The way to win a battle is to make every unit contribute to its fullest. And a digitized Army could do this. But the research effort is colossal. In addition, each of these requires software to integrate it into the overall system. The amount of code that must be written, tested, and re-written strains the imagination.
Errors can be fatal.
The largest single loss of American lives in the Gulf War came about when the software for the Patriot anti-missile system failed to identify and shoot down a Scud missile, which hit a barracks and killed 28 soldiers. The GAO criticizes the Army for its ambitious plans. Tests at the company and battalion level have already taken place. The cost of these experiments is high because of the equipment required. The Army needs to set specific and measurable goals to evaluate these experiments, the GAO says.