Defense Science Board 2006 Summer Study on 21st Century Strategic Technology Vectors, Volume 2: Critical Capabilities and Enabling Technologies

摘要

This volume (II) is the report of the Critical Capabilities and Enabling Technologies panel of the Defense Science Board 2006 Summer Study on 21st Century Strategic Technology Vectors. The Capabilities Panel was charged to do the following: (1) examine the operational missions that the U.S. military might be called upon to perform in support of emerging national security objectives; (2) identify new operational capabilities that would be needed to successfully accomplish those missions; and (3) identify the critical science, technology, and other related enablers of the desired capabilities. The panel looked to the Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) for help in identifying operational missions. The missions highlighted in the QDR are as follows: defeat terrorist networks, prevent acquisition and use of weapons of mass destruction (WMD), defend the homeland, and shape nations at strategic crossroads. To these missions the panel added stability, security, transition, and reconstruction (SSTR) operations. This addition was made based on the belief that SSTR operations will be an important mission in the future, just as they are today in Iraq and Afghanistan. The decision to concentrate on the missions highlighted in the QDR, with the addition of SSTR, forces this study away from an examination of conventional warfare and toward more nontraditional missions and capabilities. Following an introductory chapter, chapters 2-3 explain the methodology used by the panel to examine the five selected missions and the process by which the most important capabilities, their enabling technology areas, and the constituent technologies that underpin them were identified. Chapters 4-7 examine each of the capabilities in greater detail, making judgments and recommendations on how the department can best achieve the desired capabilities. Chapter 8 discusses technology push as it relates to capability achievement. The report concludes with a summary of its key findings and recommendations.