Command and Control in the Future

What is the issue?

Effective and resilient Command and Control (C2) is essential to the basic functions of Defence and to the planning and execution of military operations. While the nature of war remains constant, the character of warfare continues to evolve. So too do the types of mission that the military are expected to undertake, the political, legal and ethical considerations that are placed on decision making, and the threats, technologies and human factors that influence approaches to C2.

According to the UK MOD, C2 is the ‘pre-eminent Joint Function’ and ‘critical to enabling joint action’. Ensuring that C2 systems and organisations keep up with changing operational demands is therefore essential to the UK and its North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) allies maintaining advantage over any competitor.

To this end, the Development, Concepts and Doctrine Centre (DCDC), which has now evolved into a new organisation called Defence Futures, commissioned analysis from the Global Strategic Partnership (GSP), a consortium of UK and international research organisations led by RAND Europe.

DCDC asked the GSP to produce four exploratory papers throughout 2023 and 2024 to:

• Inform Defence thinking and experimentation about C2 in the future;
• Explore Defence integration with partners across government (PAGs) and international allies and partners to deliver decision advantage from 2030 onwards (i.e. in the timeframe of the Capstone Concepts currently under development); and
• Research innovative approaches and revolutionary future understandings of the Integrated Operating Framework.

How did we help?

To achieve this, we ultimately produced four concept papers (CPs), each of which considered the following:

• Concept Paper 1: Grappling with Complexity, aimed to provide an indication of how the complexity of the future operating environment (FOE) (specifically out to 2040) is likely to shape the capability requirements for C2. It provided a baseline of understanding to inform subsequent papers, which explore specific aspects in more detail.
• Concept Paper 2: The Defence C2 Enterprise, focused on the resulting opportunities, challenges and dilemmas for the design of the future C2 enterprise, and involved significant input from across the GSP.
• Concept Paper 3: Conceptualising C2 as a Capability, focused on the need to conceptualise C2 as a capability that must be proactively cultivated and maintained across Defence, rather than as a set of individual capabilities or activities.
• Concept Paper 4: C2 Enablers, focused on the underpinning capabilities that may be required to enable C2 socio-technical systems in the future, including the types of technologies as well as personnel qualifications and organisational characteristics.

Concept paper 4 also included recommendations drawn from the full series.

What did we find?

In addition to the dives into particular areas included in each of the papers, the project concluded with the following overarching implications drawn from the complete series:

• To cope with the challenges of the FOE, the C2 enterprise of the future will not be a single entity, but rather a more fluid assemblage of varying combinations of individuals and organisations.
• Collaboration with diverse partners is going to be a key enabler of C2 systems in the future.
• The Defence C2 enterprise will therefore need to consist of multiple, parallel C2 systems that can adapt effectively, possibly moving flexibly and efficiently between different C2 approaches to handle diverse challenges and circumstances.
• Defence is going to need profound change both to ways of organising as well as more intangible aspects of institutional culture to make this more flexible and adaptable C2 enterprise work in practice.
• The necessary organisational changes will not be possible without a united effort from Defence, including clear endorsement and investment from leadership.
• Training, education and rigorous and challenging exercises will be key enablers for a range of capabilities.
• To guide this process of learning and iteration, and support resource prioritisation, Defence will need metrics and a shared understanding of what ‘good’ looks like in different contexts.
• Defence will need to put in greater effort to recruit, develop and maintain a variety of skills crucial to C2 systems in the future.
• Given intense competition for such skills from across Defence, PAGs and the private sector, Defence must consider how best to motivate, develop and retain this talent.
• Defence will need to understand C2 as a socio-technical capability that needs to be continuously cultivated in a holistic and proactive manner to join up efforts from across Defence and achieve shared goals.
• Defence cannot simply ‘purchase’ new C2 technologies off-the-shelf and should be wary of promises of any technological ‘silver bullet’. Rather, it will need to invest in and iterate new capabilities and systems over time while responsibly managing the transition away from legacy ways of working.

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