Technology is changing the battlefield in significant ways

  

U.S. and allies not ready for radically new era of war, analysts say

WASHINGTON -- Technology is changing the battlefield in significant ways.
 
The golden rule of land warfare was always about achieving the element of surprise. With the adversary caught off guard, the next step was to concentrate tanks, break through enemy lines and fight them in small parts, as each part was cut off from logistics.
 
Now, satellite imagery, synthetic aperture radar and sensors make the battlefield almost completely transparent. "That's not a sequence that we can repeat," said British military analyst Jack Watling, as a concentration of tanks would make them sitting ducks.
 
Meanwhile, the wars in Israel and Ukraine signal the return of mass, especially cheap mass, said Washington-based analyst Kelly Grieco. Instead of a small number of expensive, exquisite systems dominating the battlefield, a large number of drones and dispensable assets complicate an adversary's operations.
 
"The good news here is that these trends, particularly this trend for cheaper mass, favor the defender," Grieco said. "The United States and Japan don't need to win against China. They only need to be able to deny China the ability to win."
 
China, meanwhile, has to win. "There are no 'half wins' if you're trying to revise the status quo." Such new trends in warfare could influence future outcomes.