Sameer Baxi

The world is changing at a rapid pace. Cellular phones, fax machines, computers, satellites, the Internet. Ever greater quantities of data can be transmitted faster and more widely than ever before.

The silicon microchip has reduced complex systems to the palm of a hand. There's a revolution underway in information that will vastly affect the way we communicate, the way we learn, conduct business, and the way we make war.

As the world turns networked, the Pentagon is calculating the military opportunities that computer networks, wireless technologies and the modern media offer.

From influencing public opinion through new media to designing "computer network attack" weapons, the US military is learning to fight an electronic war.

The declassified document is called "Information Operations Roadmap". It was obtained by the National Security Archive at George Washington University using the Freedom of Information Act.

Officials in the Pentagon wrote it in 2003. The Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld, signed it.

Modern military planners have understood that developing faster and better methods of obtaining information is a key to victory on the battlefield. Today, some military planners claim that the microchip's ability to rapidly process vast amounts of information will help armies see through the "fog" of the 21st Century battlefield.

For example, soldiers on the battlefield of the future may receive information directly from reconnaissance satellites capable spying on 100,000 square mile areas of the globe. Meanwhile, dozens of aerial vehicles, or UAVs, will hover for hours at a time relaying live video images of enemy positions instantaneously to satellites and command centers.

Small squads of widely dispersed ground troops will scout out enemy targets using computing devices worn on their wrists or helmets. Target information will be relayed directly to stealthy aircraft, ships and ground weapons positioned far away from the front lines. Together they will fire concentrated barrages of precision-guided bombs, missiles, and even laser energy beams at enemy targets.

Today the Pentagon is at an historic pass. Ahead lies the digital battlefield of tomorrow. There, technology will no doubt play an enormous role in shaping the modern armed forces.

References:

Adam Brookes. US plans to 'fight the net' revealed .

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4655196.stm January 2006