Force XXI and Beyond: Bridging the Combat Power Gap with Fires

摘要

As we near the 21st Century, many influential leaders in the United Statesbelieve that war against a major military power is unlikely. These same leaders believe it's also unlikely that the United States will have to fight two nearly simultaneous conflicts in different theaters of war. These beliefs combined with budgetary pressures make significant Army force structure reductions a certainty. The Army, in an effort to maximize its capabilities, will discard the unwieldly division. It will adopt a combined arms brigade as its basic tactical unit and rush to embrace technology to make the brigade as formidable as possible. The current technological focus is on information dominance and speed, which many Army leaders believe are the keys to victory on the 21st Century battlefield. Unfortunately, budget issues, technology shortfalls, and the rise of technologically and militarily advanced enemies may place the smaller U.S. Army in grave danger of losing a war on a future battlefield. However, major advances in fire support have the potential to provide the smaller U.S. forces the additional combat power they need to defeat a larger, technologically advanced enemy.