Warfare and Military Operations RAND researchers examine military and national security issues across a broad spectrum—from political dissent and military training to tactical operations and reconstruction efforts—and take a long-term, global perspective.
The Future of Warfare in 2030: Project Overview and Conclusions This report is the overview in a series that seeks to answer questions about the future of warfare, including who might be the United States' adversaries and allies, where conflicts will be fought, and how and why they might occur. Raphael S. Cohen, Nathan Chandler, Shira Efron, Bryan Frederick, Eugeniu Han, Kurt Klein, Forrest E ...
Regardless of what develops as the future of warfare, the combination of high survivability, success, and cost effectiveness means cruise missiles and their strike drone counterparts will continue to be the go-to first strike option for the United States and other major military powers.
The war in Ukraine has revealed a critical weakness in NATO's defenses: electromagnetic warfare (EW). While Russia dominates this invisible battlespace, Ukraine is learning in combat what the West neglected in training. To close the gap, NATO must quickly build its own EW capabilities or risk falling behind.
The United States should address broader national security risks beyond terrorism by consolidating irregular warfare capabilities under a new Cabinet-level agency, similar to Britain's WWII Ministry of Economic Warfare.
Cost asymmetry has always played a role in tactical warfare, but the advent of cheap commercial drones has sharply tilted the cost asymmetry towards offense. While it may be impossible to halt the proliferation of these systems outright, it is possible to increase the cost of doing business for attackers and reduce the likelihood of successful attacks.