Modern warfare

DIA Director: We are preparing to fight the last war

Does warfighting in the information age still look like two armies clashing on a battlefield – a violent clash between hostile forces each trying to impose their will on the other? In part yes, Stewart said during a keynote address at DoDIIS 2017 in St. Louis Monday. The nature of warfare hasn’t changed. War remains an act of force to compel an adversary – nothing less, but the battlefield isn’t always physical these days.

“All too often we find ourselves fighting warfare in the ways that are not purely kinetic,” he said.

As opposed to specific platforms like the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, Stewart said for him fifth generation war is about the fight for information.

Providing a history lesson of sorts, Stewart explained how the first generation of warfare was the mastering of firepower; the second generation was the early modern technology tactics of small units operating independently; the third generation focused on late modern technology leveraging speed, stealth and combined arms; and the fourth generation was post-modern and turned to decentralized warfare such as terrorism.

The fifth generation will be cognitive warfare, he said.