RMA : Why It Is the Revolution in Military Affairs?

 

by Tomohiro OKAMOTO

Member of Research Committee, DRC

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　

Introduction

Revolution in military affairs so-called “RMA” is talked about in the whole world now.  The approach to RMA has been seriously studied since for ten years in advanced nations, and it is not an exaggeration to say that it is exactly in full swing now at the beginning of 21st century. It was the Gulf War fighting led by US troops with the allied forces in 1991 that the United States has initiated the RMA and made every country in the world learn the approaching of RMA. And, because the RMA was mainly derived from computational network, the combat in a new form of cyber warfare has to be   considered. On the other hand in those days, Japan was obliged to establish the international contributions framework by military forces, in such fields as legislation, execution, review, lesson learned and new legal framework for war contingencies. Due to this situation, Japan may consequently be missing the chance to join the RMA, despite the fact that the technology used for military revolution is military application of civil IT technology in which Japan is very skillful.

Moreover, Japan alone is left behind from most advanced countries such as United States, Great Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Sweden which have already shifted the system toward "Joint operation of military power" to cope with the RMA. And those countries are going forward on the research and development of sensors, designators, shooters, satellite systems and so forth.

Falling behind to the response with RMA, Japan also has such misgivings in that no one has answered a basic question like " Why is it the revolution in military affairs, to begin with?"  I would like to answer this kind of questions in this paper, quoting from the revolutionary changes of RMA in the combat of the Gulf War and the campaign in Afghanistan.

 

 1. What Is Network Centric Warfare?

The worldwide terrorism which occurred simultaneously in various places in the United States on September 11th  of 2001 shocked the people all over the world. And this is an international crime inconceivable without internet. Osama bin-Laden accomplished his intention organizing the members by using the internet, raising funds, having laundered and distributed these money by the internet, hijacking three or more civilian planes just after taking off, making them plunge into the World Trade Center in New York and the Department of Defense in Washington etc. He   committed the crime just as he has intended. This is the exactly one form of Network Centric Warfare so to speak. At the same time, it was a crime accomplished because the global net nowadays exists all over the world. This fact foretold the vast expansion of paradigm of the threat of the 21st century, including invisible enemies such as international drug trafficking, illegal arms dealings, disturbance of nations by drugs or arms, and furthermore, international terrorism with weapons of mass destruction, piracy, antagonism against the state sovereignty, obstruction of access to energy resource, cyber attack which plans destruction or confusion of social infrastructure,   obstruction of peacekeeping operations and so forth. And the extension of such threats obscures the boundary of the duty allotment of the police, the fire fighters and military forces, causing confusion in way of international cooperation indicating the reality of expansion of the role of military power.

 

2.        Network Centric Warfare as Revolution

 

(1) Revolution led by Networks

 a. Revolutionary Change in Operational Tempo

The United States used the net for operation for the first time in the Gulf War. "Packaged Attack" achieved by a set of as many as 60 aircraft which reached to the air  at a time in the Gulf War was not achieved without the existence of the net which originated in the IT technology. It started with the Air Tasking Order by e-mail. It contained such orders or instructions as from where and for what time in the day the pilot should take off, in which point of the midair he should get refueling, in which point in the air he should patrols for adjusting time, and after the package is accomplished, what target he should aim at, to which position he should come back after attacking, and so on. This kind of Air Tasking Order was delivered to more than 100 people by the net instantaneously in the Gulf War. Packaged Attack was achieved splendidly, and powerful shock power was given to the air defense organization of Iraq giving them no time for fighting against to allied forces, and finally similar packaged attacks were repeated tens of times.

The former basic principle to build up the military organization was that a platoon is composed by four squads, a company of four platoons, a battalion of four companies, a regiment of four battalions, a division of four regiments and the like. This was the idea to keep the command lines of communication properly for operations in war. This was what we call the pyramid type of organization that did not change for 3000 years or more in the history of human being. But in time of the Network Centric Warfare, command line of communication should be the system of a flat type as mentioned above, because of the internet. For instance, operational sphere will be composed of many flat types of tactical sphere, and strategic sphere will be composed by some operational sphere, for instance in future.

It is said that the net at this time was still imperfectly handed to the U.S. Navy in the form of the floppy disk. However, this was an event that not wrong marked the beginning of Network Centric Warfare, and the fact that the U.S. Air Force and the U.S. Navy have been jointly operated also clearly suggested the tendency to "Joint operation".

In case of war in Afghanistan against international terrorism, the operations conference was made by the internet with the Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff, front commanders or other HQ members of Operation. Many kinds of images of the targets, movement of the enemies, bombing result which were obtained by satellites, necessary data or information concerning enemies, the result of the scouts and so forth were delivered to the members who attended this conference by portable personal computer. It is assumed that the operation was executed sharing the plan based on these as the commander of each class repeated the discussion in real time in interactive form. It is needless to say that the commanders of each class need not meet in one place at this operation because of net conference, and could save the time of the movement. And, the front-lines commander of troops said that he was able to progress the operation while planning what his own force should do, checking the action of the subordinate members by the personal computer, seizing the combat situation in detail, and confirming the intention of senior commanders. Thus, to execute the combat in so-called Network Centric Warfare, little time was spent by the commanders of each class to gather in one place for the operations conference and for matching “situational awareness” completely.

Totally speaking, operational tempo is dramatically and revolutionary speeded up because of common understanding of situational awareness, by less commanding stages than before and by no need of gathering in one place. This is because in the combat in Afghanistan, a time and restrictions of coming in Ramadan and winter were overcome thus and the clean up war was led to the success. President Bush of the United States opened the campaign on October 8 fully convincing of success, so to speak.

b. Revolutionary Change in Situational Awareness

It is assumed that GCCS (Global Command and Control System) which the United States had already been equipped was used at this operations conference. Because reconnaissance pictures by GCCS were immediately transmitted to the force in the front, and also the progress of a battle of front-line troops to a senior force in real time, the commander of each class below the Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff could think about their own duty, sharing various information including battlefield recognition (Situational Awareness), and understanding the situation of the force enough. Those information were created in the command post at the Department of Defense or White House, and transmitted to every place interactively. The commanders have executed the operation under enough mutual understandings and trusts with the member in White House and the Department of Defense while exchanging the opinion from the political point of view and videoconferencing with the commanders of front-line troops. The operation has been also accomplished considering the reaction of the mass media.

It is needless to say that the satellite group such as the broadcasting, reconnaissance, warning, surveillance and communications were used for the Network Centric Warfare. It is a revolution that the IT integration brings. The IT integration brought "Revolutionary improvement of Situational Awareness", and the operation was accomplished under more reliable information. The operation must now be done in the flood of information, unlike the situation of the old-fashioned operation with too little information.

c. Revolutionary Change in Combat that Network Integrates

The operation is executed in four stages, that is : detection, identification and designation, attack and destruction of the target. This principle has never been changed since 5000 years in the history of human being. But at the stage of detection   the target, many kinds of sensors were invented and separated from the human body in the beginning stage of the history. In other words, human being gets on board   fighter aircrafts, tanks, ships and etc. because the functions of designation, attack and carrying bombs are never separated because of the technological limit. But nowadays in the age of Network Centric Warfare, network system will integrate those functions, complete the operation despite that every function is located separately in the umbrella of the net.

Let us observe such combat in Afghanistan this time. The US special operations force soldier carrying the laser designator designates the target by order of so-called Air Tasking Order, and another US pilot who control the fighter aircraft carrying missiles shoots those missiles by order of another Air Tasking Order. Nobody knows about the result of this except the members in operation center, but these missiles hit the target with the course of the reflection of laser beam. Two functions are separately existed but integrated by the net, and finally accomplishes the mission. ATO gets the missiles launched at once when the reflected light of the encoded laser starts the missile.

The answer to the question "Why was it necessity of joint operation?" is here, and the ideal way of a new combat "revolutionary improvement of the combat efficiency by joint operation" is suggested.

d. Flexibility and Superiority of Operation for Defensive Side

However, we must pay attention at the same time to the fact that RMA is not always to expel either conventional equipments or usual doctrine. As for a military revolution, it is necessary strictly to understand the meaning and limit of it brings. For instance, even if a new combat operation that integrates the separation of the function by the net becomes popular, conventional type of combat is also effective according to the timing and situation of the combat.

Nevertheless, it can be said that the most effective net combat is against terrorism or guerrilla warfare if the characteristic of the net combat is described. That is, terrorists or guerrillas will not carry such the net that defensive side carries. Defensive side can share the information with each other on the enemy by their own net.  And moreover, commanders in defensive side can get the most appropriate and accurate “ battlefield recognition” not only from his subordinate but also from a senior force at the same time. They enjoy "superiority of information" over the terrorists or guerrillas with the net. For another reason, the defense side can execute the ambush tactics against the terrorists or guerrillas because defenders have more information than they. Defenders can extend the power to the enemy when it is needed by order of the hand carried computer.

As for the sea combat, such effective idea as described above is also useful. Advanced countries are developing the system including such a net, the typical example being the   Future Combat System ( FCS ) that the United States is now developing in cooperation with France.

e. Revolutionary Change in the Precision Guidance Technology

The precision guidance technology has shown marked improvements by IT technology in such fields as the television guidance, the topographical collation, and many kinds of homing devices, as well as GPS and laser designator. Especially, the hit probability of the laser designator is better than the GPS, because as the GPS faces the target closer, the more error margin grows. On the other hand, the designated laser hits the target and the missile riding on the reflection wave of the laser ray concentrates to the target. If the hit probability improves by the revolution, the introduction of smaller warheads with reduced charge will be possible.

It is a famous saying that, 1ton of warhead was needed to destroy the target at the Gulf War with the first time use of GPS, while 190 t was used by televised guidance in Vietnam war, and 9000 t in World War II. If it dares to say, 1/2 t and even 1/4 t will be effective if the warhead guided by the reflection of the laser hit the target. The idea of small diameter bomb has already been considered, and the miniaturization of the warhead progresses in RMA advanced nations. Moreover, it is possible for such a fighter, tank or vessel as the arms carrier to be installed by more warheads than before, if the warhead is small. If the combat efficiency of the same rate is requested, a quantitative reduction in the arms transportation such as fighters, tanks and vessels is also possible. 

The advancement of the precision guidance technology also caused a close-up of the mistaken bombing problem. Basically, the world opinion has the tendency to identify evil conduct from the viewpoint to the damage of noncombatant, even if it happened   by the miss-distance of bomb attack or by the taking different target by mistake. For instance, the mistaken bomb attack on the Chinese Embassy in Yugoslavia and the bore-sight error of the bombing or the GPS error in Afghanistan come to be considered as the same mistaken bomb attack. An intentional attack to the noncombatant like the strategic bombing in the World War II is already a long-past strategy, no permissible any more nowadays. Cyber attack to social infrastructure may be the modern strategic bombing in place of this. And, at the same time, support or criticism of by international mass media should be recognized an important element which has great controls over the "great cause" to the war.

f. Revolutionary Change in Doctrine

I want to rouse attention to the coming change of the concept of the principle of "concentration" which is one of the essential tenets of operation. That is, in an old model, vessels, fighters and tanks, etc. should be concentrated to the fatal point of war. But in a new fight with the net, the essence of "concentration" becomes the concentration of the warhead to the target. That is, the necessities of neither the concentration of the weapon career and the shooter, nor the concentration of the target designator. The concentration of the weapon career or the shooter-designator means exposing our own weak point to the enemy, and has to be avoided as much as possible. In a word, skirmisher tactics has to be revived nowadays. The necessity of revolutionary conversion of the principle or the doctrine of the fight lurks here. Napoleon’s use of the invention of musket in the skirmisher tactics can be called one large revolution. And this is the second large military revolution after Napoleon.

A military revolution, that is, Network Centric Warfare is the real revolution from the field of the characteristic of War, the security policy and the military strategy, the doctrine, the military operation, the defense power build-up and the like. It is also concerned with the direction of the education, training, and the research and development, especially the command and control and the intelligence organizations, and furthermore the revolutions with a drastic reform over the many fields of topics like the civil defense, defense industries and so on.

(2) "New Type of War" caused by Net World

 a. Character of Cyber War : Strategic Bombing of the 21st Century

It is a matter of course that the tactics of attack to the computer system or the obstruction of the computer operation should be conceivable if the nucleus of so-called Network Centric Warfare is a computer. The attack is expanded to the computer system or the net by which a social infrastructure is supported, and cyber war presents the aspect of a modern strategic bombing. This is a category of a so-called cyber war, and this is an extremely mean attack because the enemy is not seen or not categorized. Such an attack may be turned to the satellite group in space where the net is formed. The attack is named as Computer Net Attack ( CNA ). The object of CNA is a computer, a communication network, and protocol, etc. The attack is conceivable as the physical attack to a satellite line, a glass-fiber cable, and a traditional electric wire, etc. or obstructions and cheating to the frequencies.

As the military force is concerned, it must have a closed type of network system or a cryptographic system for its own use. On the other hand, it depends much on the more efficient commercial sensors and computers and telecommunication systems. And the military force will also make more use of the commercial information technology or the system.  And it is not an exaggeration to say that the dependence on the commercial information system service by military forces will become Achilles' tendons of military forces in every country.

And, Computer Net Defense ( CND ) should be very conceivable if there is an attack to the computer. CNA ･ CND  is an extremely important in a military field of the 21st century. The characters and the features of cyber war and the CNA･CND war are as follows.

�@ First of all, the enemy cannot be seen.  It cannot be specified whether it is intentional or just an accident, and whether it is done by an employee within the system or by a terrorism group,  or by an individual or by other groups like a nation, etc.

�A Because the antagonist is not clear, the "concept of deterrence" is not applied to   cyber war. Consequently it cannot help applying the indirect approach such as survivability and the recovery measures, or the intelligence activity to identify the terrorist organization, and its capital flow. Running campaign against the  computer crime prevention by mass media, the education, and the indirect activity to promote the shift to the computer society of the underdeveloped countries will be effective.

�B As mentioned before, cyber attack to the computer system supporting the social infrastructure is a kind of strategic bombing in the 21st century. That is, the attack by the bombing to a social infrastructure like water service, energy, and traffic centers of the nation will take place just in the form of real strategic bombing of 50 years ago.

�C From such point of view, strategic bombing to the computer networks by the terrorist is the most effective for advanced computer society, and terrorists will slip into the society, use net and try to overthrow the nation. They are exactly the malignant parasites on the net society.

"New war" of cyber attack is an extremely dirty crime, and the defense means has been limited and a serious problem for these advanced nations.

 b. Real State of Affairs of Cyber War

How will cyber war begin? I will show only one example because it is not the purpose of this thesis to describe all these modes. For instance, the hacker, single or plural, may send significant or insignificant data at the same time in large quantities. This blows out the line for flight control, ship or railway operation and management, causes overflow of the line of bank, financial institution, hospital, disturbs the remote control system of gas, transportation and so forth. Those are so-called Distributed Denial of Service attack; SPAM sending a large amount of E-mail; Do-Loop trigger repeating the same data; Trojan horse or Melissa, sending computer virus and the like. Moreover, another type of means such as a physical attack to the telecommunication line destroying the circuit by bombing, the traditional attack to cause the frequency obstruction by ECM, the attack to cause the short circuit by the strong electromagnetic pulse which is called EMP, irradiating the laser, and scattering carbon fiber in the circuit will be conceivable nowadays.

  

After-word

The battlefield is now expanded not only from the conventional land, sea, and air but also to the space as well as the cyber space in the 21st century. Additionally, RMA which was so much influenced by the IT revolution calls for a new strategy, operation and tactics in military affairs, and current common sense breaks down as the new type of combat begins to show the aspect of the complexity and the variety. At the same time, the role of military power will be extended to meet the new paradigm of the threat in the 21st century. At such time as this, it is the Self-Defense Forces that the structural reform is most necessary. I will close up this paper by pointing out that "Japan-U.S. alliance" may come to a ruin if the revolution corresponding to the RMA is not assumed to be Japan’s own issue.

 

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