Research for WARFARE

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Wargaming Fourth-Generation Warfare
September 1, 2006
The NWC asked CNA to work with its staff to develop gaming techniques to address these warfare issues more effectively. We approached this problem along several avenues of research. Our research into the concepts embodied by the term Fourth Generation Warfare showed how important it is to distinguish what is new from what only seems new, and to understand the necessity of merging the two. In game design, the key elements with which the designer must work have always included time, space, forces (or resources),effects, information, and command. Implicit in these elements,which are primarily the “nouns” of the game designer’s lexicon, is the underlying context of the game and the relationship of those nouns to the fundamental “verbs” of game design-the actions the players may take to change the state of the synthetic universe constructed inand by the game.
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Recent Trends and Thinking about Warfare
September 1, 2006
In late 2005 the Wargaming Department of the Naval War College asked CNA to help it develop a new approach to wargaming, one that provides structured and disciplined techniques for accommodating “Fourth-Generation Warfare” (4GW) and related new operational concepts.Even before the end of the Cold War there were claims that the established ways of making war were becoming obsolete. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, these claims have become more widespread,influenced by the rush of events, the rise of new threats, and technological developments. The proponents of the 4GW concept have raised important issues that are complicating the debate as to what is the best way to prepare to defend ourselves. The purpose of this paper is to explore some of these ideas.
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The Changing Nature of Warfare Transcript and Summary of a Conference, 25-26 May 2004 at The CNA Corporation
November 1, 2004
The National Intelligence Council (NIC) and specifically the National Intelligence Officer (NIO)for Military Issues asked CNAC to conduct a conference on the changing nature of warfare through 2020 as part of their project on Global Trends 2020. CNAC commissioned 21 papers on various aspects of the subject and convened a conference on 25-26 May 2004 at which the papers were presented and discussed. This document contains a brief summary of the conference, followed by a transcript (not verbatim) of the presentations and discussions, followed by a longer summary of the conference. See also CNAC document CIM D0010879.A1/Final of October 2004, which extends beyond the discussions of the conference to explore the wider range of evolutions of warfare toward the year 2020.
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The Changing Nature of Warfare Through 2020
October 1, 2004
In this summary report, we will put the changing nature of warfare as discussed at the conference in to strategic context and extend its implication toward the year 2020.
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Understanding Transformations
November 1, 2002
The purpose of this pamphlet is to assemble articles and writing that may be relevant to understanding the implications of the stated by NAVAL TRANSFORMATION ROADMAP: POWER AND ACCESS...FROM THE SEA and MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING: NAVY/MARINECORPS TAC AIR INTEGRATION. The basis for adjusting the missions, organizations, and equipment of the Fleet and Fleet Marine Forces for future contingences and combat. While some adjustment will come in the form of new equipment, the greater part will be in new ways to think about how the various elements of naval forces work together in common purpose with the Amy and Air Force to achieve national objectives.
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Differential Games, A Mathematical Theory With Applications To Warfare And Other Topics
December 1, 1963
A differential game is one in which, as the action progresses, both the environment and the decisions available to the players are subject to a consistent, logical law, so that the problem is amenable to mathematical analysis. Usually, the action is continuous, and solutions can actually be obtained for a wide range of problems of extended conflict between two antagonists. The applications include various models of battles, pursuit and evasion games, dogfights and other contests of maneuvering, such as football, and some aiming and evasion problems. By allowing one player to be passive, certain programs can be optimized. A chapter is devoted to collision avoidance, in which the players cooperate rather than conflict. In what are termed games of degree the players respectively seek to maximize and minimize some numerically valued payoff. In games of kind the criterion is sharp, such as whether or not capture will occur in a pursuit situation. The two types have separate but related theories. The text concludes with chapters on the case of incomplete information and the practical aspects of applications to warfare. This is not a revised version. It was assigned a .10 version because under an original numbering system which was abandoned, there were two CNA RC's numbered 1.
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