Should the Concept of Network-Centric Warfare Form a Central Pillar of the Australian Army's Transformation, as Articulated in the Hardened and Networked Army Concept; Monograph

摘要

The Australian Army has commenced a process of transformation to meet the demands of the increasingly complex operational environment in which it is currently operating, and will continue to operate in the foreseeable future. The Australian Government in 2000 significantly amended strategic guidance for the Australian Defence Force (ADF). The Australian Government's 2000 Defense White Paper, 'Defending Australia,' tasked the ADF to prepare for operations not only in defense of the Australian homeland, but as an expeditionary force that could be seamlessly employed in coalition operations with its allies throughout the world. The Australian Army has responded to this strategic guidance by annunciating the transformation of the force according to the 'Hardened and Networked Army' concept. As part of this transformation, the Australian Army aims to gain advantage through the concept of a 'network- enabled' Army. This approach is only a slight modification of that proposed in the Australian Department of Defence document entitled 'Network-Centric Warfare Roadmap,' which describes how the concept of Network-Centric Warfare (NCW) will be incorporated into the ADF. The U.S. Department of Defense's Office of Force Transformation's vision of future warfare, as described in its pamphlet 'The Implementation of Network-Centric Warfare,' places much greater emphasis on the 'centrality' of NCW to all future warfighting concepts. This monograph addresses whether the Australian Army's vision of a network-enabled force is a pragmatic response to the challenges of the future operating environment, or if NCW is truly 'an emerging theory of war in the Information Age' as articulated by the theory's supporters. While the delineation between network-enabled and network-centric may seem trivial to some observers, it is fundamental when considering how the Australian Army plans to conduct military operations in the future.