The Digital Battlefield: A Behind-the-Scenes Look from a Systems Perspective

The last decade and a half has seen major advances in computing, communication, and display technologies. The U.S. Army has been proactive in harnessing and combining these technologies under a common rubric called the “digital battlefield.” The digital battlefield, which has become the primary mechanism for real-time situation awareness, has become a force multiplier that has transformed the Army to meet and overcome the challenges of the 21st century. Today, all elements of a U.S. Army combat team – tanks, fighting vehicles, helicopters, artillery, and convoy/support vehicles – are interconnected within the digital battlefield. The result has been a dramatic improvement in combat power, accompanied by a marked decrease in U.S. force casualties. This paper takes a behind the scenes look at the science and technology that led to this signature transformation of the U.S. Army combat forces. The paper discusses critical success factors and lessons learned. The paper concludes with a brief discussion of civilian sector benefits of FBCB2 technology and subsequent variants created by DoD.