Tech Wars or Old Battlefields: Lessons from the Recent Conflicts
Revolution in Military Affairs (RMA) is a buzzword that militaries worldwide are familiar with. Each generation of the military encounters and adopts new technologies that intersect with changing doctrines, strategies and tactics to bring about irrevocable changes in the character of warfare.
Every major war fought in the 20th century experienced an RMA. The deployment of the machine gun changed the nature of trench warfare during World War I, as did the blitzkrieg tactics and highly manoeuvrable tanks and mechanised platforms of WWII. During the first Gulf War, the United States brought the idea of RMA to the forefront by using its high-tech stand-off capabilities, including Tomahawk cruise missiles and carrier-based air power to effortlessly rout Saddam Hussain’s army.
Today, network-centric warfare has taken centre stage. Artificial intelligence (AI), space and cyber realms are fusing with sensors, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) and beyond-visual-range (BVR) weapons on the modern battlefield, drastically reducing Sensor To Shooter (STS) kill chains.