Three major tendencies to be vigilant! The U.S. Army's ambitions for transformation are enormous

According to comprehensive foreign media reports, the US Army has recently started from the aspects of top-level design and equipment construction to vigorously promote the transformation and development of the Army, and the relevant plans contain far-reaching strategic plots, or will have a greater impact on the development of US military construction and global military posture.

Two main lines push transformation

Combined with recent relevant trends, the US Army mainly promotes transformation and development from two aspects.

On the one hand, strengthen the top-level design. The U.S. Army has recently issued two heavyweight documents, the Digital Transformation Strategy and the Unified Network Plan, to delineate the framework for the transformation work.

Digital Transformation Strategy. According to the U.S. Defense News website, the U.S. Army's Digital Transformation Strategy aims to coordinate various technical efforts and prepare for multi-domain operations. The strategy consists of three parts: First, military modernization and combat readiness, including the creation of a digital, data-driven military. The second is reform, including optimizing and adjusting the structure of digital investment. The third is personnel and partnerships, which involve recruiting talents for the use of cloud computing, big data, network security and other related technologies.

Unified Network Plan. It is reported that the "Unified Network Plan" issued by the US Army aims to coordinate and integrate various modern network resources and share information and data to support multi-domain operations. U.S. Army Deputy Chief of Staff Morrison pointed out that the U.S. Army network used to be centered on the theater of operations and was almost always scattered. Moving troops from one theater to another can be difficult, partly because of obstructions by the bureaucracy for its own self-interest and partly because of technical obstacles. Therefore, the U.S. Army developed the Unified Network Plan, which attempted to unify the tactical network of the troops with the enterprise network used.

The plan is divided into three phases: the first phase is from now to 2024, the goal is to establish a unified network, and the related work will start from the modernization of tactical networks, involving a standardized security architecture based on Zero Trust, the introduction of emerging technologies such as 5G networks, etc. The second phase, from 2025 to 2027, focuses on operating a unified network, starting with the convergence of tactical and enterprise networks. The third phase is 2028 and beyond, with the goal of completing the unified network construction and continuous optimization of it.

On the other hand, promote equipment construction. According to the US "Defense One" website, the exhibits in the exhibition hall of this year's annual conference of the US Army Association show that the US Army and its hundreds of weapons suppliers have left the operational model of the past 20 years behind and turned to prepare for completely different types of military conflicts. Gone are the days of simple robots that only need to eliminate roadside bombs, and now the U.S. military needs long-range missiles, hypersonic missiles, smart tanks and a new generation of fighters.

Multiple motivations for an advantage

According to comprehensive analysis, the US Army has taken multiple measures to promote transformation and development, and the main intention can be summarized into three aspects.

Concentrate resources to deter adversaries. Commenting on the U.S. Army's recent push for transformation and development, U.S. Secretary of the Army Christina Wormus said at the U.S. Army Association's annual meeting on Oct. 11: "If the U.S. Army is required to meet the challenges of major strategic adversaries, it is impossible to postpone any major decision to build the future Army." ”

Wommuth claims that the U.S. Army needs to think harder about how to deter countries like Russia and, if necessary, use the Capabilities the U.S. Army already has to fight high-end adversaries. To this end, the U.S. Army has to analyze its core structure, state of readiness, modernization plans, and infrastructure in order to be able to pool its limited resources to meet future challenges.

Strengthen combat readiness to make up for shortcomings. According to the "2021 U.S. Military Strength Index Report" released by the Heritage Foundation, a U.S. think tank, although the U.S. Army is committed to transformation, many related projects are still in the development stage. It is reported that at present, only 3 of the 58 combat brigades of the US Army can be put into battle at any time, and 2/3 of the combat brigades have not reached the level of combat readiness, and the state of combat readiness is worrying.

The U.S. media also criticized the Army's bad tradition of being "never prepared for future wars." The U.S. Army has said that during the Gulf War, Iraq did not act immediately, and the U.S. military had enough time to deploy troops. Some US media said that one of the reasons why the US Army vigorously promoted reform and transformation this time was to make up for the shortcomings in combat readiness.

Aim for multi-domain combat. For the innovation of top-level design, whether it is the "Digital Transformation Strategy" or the "Unified Network Plan", an important purpose is to build a "skeleton" and open up the "vein" for the multi-domain operations that the US military is actively promoting, and to build a "network of networks" for future operations by connecting "every sensor", to transform decisions into actions faster, and to transform information advantages into joint global combat advantages. For the progress in equipment research and development, a major purpose is to break through the rules and regulations of the development of traditional army weapons, face the needs of future wars and multi-domain operations, and compare the development trend of unmanned and intelligent frontier weapons to seize opportunities and control the future.

Three major tendencies require vigilance

In the future, when the US Army promotes transformation and development, there are three major tendencies that need to be highly concerned and vigilant.

Deliberately demeaning has no deep meaning. In recent years, the U.S. military has frequently belittled its military prowess. Nicolas Sharan, chief software officer of the U.S. Department of Defense, recently announced his resignation, saying in his departure speech: "In the next 15 to 20 years, in the competition with major strategic opponents, we have no chance of winning, and I can't bear to watch the United States being overtaken." The frequent use of similar remarks by the US military can not only create a "gimmick" for its transformation, but also confuse strategic opponents in the future, earn domestic support, obtain budget tilt, and develop military strength in a dignified manner.

From "think well and do it again" to "think while doing it" or even "say it when you're done". In terms of promoting military strength, the consistent practice of the US military is to "plan first, then implement." The transformation and development of the US Army has become "planning and implementing", and even some aspects are "first get on the bus, then make up the ticket". In the next step, the U.S. Army may accelerate cooperation with private enterprises, rapidly promote the implementation of relevant strategies and equipment research and development, and seek to establish "irreversible" systematic combat advantages.

Create anxiety to drag the world into the trap of an arms race. The transformation and development of the US Army in this round, with multi-domain operations as the operational support, is easy to introduce other countries into the dilemma of global and full-time preparation; with intelligence as the technical support, it is easy to introduce other countries into the strategic trap of artificial intelligence arms race; with "strategic opponents" as a fixed target, it is easy to trigger a fierce reaction from relevant countries and a new round of turmoil in the regional situation. In this regard, all countries should maintain a certain strategic determination, see clearly the general trend of world military development, conform to the trend of global military change, take the initiative rather than act aggressively, and respond safely but not too fiercely.

Source: China National Defense Daily