Defense chief outlines challenges of information age warfare

The increasing availability of commercial, off-the-shelf technology to terrorist groups and enemy states is creating new challenges for the U.S. military, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said Thursday in his annual report to the president and Congress.

"Maintaining the U.S. technological edge has become even more difficult as advanced technology has become readily available on the world market," Rumsfeld wrote. "Technologies for sensors, information processing, communications, precision guidance, and many other areas are rapidly advancing and are available to potential adversaries."

Rumsfeld said some adversaries are using those high-tech tools to develop "offensive information operations" that could disrupt military information systems, such as those that enable U.S. troops to engage in "network-centric" warfare with other combat units and foreign allies.

"In a networked environment, information assurance is critical," Rumsfeld said. "Information systems must be protected from attack, and new capabilities for effective information operations must be developed."

Noting that network-centric warfare relies heavily on satellite communications and other forms of space-based technology, he said the U.S. military must be vigilant in preventing terrorists and enemy states from gaining access to space.

"No nation relies more on space for its national security than the United States," he said. "Yet elements of the U.S. space architecture-ground stations, launch assets and satellites in orbit-are threatened by capabilities that are increasingly available."

Rumsfeld said the fiscal 2003 Defense budget would provide $2 billion to improve the security of the department's space-based information and intelligence systems. That would be a 15.6 percent increase over fiscal 2002 spending. He added that the Pentagon also plans to invest about $200 million in space-related "transformation" programs in fiscal 2003, "with significantly more planned in the future."

"Transformation" refers to the military's efforts to redefine its approach to warfare, by moving from the industrial age to the information age, and shifting its defense strategy from the predictable threats of the Cold War to unpredictable, "asymmetric" threats such as those posed by the al Qaeda terrorist network.

Rumsfeld said transformation initiatives would be funded at about $21 billion in fiscal 2003, which would be about 17 percent of Defense's total spending on procurement and research and development programs. He added that the investment would rise to 22 percent by fiscal 2007.

Defending the nation against high-tech, asymmetric threats also requires a "robust" investment in science and technology (S&T) programs, according to Rumsfeld. "U.S. armed forces depend on the department's S&T program to deliver unique military technologies for the combat advantage that cannot be provided by relying on commercially available technology," he wrote.

The Pentagon's fiscal 2003 budget would provide $9.9 billion for S&T programs. That would be about 2.7 percent of next year's total Defense budget, but Pentagon officials have said they hope to increase that investment to 3 percent in future years.