Research Catalog

Title

Swarming & the future of conflict / John Arquilla, David Ronfeldt.

Author

Arquilla, John.

Publication

Santa Monica, CA : RAND, 2000.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Holdings

Details

Additional Authors

• Ronfeldt, David F.
• United States. Department of Defense.
• National Defense Research Institute (U.S.)
• United States. Department of Defense. Office of the Secretary of Defense.
• Rand Corporation.

Description

ix, 98 p. : col. ill.; 28 cm.

Summary

Swarming is a seemingly amorphous, but deliberately structured, coordinated, strategic way to perform military strikes from all directions. It employs a sustainable pulsing of force and/or fire that is directed from both close-in and stand-off positions. It will work best--perhaps it will only work--if it is designed mainly around the deployment of myriad, small, dispersed, networked maneuver units. This calls for an organizational redesign--involving the creation of platoon-like "pods" joined in company-like "clusters"--That would keep but retool the most basic military unit structures. It is similar to the corporate redesign principle of "flattening," which often removes or redesigns middle layers of management. This has proven successful in the ongoing revolution in business affairs and may prove equally useful in the military realm. From command and control of line units to logistics, profound shifts will have to occur to nurture this new "way of war." This study examines the benefits--and also the costs and risks--of engaging in such serious doctrinal change. The emergence of a military doctrine based on swarming pods and clusters requires that defense policymakers develop new approaches to connectivity and control and achieve a new balance between the two. Far more than traditional approaches to battle, swarming clearly depends upon robust information flows. Securing these flows, therefore, can be seen as a necessary condition for successful swarming.

Series Statement

Documented briefing (Rand Corporation) ; DB-311

Uniform Title

Documented briefing (Rand Corporation) DB-311.

Alternative Title

Swarming and the future of conflict.

Subject

Swarming (Military science)

Note

• "DB-311-OSD" -- back cover.

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references (p. 89-98).

Processing Action (note)

• committed to retain

Contents

Ch. 1. Introduction -- Ch. 2. Evolution of Military Doctrine -- Ch. 3. Instances of Swarming -- Ch. 4. Design Elements and Challenges -- Ch. 5. Toward a "Battleswarm" Doctrine.

ISBN

0833028855

OCLC

45447074

Owning Institutions

Harvard Library