US Army lays out technical strategy, S&T Campaigns and implementation plans for future land dominance

The United States Army of 2030 will operate in a highly non-linear and complex operational environment, will likely be dominated by decreasing domestic budgets and reduced force structure; increased velocity and momentum of human interaction and events; potential for adversarial capability overmatch; proliferation of weapons of mass destruction; spread of advanced cyberspace and counter-space capabilities among our adversaries; and increased likelihood of operations among populations, in cities, and in complex terrain.

“In a world where the only constant is change, the most reliable indicators point to a future where U.S. and coalition land forces will have to project power across air, land, maritime, space and cyberspace in contested and denied environments against traditional, unconventional and hybrid adversaries,” said Dr. Philip Perconti Acting director, US ARL.

Army Chief of Staff General Mark A. Milley has made readiness the Army’s top priority, followed by the future force and taking care of Soldiers. As the preeminent ground combat force in the world, the Army’s definition of readiness must include meeting today’s urgent operational needs while ensuring decisive overmatch for the force of the future.

According to Lt. Gen. Robert P. Ashley Jr., deputy chief of staff, G-2, the Army has over the last decade, “been very additive” in terms of providing sensors and communications data for the Soldier. “It’s almost become a burden,” he said. Asked how technology will change the way the Army fights, acting assistant secretary of the Army Katharina G. McFarland called the Soldier “our primary weapon.” The role of technology, she said, would be to unburden the soldier.

The key to modernization for the Soldier, he said, will be to unburden him from some of that flood of data by “placing it on a machine” that can process the data and use it to provide the Soldier with meaningful solutions. That, he said, can be accomplished through machine learning and artificial intelligence systems.

Another area that needs improving, Ashley said, is information sharing with coalition partners. Currently, much of the data that is collected goes to U.S.-only systems. “When you think of all the [data] collection that you bring in when you process, exploit, and disseminate that information, it’s important that you can get it in near-real time to coalition partners and coalition users,” he continued.