Extract
Armies Pursue the Digital Dream.
The major armies of the world all see digital battle management systems (BMS) as the way of the future. But progress with this new technology since we last reported on it in 1997 has not always gone smoothly. The next few years should see BMS systems of some nations put to the practical test in large-scale exercises, while the soldiers of less progressive armies have the more modest goal of simply seeing such systems arriving in any quantity.
Greater tactical mobility and the increased performance of the sensors used to detect the enemy and of the weapons to be brought to bear against that enemy have created a dramatic increase in the speed of modern combat operations. The solution to the problems of commanding fast-moving forces is the digital battle management systems which allow all friendly units to share a common operating picture, free front-line commanders from routine reporting tasks and give senior commanders a God-like view of the battlefield. United States The US Army, the most enthusiast proponent of digitisation, plans to invest about $17.4 billion on digitisation over the next five fiscal years. Having equipped its first division, it plans to equip its first digitised corps by the end of 2004, and its remaining active and reserve divisions and corps by 2015. The 4th Infantry Division was digitised by being given 16 high-priority systems. Designated `Category 1' (Cat 1), these are mostly command, control, and communications s...See the full content of this document
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