As generations of military commanders who have become accustomed to the availability of high density and high quality data about the battlefield mature and move into senior command positions, the expectation of near perfect information and the willingness to delay decisions in the expectation of better information will grow. However, the very rapid pace of future battles, as well as the imperatives of turning inside adversary decision loops, will punish procrastination and inaction severely. Doctrine and effective training for commanders must instill the judgement required to differentiate between sufficient and necessary or desirable information. Because of the increased pace of battle and the high lethality expected in future battlespace, more and more decisions will be assigned to expert systems. However, development, testing, and training are inadequate to ensure confidence in these systems.
Testing is particularly important.
Technology demonstrations are a good, cost effective way to gain user feedback and to develop positive attitudes toward these systems, but operational testing in realistic field conditions is also necessary to avoid systems failure or lack of use in the field. Finally, by their very nature as automatons, computer systems have no inherent ability to recognize their own limitations. The entire process, from concept through design, testing, and doctrine development, must include a recognition of this inherent problem. Ultimately, humans must make sound decisions about when and under what circumstances to rely on automated systems. As the sophistication of the military information systems support structure grows over time, the inherent vulnerabilities will become more important.