TRADOC predicts the future of warfare - Army News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Army Times

TRADOC predicts the future of warfare

Training and Doctrine Command released its vision of future warfare in December, and at times it reads like a script by Gene Roddenberry, creator of “Star Trek.”

TRADOC predicts in the report the Army will be at war until 2028, and its Future Force Capstone Concept projects what the force should look like to effectively wage a future war.

Future forces should have vehicles better protected from improvised explosive devices. The report calls for troop carriers that are well armored with the ability to protect light infantry without sacrificing mobility. One suggestion is to explore nanotechnology, which can change the structure of matter on a molecular and atomic level, so the Army could engineer armor that is harder and more resistant to IED explosions.

TRADOC also wants to better prepare soldiers mentally for the stress of multiple deployments, given that the report predicts that ground combat could go on for another 18 years. Future forces need to be “motivated to succeed [in] operations and subsequently, after recuperation and training, are prepared to return to operations time after time,” according to the report. TRADOC suggests tapping future developments in the understanding of both human physiology and psychology.

This way the Army would better understand the level of physical fitness required to support multiple deployments and also be able mentally condition soldiers to prepare them for combat stress.

Another key step would be to improve the Army’s ability to support operations from afar. Because the Army is operating in population centers infiltrated by enemy combatants, it is hard to classify anywhere as a safe zone. The Army needs to bring supplies to the front lines from extraordinary distances to protect them.

One suggestion in the report is to exploit emerging renewable-energy technologies to vastly improve the fuel efficiency of the Army’s vehicles and reduce the burden on a long-distance logistics supply chain.

TRADOC also said it wanted to take advantage of “immersive technologies” to create more realistic combat training. This development would create virtual training areas [something the Army is already implementing] with real-world objects and simulated bad guys. This would be the ultimate first-person shooter and would improve the soldier’s ability to make decisions under stressful conditions.