------ # Network Centric Warfare **Written By:** - David S. Alberts - John J. Garstka - Frederick P. Stein **See:** Alberts_NCW.pdf --------- ## NCW Myths We are sure that many readers have already read a lot and heard a lot about Network Centric Warfare (NCW). Certainly there is no shortage of exaggerated claims, unfounded criticisms, and just plain misinformation about this subject. Sorting out fact from fancy will be among the community’s principal tasks as we grapple with how to apply network-centric concepts to military operations. The following discussion of a number of myths currently circulating about the nature, limitations, and dangers of Network Centric Warfare will set the stage for the detailed exploration of Network Centric Warfare concepts offered here. It will do so by alerting the reader to a number of important issues that must be addressed and widely understood if we are to achieve the critical mass of consensus needed to rapidly move ahead. ### The Myths Myth 1: We are experts on NCW and this book has all of the answers. The truth is that we are not experts on NCW and far more importantly, in our opinion, no one is. In fact at the current time, NCW is far more a state of mind than a concrete reality. Despite this, scattered evidence is now beginning to emerge in the form of “existence proofs” that document the value-added provided by NCW capabilities. These are referenced in later sections. This book will be only one of many attempts to understand and explain the concepts of NCW and their application to specific military organizations and operations. It will be some time before the full potential of NCW concepts will be understood and even more time before we begin to realize their potential. We need to move beyond bumper stickers to fully explore and debate this important subject. It is our hope that this book will stimulate and contribute to such a discourse, helping to make all of us more aware of the potentials and pitfalls of NCW. Translating this concept into a real operational capability requires far more than just injecting information technology in the form of an information infrastructure or infostructure. It requires concepts of operation, C2 approaches, organizational forms, doctrine, force structure, support services and the like—all working together to leverage the available information. We call this a Mission Capability Package (MCP). How NCW concepts will ultimately be manifested in Mission Capability Packages designed to leverage Information Superiority is the central question we all face. The answer, despite premature predictions to the contrary, will unfold only after much hard work. Myth 2: NCW is all about the network. Actually, NCW is more about networking than networks. It is about the increased combat power that can be generated by a network-centric force. As we will show, the power of NCW is derived from the effective linking or networking of knowledgeable entities that are geographically or hierarchically dispersed. The networking of knowledgeable entities enables them to share information and collaborate to develop shared awareness, and also to collaborate with one another to achieve a degree of self-synchronization. The net result is increased combat power. Myth 3: NCW will change the nature of warfare. Obviously, the word nature means different things to different people, but if you take a look at the principles of war, only the principles of mass and maneuver need to be somewhat reinterpreted to reflect the massing of effects, not forces. The other principles remain as meaningful as ever. NCW does however offer us an opportunity to improve our ability to achieve these principles by reducing the tensions among them. We will show that the principles related to the offense, economy of force, surprise, and unity of command can clearly be helped by the application of NCW concepts. And despite some well- founded concern, we believe NCW can also contribute to achieving the principle of simplicity. Myth 4: NCW applies only to large-scale conflict with a peer competitor. If one associates NCW with the kind of tactical sensor- to-shooter low hanging fruit that early experiments are focusing on, then one might be tempted to reach this conclusion. However, if one takes a look at the principles of war, which apply pretty broadly across the mission spectrum, then one is forced to conclude otherwise. For example, the principle of offensive is to act rather than react and to dictate the time, place, purpose, scope, intensity, and pace of operations. This is all about battlespace awareness, speed of command, and responsiveness. As will be demonstrated later in this book, the application of NCW concepts has enormous potential for improving our ability to achieve battlespace awareness, speed of command, and force responsiveness. We will also show that the application of NCW concepts have proven useful in Operations Other Than War (OOTW) including Desert Fox, Deliberate Force, and in Bosnia. While it is true that our collection systems are not currently designed for OOTW, this does not negate the promise that NCW has for improving upon our current approaches to these kinds of operations. Thus, rather than saying that NCW is not applicable to OOTW, it would be more accurate to say that we could not hope to fully realize the promise of NCW without proper attention to the collection and analysis of appropriate information. But even in the case where information is far less than perfect, it could reasonably be argued that being able to have a shared understanding of what is known and what is not known would be preferable to a situation in which units operated in isolated ignorance. Myth 5: NCW makes us more vulnerable to asymmetric attacks. We are, of course, far too vulnerable for comfort. We cannot tell you NCW will make us less vulnerable. The truth is that nobody knows. This is because it depends on how the concepts of NCW are translated into concepts of operation, doctrine, force structure, and each of the other elements that comprise a mission capability package. Our increasing dependence on our “system of systems” and our potential vulnerabilities to problems like Y2K, information warfare, or simply malfunctions due to sheer complexity should give us pause. These vulnerability issues need to be more fully explored as the number of our systems and our dependence upon their proper functioning continues to grow and as they individually and collectively become more complex. However, it would be foolish to discard the concept of NCW because of these concerns. Rather we need to keep our vulnerabilities in mind as we proceed to define and build our future infostructure and take steps to rigorously test proposed NCW solutions, subjecting them to information attacks. Myth 6: We are already well on the road to NCW. To fully leverage Information Superiority and apply the concepts of NCW to the full range of tasks we in DoD undertake in support of our many mission challenges, two things are required—first, a suitable infostructure and second, coevolved mission capability packages. While we are taking steps in the right direction, and indeed are making useful progress, unless we take appropriate action now, we will fall short in both areas, hampering our ability to make further progress. First, the infostructure we can reasonably expect, given current plans, investments, and acquisition processes will have shortfalls in several significant dimensions. We can expect continued vulnerabilities, a lack of connectivity and bandwidth, particularly for that stubborn last mile, and problems with mobility and survivability. One problem we grapple with is the program-centric way we acquire capabilities. Another is the need for improved approaches to the challenges associated with integrating a federation of systems. Second, unless we do a better job of nurturing and rewarding innovation, our applications of NCW concepts are more likely to be linear extensions of current concepts and practices rather than being truly innovative. We may be thus trapped in a vicious cycle, where a lack of infostructure will hamper the ability of innovators by making it difficult to imagine what is possible and to test out new ideas, and by making the concepts that are developed seem beyond reach. Myth 7: The commercial world has shown us the way, all we need to do is follow. In fact, network-centric concepts do not automatically translate into effective organizations. This is true whether or not one is trying to apply this concept in the commercial sector or to DoD. This assertion that “what is good for business is good for DoD” is a dangerous oversimplification. However, the converse assertion that “lessons learned in the commercial sector have no application to the domain of warfare” is equally untrue and if believed, would deny us an opportunity to learn from the experiences of others when they are applicable. Myth 8: NCW will give us the power to dominate our adversaries. Obviously, anyone that claims that NCW concepts are “the answer” clearly misunderstands what NCW is all about. As we will show, NCW allows us to get the most out of our people and our assets. However, better awareness depends upon not only sharing what we know but also upon our ability to collect and analyze needed information. Improved collaboration, speed of command, and other attributes of command and control will not make up for weapons that are insufficient or inappropriate for the task at hand. Thus, it is important to remember that we need balanced mission capability packages to satisfy our operational warfighting requirements. There are some types of operations that we are not as well equipped to do as others. Clearly, in some of these cases we need to invest in other capabilities in order to make significant gains. Thus, while NCW has the potential to improve upon current performance, it is clearly not a panacea. Myth 9: NCW will not survive first contact with the real fog, friction, and complexity of war. The fact that warfare will always be characterized by fog, friction, complexity, and irrationality circumscribes but does not negate the benefits that network-centric operations can provide to the forces in terms of improved battlespace awareness and access to distributed assets. While predicting human and organizational behavior will remain well beyond the state of the art, having a better near real-time picture of what is happening (in situations where this is possible from observing things that move, emit, etc.) certainly reduces uncertainty in a meaningful way. We would argue that better battlespace awareness and increased responsiveness could help us shape the battle to our advantage. This notion is not new, but an extension of the classic principal of offensive. NCW concepts hold the promise of giving us more to work with. Myth 10: NCW is an attempt to automate war that can only fail. NCW is not about turning the battle over to “the network” or even about relying more on automated tools and decision aids. It is really about exploiting information to maximize combat power by bringing more of our available information and warfighting assets to bear both effectively and efficiently. NCW is about developing collaborative working environments for commanders, and indeed for all our soldiers, sailors, marines, and airmen to make it easier to develop common perceptions of the situation and achieve (self-) coordinated responses to situations. However, there is definitely a place for automated tools and decision aids on the battlespaces of the future. As we will explain, there are different types of decisions to be made and different tools and approaches to these decisions are appropriate. Potentially, a lot could be gained from the prudent application of automated processes—arguments ad absurdum not withstanding. Myth 11: NCW will result in our chasing our tails rather than responding to battlespace events. There has been some concern voiced about NCW’s effect on the speed of command. The worry is that we will develop a pace that is so rapid that we will “get ahead of ourselves” on the battlefield, responding not to an adversary’s actions and reactions, but to ourselves (chasing our tails, as it were). Obviously, one can easily construct situations and circumstances where “speed of command” is irrelevant or worse, harmful. But there are many circumstances and missions where, all things being equal, speed of command will be decisive. The point is that NCW gives us an opportunity to increase speed of command when it is appropriate; it does not force us to do so when it is not. Thus, the point we can take away is the need to better understand how we can leverage speed of command in military situations and dispel the myth that speed (or any other single factor) is either a panacea or an unmitigated good. ### Summary It is important to realize that each of these myths contains the germ of a valid concern. It would be unfortunate if, because of the way in which these concerns are expressed, they were not given due attention as we proceed on our journey into the future.