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Information as a Key Resource: The Influence of RMA and Network-Centric Operations on the Transformation of the German Armed Forces
Sabine Collmer
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Abstract
Information technology has had an almost unparalleled influence on the modernization and transformation of the armed forces in Western societies in recent years. Many areas of the US military in particular have been specially equipped with modern network-shaped technology since the 1990s, with the aim of achieving a qualitatively new degree of precision and speed in military operations. The Revolution in Military Affairs (RMA), and its implementation in the doctrine of Network-Centric Warfare (NCW), have become new military strategy paradigms for the US armed forces. Along with the security policy redefinition of the threat situation following the end of the Cold War, this development constitutes the strongest impetus for change in the armed forces of Western European countries. This discussion must begin with a warning that the development being described is more complex than it may appear at first glance. The desire to attribute the transformation of the armed forces solely to technological innovation and a technodeterministic impetus is one-dimensional and falls far short of the truth. The concept underpinning the revolution in military affairs comprises a multitude of factors such as security policy, military strategy and socio-political decisions in addition to the technological ones, all of which exert their own influence in tandem with the new technology. For this reason, an explanation that attributes the changes in the armed forces of Western Europe solely to the considerable speed of technological innovation must necessarily be incomplete. Instead, technological progress appears to be embedded in political, social and strategic changes and decisions. A contribution that seeks to analyze the influence of RMA must consequently always take into account a whole cluster of causes and effects. New security policy constellations, new actors on the world stage and an increasing asymmetry of force form the background to contemporary armed conflicts.