Military

Revealed: How the Army Plans to Fight the Next Big War

The US Army is now unveiling a new, fast-moving strategic shift toward “Multi-Domain Operations” as part of a long-term effort to further operationalize combined air, land, sea and cyber joint-warfare techniques and tactics.

Senior Army strategists tell Warrior Maven this emerging strategic shift, to be formally roll out Oct. 8 at the annual Association of the US Army Symposium, represents a key next step in the strategic evolution beyond the often discussed “Multi-Domain Battle” initiative.

The advent of long-range sensors and precision fires on the part of potential near-peer adversaries has reinforced the need for the US military to operate in real-time across air, sea and land domains. Furthermore, the emergence of converging newer domains, such as cyber, space and the electromagnetic sphere are naturally an indispensable element of this push to operationalize cross domain warfare.

The nuances of this shift toward “operationalizing” cross-domain fires are further explained in an essay by Training and Doctrine Command Commander Gen. Stephen Townsend called “Accelerating Multi-Domain Operations: Evolution of an Idea.”

Published by the Modern War Institute at West Point, Townsend’s essay delineates the Army’s transition into a more complex, joint warfighting environment characterized by fast changing high-tech threats, escalating risks of cyber and and electronic warfare attacks - and rapid connectivity between air, land, sea and cyber domains.