Transformation (military science)
In the military , a transformation is understood to be the further development and use of methods which give military units a revolutionary advantage. In some cases, they can do without the development and procurement of modern weapon systems and therefore mainly include further developments in doctrinal and military strategy . The transformation of armed forces is to be captured in a multidimensional way, one of its methods is e.g. B. Concept Development & Experimentation .
Historical examples of transformations
After the First World War
See also: Blitzkrieg
In the course of the constant rearmament in Germany at the time of National Socialism , in addition to the expansion of the Wehrmacht , a transformation also took place. That of Prussian -dominated traditions Supreme Command of the Wehrmacht had in the First World War, only the technical role of tanks detected. However, Guderian oriented himself on the strategic concepts of lightning warfare of the British military historians Basil Liddell Hart and John Frederick Charles Fuller , developed them further and was able to convince Hitler of his strategy despite the skepticism of the officer corps . This led to the success of the Blitzkrieg well beyond the Second World War and, meanwhile, to the fact that the German armored troops defeated the French despite being numerically inferior (France at that time had the largest armored force in the world). This was due to the fact that the Germans massed their armored troops , whereas the French only used them in isolated cases for troop support .
After the cold war
The most important development after the Cold War was based on strategic considerations of the US military , which tried to keep pace with the looming spread of low-threshold armed conflicts, since the mass armies of the 20th century no longer matched current developments. Important individual measures were the concentration on small and flexible units that are networked with one another via the Network Centric Warfare system. Structural measures went hand in hand with the transformation of the American army . The US's deliberations were primarily followed by the allies within NATO , see also Transformation of the Bundeswehr .
References
literature
- Alberts, David S .: Information Age Transformation, CCRP Publication Series, 2002 ( [1] )
- Sascha Lange: "Network-Based Operations (NBO)" Armed Forces Transformation in the Information Age ; Study by the Science and Politics Foundation, May 2004, 30 pages.
- Maninger, Stephan: "Military Transformation - Technology, Global Operations and Personnel Policy ", Science & Security, No. 13/2005 (October 1st).
Web links
- Transformation - new ways for the armed forces on the Bundeswehr website