Next War: Reimagining How We Fight

An analysis of the lessons learned from recent wars, including the conflict in Ukraine, and how top war-fighting disrupters are transforming the methods of warfare.

The nature of war is constant change. We live in an era of exponential technological acceleration which is transforming how wars are waged. Today, the battlespace is transparent; multi-domain sensors can see anything, and long-range precision fire can target everything that is observed. Autonomous weapons can be unleashed into the battlespace and attack any target from above, hitting the weakest point of tanks and armored vehicles. The velocity of war is hyper-fast.

Battle shock is the operational, informational, and organizational paralysis induced by the rapid convergence of key disrupters in the battlespace. It occurs when the tempo of operations is so fast, and the means so overwhelming, that the enemy cannot think, decide, or act in time. Hit with too many attacks in multiple domains, all occurring simultaneously, the enemy is paralyzed. In short, the keys to decisive victory in war is to generate battle shock.

Imagine a peer fight against Communist China, a new war in Europe against a resurgent Russia, or a conflict against Iran in the Middle East. How can our forces survive an enemy-first strike in these circumstances? Can we adapt to the ever-accelerating tempo of war?

Will our forces be able to mask from enemy sensors? How will leaders execute command and control in a degraded communications environment? Will our command posts survive? Will our commanders see and understand what is happening in order to plan, decide, and act in real time? This book addresses these tough questions and more.

Table of Contents

How War is Changing

1. Learning from the Second Nagorno Karabakh War and the Russian-Ukrainian War
2. The Transparent Battlespace
3. The First Strike Advantage
4. The Tempo Of War
5. Top Attack
6. Full Automation
7. The Kill Web
8. Visualizing the Battlespace in All Domains—Executing Mission Command
9. Decision Dominance
10. Implications for the Defense of Taiwan