistan in October 2001 as part of its War on Terrorism campaign. ... Special forces or special operations forces is a term used to describe relatively small military units raised and trained for reconnaissance, unconventional warfare and special operations. ... See Cartesian coordinate system or Coordinates (elementary mathematics) for a more elementary introduction to this topic. ... The Boeing B-52 Stratofortress is a long-range strategic bomber flown by the United States Air Force since 1955, replacing the Convair B-36. ...

Wars will be fought very fast. It is estimated that in the first minute of air operations the number of targets destroyed will amount to more than 500.

Information Revolution

"With less than half of the Ground forces and two-thirds of the Military aircraft used 12 years ago in Desert Storm, we have achieved a far more difficult objective ... In Desert Storm, it usually took up to two days for target planners to get a photo of a target, confirm its coordinates, plan the mission, and deliver it to the bomber crew. Now we have near real-time imaging of targets with photos and coordinates transmitted by e-mail to aircraft already in flight. In Desert Storm, Battalion, Brigade, and Division commanders had to rely on maps, grease pencils, and radio reports to Track the movements of our forces. Today, our Commanders have a real-time display of our armed forces on their computer screens," said Vice President Richard Cheney. A nations army is its military, or more specifically, all of its land forces. ... Military aircraft are airplanes used in warfare. ... See also: 2003 invasion of Iraq and Gulf War (disambiguation) C Company, 1st Battalion, The Staffordshire Regiment, 1st UK Armoured Division The Persian Gulf War was a conflict between Iraq and a coalition force of 34 nations led by the United States. ... In military terminology, a battalion consists of two to six companies typically commanded by a lieutenant colonel. ... Brigade is a term from military science which refers to a group of several battalions (typically two to four), and directly attached supporting units (normally including at least an artillery battery and additional logistic support). ... A division is a large military unit or formation usually consisting of around 10,000 soldiers. ... The word track can mean more than one thing. ... Commander is a military rank used in many navies but not generally in armies or air forces. ...

"Net-centric warfare's effectiveness has greatly improved in 12 years. Desert Storm forces, involving more than 500,000 troops, were supported with 100 Megabit per second (Mbit/s) of bandwidth. Today, OIF forces, with about 350,000 warfighters, had more than 3,000 Mbit/s of satellite Bandwidth, which is 30 times more bandwidth for a force 45 percent smaller. U.S. troops essentially used the same weapon platforms used in Operation Desert Storm with significantly increased effectiveness." (Lt. Gen. Harry D. Raduege Jr., Defense Information Systems Agency) A megabit per second (mbps or mbit/s) is a unit of data transmission equal to 1,000 kilobits per second or 1,000,000 bits per second. ... Analog Bandwidth is the width, usually measured in hertz, of a frequency band f2 − f1. ...

External links

• http://www.stsc.hill.af.mil/crosstalk/2004/01/0401Raduege.html
• http://www.defenselink.mil
• http://www.globalsecurity.org