When undertaking land operations in a joint environment, we have a responsibility to equip, train and support our forces in the best possible way. Faced with a complex world and beset by budget cuts, how then can European and NATO leaders look beyond the experiences of Afghanistan and Iraq, retake the initiative, and ensure that their militaries are not training to fight yesterday’s wars?
Preparing our armed forces for the uncertain battles of the future requires analyzing the environment in which these men and women will be deployed, the new threats and game changers they may encounter, and the tools and skills they will require to prevail.
On November 25th – 27th 2013, military officers, professors, analysts and industry partners from both sides of the Atlantic converged on Amsterdam for the Future Force Conference 2013. For two days, and through 8 sessions and round table discussions, these experts discussed and analyzed the political, technological, and strategic dimensions of future warfare operations. Themes discussed included, to name but a few; adaptability and cross-domain interoperability; anticipation and prevention; the threat (or lack of it) of cyberwar; potential game changers; organizational and technological integration; civil power; the ‘human domain’; the ‘Triple Helix’ of government, industry and knowledge institutes; and the strategic utility of ‘conventional’ combat systems such as air superiority fighters or main battle tanks.
In review, the Hague Centre for Strategic Studies has compiled a comprehensive conference report, offering profiles of the speakers and detailing the speeches and round-table debates of the eight conference sessions.
You can download the Future Force Conference 2013 Report with the button on the right.